La Repressione dell Lingue delle Minoranze Etniche e Specialmente del Tedesco nell Alto Adige Durante il Fascismo is an exciting, fresh look at a little-known aspect of Italian independence in the face of fascism. Even language was put on trial in Italy under Mussolini where repression of the Alto Adige caused significant suffering. In refusing to comply with Mussolini's edicts of imperial unification of fascism and language based on the culture and customs of Ancient Rome, the fiercely independent people of the Alto Adige were crushed under the repressive measures of Mussolini. The people of the Alto Adige with their own customs, culture, and language fought bitterly to maintain their independence of notion. In Ben's book we witness a war made upon language where the conflict was aimed at the destruction of a people as assuredly as bombs and bullets aim at the elimination of a people. Despite the academic nature of the book, we are compelled to follow the story from beginning to end.