Prosecutors in Moscow have said that "The Third Way," which compiles two works by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, should be prohibited from being sold in Russian bookstores.
The ban required a court decision, the prosecutors said on their website. But that measure appeared a formality because Russian legislation explicitly bans all works by fascist Italian and Nazi German ideologues as extremist.
The publication in question compiles Mussolini's autobiography and his ideological manifesto "The Doctrine of Fascism," according to the description at online aggregator Yandex.Market.
"This is, in fact, Mussolini's political testament, intended by the author to justify Il Duce and the ideals he expounded," read the blurb at Yandex.Market.
The book was still available from several online retailers as of this article's publication, the price averaging a modest 300 rubles ($10).
The book came out last year in a series called "Works of the Great," which also included a 1923 novel by Joseph Goebbels, who went on to become the propaganda mastermind of Nazi Germany.
St. Petersburg prosecutors sought a court ban on Goebbels' book after a prominent newspaper wrote about the novel's publication in mid-August, but no ban was reported as of Thursday.
Books in the "Works of the Great" series have a print run of 2,000 to 3,000 copies and are intended for use by historians, not as propaganda, the publisher was earlier cited by Russian media as saying.
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