A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary 1939–1940 by Iris Origo

Iris Origo never quite felt she belonged anywhere. One of the twentieth century's great diarists, she was born in England in 1902, moving between Ireland, Italy and America as a child. It was only when she married an Italian man that she came to rest in one country. Fifteen years later, that country would be at war with her own.  The gripping precursor to War in Val d'Orcia, her bestselling classic diary, A Chill in the Air is Origo's devastating account of how Italy stumbled into conflict in 1940. Through her connections with all of society - from the peasants on her estate to the US ambassador - she uncovers the turmoil, the danger, and the grim absurdities the country faced as war became more and more inevitable.