Edda Mussolini was Benito’s favourite daughter: spoilt, clever, faithless, flamboyant, venal, a brilliant diplomat. Her father’s confidante during 20 years of Fascist rule she acted as first lady, helping steer Italy to join forces with Hitler, and with husband Galeazzo Ciano was part of Italy’s most celebrated couple. In a dramatic story that takes in her father’s fall and her husband’s execution, Caroline Moorehead paints a vivid portrait of a complicated and determined woman, not just as a witness but a key player in some of the century’s defining moments. in conversation with historian Clare Mulley.