Prince of the Clouds Author:Gianni Riotta A rich, romantic novel set in post-world war II italy--steeped in military history--about young love, idealism, and the lessons of experience. 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 ... more »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 lands, 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 Bernires's Corelli's Mandolin, Gianni Riotta's charming and provocative romance explores large and small matters of love and war, shifting between the turbulence of postwar Sicily and the great battles of ancient and modern history. A major bestseller in Italy, Prince of the Clouds is a deeply moving work of fiction, imbued with rare vibrance and feeling.« less