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'Above Florence and the valley of the Arno stood the Villa Diana, in one of the oldest inhabited parts of Italy, at the end of an old Etruscan road that wound among olive groves and lines of cypresses. The home of Poliziano in the fifteenth century, it had been occupied by the troops of seven different armies during World War Two but otherwise escaped damage, if one overlooked the looting of the grand piano. It was here that Alan Moorehead, known as one of the greatest correspondents of that war, moved in 1948 to travel through Italy and write ....
His experiences illustrate the issues of the day, yet surrounded as always by extreme physical beauty and governed by the rhythms of the seasons. He describes with wit such diverse matters as the daily drama of life among the servants, the reviving fortunes of Portofino, the 500-year-old horse race around the main square of Siena, the gondoliers' union in Venice, and a traffic clash between a family of pigs and a cart full of crucifixes.'
Source: Summersdale website, www.summersdale.com (sighted: 03/12/2008)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Ghosts in the Villas
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 23 no. 2 2009; (p. 223-224)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Mediterranean Man
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 315 2009; (p. 37-38) -
Armchair Journey
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13-14 June 2009; (p. 5) The Age , 13 June 2009; (p. 5)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Non-Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 16 May 2009; (p. 22)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
We're a Weird Mob in Italy ,Too
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , December vol. 3 no. 11 2008; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Australians in Italy : Contemporary Lives and Impressions 2008 anthology prose ; The Biographer 2008 single work novel ; Death in the Mountains : The True Story of a Tuscan Murder 2008 single work prose ; The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose
-
We're a Weird Mob in Italy ,Too
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , December vol. 3 no. 11 2008; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Australians in Italy : Contemporary Lives and Impressions 2008 anthology prose ; The Biographer 2008 single work novel ; Death in the Mountains : The True Story of a Tuscan Murder 2008 single work prose ; The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Non-Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 16 May 2009; (p. 22)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Armchair Journey
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13-14 June 2009; (p. 5) The Age , 13 June 2009; (p. 5)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Ghosts in the Villas
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 23 no. 2 2009; (p. 223-224)
— Review of The Villa Diana 1950 selected work prose -
Mediterranean Man
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 315 2009; (p. 37-38)