This mini-series is based on the memories of Vittorio Mussolini, the oldest son of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, played by George C. Scott. The film opens in 1922 as Mussolini builds his power base through this Black Shirt militia. Mussolini, known as Il Duce creates a national fervor that peaks after the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. In 1938, in spite of attempting to promote peace at a Munich conference, Mussolini aligned himself with Hitler and drew his country into World War II, which lead to Italy's downfall and his own dishonorable death.