Home to the largest communist party in a democratic society, Italy has been a unique place politically, one where Christian democrats, liberals, fascists, socialists and communists and others have co-existed in sizeable numbers. This book follows each of the major ideologies, explaining how they developed, describing the key actors and considering the legacies they left to political culture. "Ideological Profile" was written in 1968 to explain from a personal perspective the history behind that decade's tumultuous politics. Beginning in the late 19th century with positivism and Marxism, Bobbio next presents the ideological currents that developed before the outbreak of World War One: Catholic, socialist, irrational and anti-democratic thought, the reaction against positivism and the thinking of Benedetto Croce. After discussing the impact of the war, the author turns to the revolutionary-reactionary polarization of the postwar period and the ideology of fascism. The final chapters consider Croce's opposition to fascism and the ideals of the resistance and conclude with the post-World War Two "Years of Involvement".