Into the War

Translated and with an introduction by Martin McLaughlin The greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century Guardian Set in Italy in the summer of 1940, this trio of stories explores the relationships between the different generations caught up in the war as well as Calvinos own experiences as a teenager.In the title story, Into the War, we are given an insight into what life was really like for those too young to be conscripted into Mussolinis army, while in The Avanguardisti in Menton, Calvino and his friends take a revealingly anti-climactic trip to the garrisoned French town of Menton, the sole Italian conquest of the early months of the conflict. The final story, UNPA Nights, is a touching, comic tale of friendship in a blackout, where the narrators imagination wanders as he roams through the seedier parts of the darkened town instead of guarding the school buildings. Into the War is Calvino at his autobiographical best, combining brilliantly recollected memory with compelling wit and perfect prose.