Modern medicine has put a new twist on one of our most fundamental values . . . self-determination. A patient's right to self-determination becomes a poignant and volatile issue in the context of modern life-sustaining technologies. When the benefit of medical treatment is overshadowed by the resulting burdens, treatment may ethically be withdrawn. Patients have the right to make this decision, assuming they still have the capacity to make it. Through advance directives a competent patient can extend his right to consent to or refuse medical treatment indefinitely into the future. Whether in the form of informal oral instructions or formal written documents, advance directives insure patients that their treatment wishes will be carried out. They also alleviate the uncertainty, guilt, and/or fear of legal consequences facing the family and caregivers. This volume is a collection of fourteen essays investigating the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of directives, the role of professionals in making and honoring them, policy issues that need to be addressed, and future directions which directives may take. Although such documents may be used to request treatment, this volume limits its focus to their more common function . . . the refusal of treatment. Timely and comprehensive, Advance Directives in Medicine provides a stimulating overview of this relevant topic. The papers in this volume were originally presented at a multidisciplinary conference on advance directives. Revised and edited for this text, they address a variety of questions and issues, for instance: What are the individual and societal benefits of advance directives? Does an advance directive tamper with thesanctity of life? Will normalizing directives have an adverse effect on the practice of medicine? Should a patient specify treatments to be withheld within a directive, such as the use of CPR, nutrition, or hydration? What legal sanctions should apply against those who ignore directives? Should directives be used to reduce health care expenditures by insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid? What is a physician's role in helping his patient formulate an appropriate directive and when is a patient ready to confront his own mortality?

In his last days, Mussolini, the tyrant, was in the grip of anger, shame, and depression. The German armed forces that had sustained his puppet government since its creation in September 1943 were being inexorably driven out of Italy, the frontiers of his Fascist republic were shrinking daily and Mussolini was aware that German military leaders were negotiating with the Allies behind his back in neutral Switzerland. Moseley's well-researched and highly engaging tome throws light on the last twenty months of the despot's life and culminates with the dramatic capture and execution of Mussolini (and his mistress Claretta Petacci) by partisans of the Italian resistance on April 28, 1945.

Married to Benito Mussolini's favourite daughter Edda, young Count Galeazzo Ciano (1903-44) became il Duce's confidant, emissary, and heir apparent in the years preceding the Second World War. Appointed foreign minister in 1936, Ciano played a central role in the Axis partnership negotiations with Hitler and von Ribbentrop and masterminded Italy's invasions of Albania and Greece. But Ciano came to disagree with his father-in-law over Italy's partnership with Germany, and he joined with other dissident Fascists plotting to remove Mussolini from office. Ciano was found guilty of treason and, despite desperate attempts to trade his sensational diaries for his life, was shot. This is the first biography of Ciano in English, and it is based in part on those diaries, smuggled by Edda out of the country in her own dramatic escape. 'Mussolini's Shadow' peels away much of the mystery of the Fascist era, provides an eye-opening account of the ruling figures of Germany and Italy, and offers a close-up view of the daily workings of the Mussolini regime. Count Ciano's story is that of a highly intelligent man - but one also frivolous, arrogant and overbearing - whose short life was characterised by espionage, intrigue, sexual scandal, assassination, and the abuse of power. As a leading player in Italy's alliance with Germany, Ciano gambled disastrously with his own fate and with that of his country. Ray Moseley is chief European correspondent for the 'Chicago Tribune'. He has lived in Europe for many years, including five years in Rome, and was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting in 1981.

This is a personal report from the frontline of foreign correspondence, a veteran reporter's account of his experiences in covering wars and revolution, dealing with secret police and explaining to American readers the intricacies of life in foreign countries with cultures often far different from their own.