Ciano was the son-in-law to Mussolini and close to him for part of the war. At some point, Ciano voted to get Mussolini out of power, and it cost him his life.
The diaries only go up to the early part of 1943. Ciano left Italy and fled to Germany in August and asked to transfer to Spain, which was neutral at the time. The request was denied, and Ciano was later arrested and tried as a traitor. He was executed by firing squad on January 11, 1944.
The entries themselves are pretty dry. It took me forever to get through them. It's not that they were boring in content, but they were just dry. They weren't written with the future reader in mind. And that's okay. It's also something he mentioned in the final entry, which was written shortly before he died.
I wouldn't recommend this for everyone. It's something of a slog for sure. But you can see how Ciano didn't think Italy was ready for war, didn't want the war, and wasn't a fan of the Germans. I liked seeing the way he felt about how the war was going, but it's unfortunate the really interesting part of his life is missing. When it all fell apart, it would've been interesting to see how he felt about voting against his father-in-law and how that affected his family.
If you're really dedicated, this could probably be a great research tool. Otherwise, I feel like it's missing the vital part most people would be interested in.
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