''Love and War in the Apennines'' is a

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

(with some changes of names and people and places, and some composite characters) by

Eric Newby George Eric Newby (6 December 1919 – 20 October 2006) was an English travel writer. His works include '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'', ''The Last Grain Race'' and '' A Small Place in Italy''. Early life Newby was born in Barnes, London, ...

. In the United States the title was changed to ''When the Snow Comes, They Will Take You Away''. It was dramatised as the 2001 film '' In Love and War'' starring

Callum Blue Daniel James Callum Blue (born 19 August 1977), known professionally as Callum Blue, is an English actor. Best known for his roles on the Showtime series ''Dead Like Me'' and ''The Tudors'', as well as his roles as Zod in the American televi ...

and

Barbora Bobuľová Barbora Bobuľová (born 29 April 1974) is an Italian actress. Since 1995, she has lived and worked mainly in Italy. Life and work Born in Martin, Bobuľová trained at the National Drama Academy in Bratislava before moving to Italy in 1995. S ...

Overview

After the

Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

in 1943, the author left the

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camp in which he had been held for a year, PG 49 at

Fontanellato Fontanellato (Parmigiano: ) is a small town in the province of Parma, in northern Italy. It lies on the plains of the River Po near the A1 autostrada, about west of Parma towards Piacenza. The town was built up in the 15th century around the ...

, and evaded the

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by going to ground high in the mountains and forests south of the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...

. In enforced isolation, he was sheltered and protected by an informal and highly courageous network of Italian peasants. Newby writes a powerful account of these idiosyncratic and selfless people and also of their bleak and very basic lifestyle. He undergoes a series of bizarre, funny and often dangerous incidents, and in the process meets Wanda, a local girl who later becomes his wife.

Summary

Newby takes part in a

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

operation on the east coast of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He and his colleagues fail to make their rendezvous with a British submarine and are picked up by a fishing boat. Newby is imprisoned in an orphanage at

in the Po valley. With the ''Armistizio'', the Italians let the English prisoners escape. Because Newby has a broken ankle he is abandoned and is hidden in a farmer's hay loft until an Italian doctor takes him to the hospital. Here he is visited by Wanda, the daughter of a Slovene teacher, who gives him Italian lessons in exchange for English lessons and they fall in love. The Germans discover he is there but Newby escapes and hides, moving from one house to another. Newby is nearly captured and moves into the mountains to stay with a shepherd; villagers build him a camouflaged cave. Further exciting adventures follow, and a meeting with Wanda.

Reception

The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote of ''Love and War'' that "His memoir of that time became one of his most acclaimed books".Fox, 2006. The novelist

Simon Mawer Simon Mawer ( ; born 1948, England) is a British author who lives in Italy. Life and work Born in 1948 and was educated at Millfield School in Somerset and at Brasenose College, Oxford, Mawer took a degree in Zoology and has worked as a biology ...

, writing on the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

website, describes the book as follows: Travel writer John Gimlette, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', comments that "For sheer charm, there's nothing quite like Eric Newby's Love and War in the Apennines." He adds that while it is plainly a celebration of Italy, "At a more profound level, it's a beautifully philanthropic yet unsentimental work. However miserable the times and awkward the place, Newby's characters are usually endearing, and often complex."

Sources

* ''Love and War in the Apennines'', Picador (1983)

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite web , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/obituaries/24newby.html?_r=0 , title=Eric Newby, 86, Acclaimed British Travel Writer, Dies , work=New York Times , date=2006-10-24 , accessdate=2013-05-28 , author=Fox, Margalit 1971 British novels British autobiographical novels Novels set during World War II Novels set in Italy Hodder & Stoughton books British novels adapted into films