Prince of the Clouds - Tapa blanda

‘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

‘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

A rousingly romantic Mediterranean tale of love and war.

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.