A vivid, concise portrait of a flamboyant Italian poet and public figure whose life fused aestheticism, scandalous love affairs and theatrical self-invention with emerging nationalist radicalism; the book follows his rise from celebrated writer and seducer to political showman, detailing his literary output, obsessive cult of personality and the dramatic seizure and theatrical rule of Fiume, and argues that his intoxicating blend of art, spectacle and militarism both defined his era and helped prefigure elements of Italian fascism.