Introduction and Preface Summary and Analysis

The narrative of this book consists of a series of diary entries written at the height of World War II by an American-born woman, Iris Origo, married into an aristocratic Italian family. In the midst of events shaped by the social, political, and military contexts of the time, the Marchesa writes of the challenges faced by her family, her community, and her adopted country during the struggle to maintain some semblance of normal, day-to-day life in the face of increasing, debilitating war and violence.

Introduction - The book's editor describes the two main circumstances defining the nature and content of the narrative. First, he sketches in the biographical background of its American-born author, the Marchesa Iris Origo and how she came to live in the community of Val d'Orcia in Tuscany. He then, and perhaps more importantly...