大象传媒

鈥淪ay what you like about Mussolini but he did make the trains run on time.鈥� This phrase is the political equivalent of 鈥渆very cloud has a silver lining鈥� 鈥� but does it have any factual basis?

Mussolini鈥檚 dictatorship in Italy was full of atrocities, brutal suppression and propaganda. Did it also create a more efficient railway network?

We speak to Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat about the truth of the claim and why the Mussolini regime wanted us to believe it.

Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Researcher: Esme Winterbotham
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Master: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison.

Image: Benito Mussolini in his train studying maps. (Photo by ullstein picture/ullstein picture via Getty Images)