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A Chill in the Air

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A Chill in the Air

By: Iris Origo
Narrated by: Hilary Bockham
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About this listen

'Origo's diaries, trenchantly and pithily written, are a glory' Spectator.

Iris Origo, one of the twentieth century's great diarists, was born in England in 1902. As a child, she moved between England, Ireland, Italy and America, never quite belonging anywhere. It was only when she married an Italian man that she came to rest in one country. Fifteen years later, that country would be at war with her own.

With piercing insight, Origo documents the grim absurdities that her adopted Italy underwent as war became more and more unavoidable. Connected to everyone, from the peasants on her estate to the US ambassador, she writes of the turmoil, the danger, and the dreadful bleakness of Italy in 1939-1940.

A Chill in the Air is the account of the awful inevitability of Italy's stumble into a conflict for which its people were ill prepared. With an introduction by Lucy Hughes-Hallett, the award-winning author of The Pike, and an afterword by Katia Lysy, granddaughter of Iris Origo./br>

©2017 The Estate of Iris Origo (P)2020 Pushkin Press Europe Italy Military War
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This is the fascinating story of Iris Origo in Italy at the outset of the war and her insightfulness into the story of Italy entering reluctantly into a war it wasn't ready for.
It was beautifully read by Hilary Bockham, and as I said I was left wanting more - always a good reference in my book!

I wanted More...

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I live an hour from La Foce so it's of personal interest to know what happend in my adopted country during WW2. A raw diary detailing insider knowledge, News and thoughts of the preceding war years.

Pre War Italy

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