Prince of the Clouds - Tapa dura

‘Gianni Riotta writes with the vigour of a lover and the crisp knowledge of an academic. He is as romantic as Pasternak, as colourful and densely plotted as Garcia Marquez.The nature and scale of the story are so grand, so classically elegant, it is with a jolt one remembers that the tale is set in the twentieth century.Few writers dare, or succeed, in such territory, and still fewer make the subject of war so readable.’Observer

‘An entertainment proper for the thinking person...it works for Umberto Eco,it works for Indiana Jones, and now it works for Riotta: the rip-roaring romance with the scholarly plot.’ Michael Pye, New York Times

‘Gianni Riotta is a born writer... His books are the stuff of contemporary life.’ UMBERTO ECO

‘An intelligent romance, beautifully set, of wide-ranging appeal, reminiscent of the film Il Postino and Louis de Bernieres’ Captain Correlli’s Mandolin.’ Publishers Weekly

''Even more enchanting than Louis de Bernieres's Captain Correlli's Mandolin, Riotta's first novel to be translated into English is a revelation: as intoxicating as a glass of fine Italian wine served in a pavement cafe in Rome. Gentle, sensuous, scholarly and yet with an aching charm, it depicts a world where chivalry and honour are still possible, and the unlikeliest men can still be heroes. Set in Sicily, it is so evocative you can almost smell the scent of olives, and love, in the air. But Riotta's novel is not just two love stories – it also contains one of the most thrilling battle sequences I'v read in years, a fitting climax to a story so touching it fills my heart with pleasure just to write about it.''
Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail

A rousingly romantic Mediterranean novel of love and war. ‘Even more enchanting than Louis de Bernieres's Captain Correlli's Mandolin, Riotta's novel is a revelation’ (Daily Mail).

Palermo, 1946. Carlo Terzo, a retired military strategist who has never seen combat, is teaching young Salvatore Dragonara military history while Terzo works on his Manual for Strategic Living, in which he hopes to apply the hard lessons of war to daily life.

Salvatore is in love with the young and beautiful Fiore, whose mother, the Duchess Mastema, is a rich and cruel landowner. When Terzo and his friends visit the duchess’s property, they are caught in a pitched battle between the oppressed peasants and the duchess’s hired thugs, and Terzo is forced to put his strategic wisdom to the test...

Like Louis de Bernières' Captain Correlli's Mandolin, Gianni Riotta’s charming and provocative romance explores large and small matters of love and war, shifting between the turbulence of post-war Sicily and the great battles of ancient and modern history. A bestseller in Italy, Prince of the Clouds is a deeply moving work of fiction, imbued with rare vibrancy and feeling.