Don Camillo and Don Chichi

Giovanni Guareschi was born in 1909 in Fontanelle di Roccabianca in the Province of Parma. In 1926 his family succumbed to the economic depression under the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini, which meant that Giovanni had to leave the University of Parma without a degree and went to work in a sugar factory, a bicycle compound and variously as a sign painter and mandolin teacher. A break came after he began submitting cartoons to the satirical magazine Bertoldo and from 1936 he was the chief editor of Bertoldo. In 1943, after the Allies invaded Italy he was arrested by the Germans and incarcerated in prison camps in Poland, where he used his developing talents as journalist, writer, sketcher and cartoonist to become one of the 'animators' of the Italian Resistance. Among the partisans in the mountains, communists fought alongside monarchists, republicans and Catholics, burying their differences for the good of the people. Here unity, community, freedom over political ideology, individual responsibility, and a sense of belonging were the values that defeated fascism, and post-war became the values which inspired Guareschi's own weekly satirical magazine, Candido, and his fictional stories. The big political picture became, in microcosm, the Little World of Don Camillo, the particular tensions and need for unity transferring to the fictional Don Camillo and his natural enemy, Peppone, the Communist Mayor, while the voice of Guareschi's conscience became that of his third main character high up on the cross above the altar of the village church, forever surprising us mere mortals with his warmth and wisdom. A full biography of the author is printed in the latest edition of The Little World of Don Camillo.

'Giovanni Guareschi's tales of Don Camillo, the Italian priest with a hefty left hook, are absolutely delightful in their satirical swipes at human weakness.' Paul Merton 'Inimitable, delicious, full of pure fun' The Observer 'Instinctive humanity and compassion' The Guardian 'Charming and enchanting . . . Witty and wise' Edinburgh Evening News 'Written with such warmth and simplicity, so concerned with the trivialities of everyday life and giving us so shrewd a glimpse into the minds of the people . . .' Evening News 'You'll find Don Camillo not just enchanting and lovable, and at times hilariously funny, but also strangely moving in his simply but certain faith.' BBC Radio - 'Books by the Fire' 'These haunting stories about this haunting place... Somehow Guareschi made people laugh at their own predicament at a time when humour was sorely needed.' BBC Radio Four