The Italian

«I dreamed of writing this unimaginable and completely true story ever since my father told it to me in childhood,» — says Arturo Pérez-Reverte about the novel «The Italian,» which has sold several hundred thousand copies in the author's homeland. The real story of Italian combat swimmers who sank fourteen British ships — a story of individual triumph over a powerful military machine against all odds — has been told differently for many years: Italians have traditionally been depicted as bumbling cowards, and Pérez-Reverte wanted to restore justice. Italy was an ally of Germany in World War II, but that doesn’t bother him: «In my novels, the line between hero and villain is always conditional. My characters could find themselves on either side. Heroes are always ambiguous. And those who do not understand this can go to hell.» Arturo Pérez-Reverte is a former military journalist, a celebrated author of brilliant historical, military, and adventure novels translated into forty languages, and the creator of the series about Captain Diego Alatriste, holder of prestigious literary awards. «The Italian» is a story of personal valor: the bravery of Italian divers conducting daring operations in Gibraltar, and the courage of one Spanish woman, a bookstore owner, who recognized in these men heroes in the classical, literary sense of the word, wanted to fight alongside them and became a modern Nausicaa for the Ulysses who emerged from the dark waters. Before you is a dizzying military thriller, a hymn to the Mediterranean, an incredible story of love and fearlessness in the face of hopeless circumstances, a novel about heroism on either side of the front line.