This book comprises the proceedings of a conference on the Etruscans in the time of fascism and nazism, held in Amiens in December 2014. Etruscology was a fairly new scientific and scholarly discipline, and scholarship suffered throughout Europe during this perlious time, in different ways in different countries. The debate over the controversial question of Etruscan origins was particularly passionate. The thesis of autochthony elicited renewed interest in Italy, whereas German scholars stressed the oriental manners of the Etruscans. This controversy reached its peak at the moment of the Rome-Berlin axis and became an obstacle to recruiting Etruscologists across Europe. In addition, the controversy over the Etruscans' origins had consequences on their image in popular culture. "Oriental race" or "uncertain race," the Etruscans were often studied from a political rather than from a scientific point of view--Adapted from publisher's description