Private Angelo (Canongate Classics): 9

Eric Linklater

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0862413761 ISBN 13: 9780862413767

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 2008

Angelo, a private in Mussolini's "ever-glorious" Italian army, may possess the virtues of love and an engaging innocence but he lacks the gift of courage. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, he ends up fighting not only for Italy but also for the British and German armies. With his patron the Count, the beautiful Lucrezia, the charming Annunziata, and the delightful Major Telfer, Angelo's fellow characters are drawn with humor, insight, and sympathy, making the book a wittily satirical comment on the grossness and waste of war. Eric Linklater, who served with the Black Watch in Italy in World War II, is one of Scotland's most distinguished writers. Here he has written a book which demonstrates that honor is not solely the preserve of the brave. Introduced by Magnus Linklater.

Review:

"He writes not only of an angel, but like one . . . "Private Angelo" is now a permanent portrait in the heavenly gallery of human frailty." --"Observer"

About the Author:

Eric Linklater's memories of Orkney and student life informed his first novel, "White Maa's Saga" (1929), while the success of "Poet's Pub" in the same year led him to take up writing as a full-time career. A hilarious satirical novel, "Juan in America" (1931), followed his American trip, while the equally irreverent" Magnus Merrimen" (1934) was based on his experience as a Nationalist candidate for a by-election in East Fife.