Iris Origo

"A harrowing account of life in Italy in the year leading up to World War II, available in the US for the first time. War in Italy in 1939 was by no means necessary or even beneficial to the country. But in June 1940, Mussolini finally declared war on Britain and France. The awful inevitability with which Italy stumbled its way into a war for which they were ill prepared and largely unenthusiastic is documented here with grace and clarity by one of the twentieth century's great diarists. This diary, which has never been published and was recently found in Iris Origo's archives, is the sad and arresting account of the grim absurdities that Italy and the world underwent as war became more and more unavoidable. Origo, British-born and living in Italy, was ideally placed to record the events. Extremely engaged with the world around her, connected to people from all areas of society (from the peasants on her estate to the US ambassador to Italy), she writes of the turmoil, the danger, and the bleakness of Italy in 1939 and 1940, as war went from a possibility to a dreadful reality. A Chill in the Air covers the beginning of a war whose catastrophic effects are documented in Origo's bestselling War in Val D'Orcia"--

Allegra At first, Allegra Herington thought the offer of marriage from her distant cousin, Sir Derek, an attractive proposition. Left homeless and practically penniless, it would ensure security and happiness for her and her younger sister, Hilary. But hearing the rumour that he was only proposing out of charity, she firmly refused him. Taking Hilary, she swept off to take up a teaching post in Brussels, despite the political disturbances on the Continent. Sir Derek, exasperated by her independence, still made certain that both girls entered the highest circles of English society in the city. Soon they were surrounded by suitors, but on the eve of Waterloo the girls found themselves confronting unexpected danger and there was only one person they could turn to - Sir Derek...