Love and War in the Apennines (Picador Books) [Paperback]

'His masterpiece' Spectator

'Superbly funny … as civilizing, generous and affecting as “Vivere in Pace”, and the men, women and children, weather and woodsmoke are as fresh as yesterday' Observer

'A vivid description of Italian village life, full of notable characters … and the reactions of one sensitive man to being out of the war in the middle of one' Daily Telegraph

'It is necessary to state with emphasis that this is a very good book indeed' Times Literary Supplement

'An exciting story, superbly told. And wisdom, courage and generosity illuminate it' Punch

After the Italian Armistice in 1943, Eric Newby left the prison camp in which he'd been held for a year and evaded the advancing Germans by going to ground high in the mountains and forests south of the River Po.

In strange isolation he was sheltered and protected for over three months by an informal network of Italian peasants. Newby has written a powerful account of these idiosyncratic and selfless people and of their bleak and unchanging lifestyle – full of funny, bizarre and dangerous incidents interwoven with his hopes of the local girl who was to become his wife.

"An exciting story, superbly told. And wisdom, courage and generosity illuminate it."
PUNCH

Eric Newby is one of the UK’s best-known travel writers, author of ‘‘Love and War in the Apennines’, ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, ‘Slowly Down the Ganges’, ‘A Small Place in Italy and other classic travelogues. He was made CBE in 1994.