A powerful World War II novel about a young soldier joining the anti-German resistance in occupied Italy, this classic—which touches on everything from wartime dangers and adventures to desperate love—is regarded as one of the greatest works of twentieth-century Italian literature.

Milton—the name is a nom de guerre—is a member of a partisan band battling Italian Fascists and German forces in the chaotic last years of World War II. Before the war Milton was a student of English literature and a lover of poetry. He was in love with a girl, too, Fulvia, and from time to time she’d invite him over to her rich family’s fine house and have him read to her. Now, in the thick of war, he discovers that handsome Giorgio, his friend and fellow partisan, was sleeping with Fulvia at the time. Furious with jealousy, Milton hastens to have it out with Giorgio, but Giorgio has been captured by the Germans. A Private Affair tells the story of Milton’s mad quest—through mud and fog, rain and terror, while barely evading enemy patrols—to rescue his friend, the better to settle a grudge from a lost world of peace. Beppe Fenoglio’s masterpiece is a peerless story of the violent heart and world.

"Beppe Fenoglio's A Private Affair is one of the great books of the Second World War and a masterpiece of modern Italian literature. Milton is the nom de guerre of the book's protagonist, a one-time student of English literature who, in the chaotic last years of the war, has joined a partisan band. Before the war, gangly Milton was in love with the beautiful Fulvia-Fulvia let him read poetry to her-and now he hears that a friend and fellow-partisan, handsome Giorgio, was sleeping with her at the time. Jealous and furious, Milton hastens to confront Giorgio, only to discover that he has been captured by the Germans. A Private Affair tells the store with Milton's mad quest-pursued through mud and fog and rain and terror, while barely evading German and Fascist patrols-to rescue his friend and settle a personal grudge from a lost world of peace. Italo Calvino praised the book for the "geometric tension" between its themes of love and war and for its unsettling and utterly persuasive mingling of absurdity and mystery. The British novelist Paul Bailey has called the novel's closing pages "superb and superbly exciting." A Private Affair is a peerless story of the violent heart and world"--