L'entrata in guerra
Italo Calvino1954

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 Calvino's 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 Mussolini's army, while, in "The Avanguardisti in Menton", the protagonist and his friends take a revealingly anti-climatic 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 narrator's 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.

Titre original : L'entrata in guerra (1954)