Cronache dalla polvere

(Chronicles from the Dust)

Author: Zoya Barontini

Illustrator: Alberto Merlin

Publisher: Bompiani, 2019

Publisher’s recommended age: N/A

An autopsy, in the form of a mosaic novel, of the dark heart of Italian colonialism in Ethiopia. Various storylines unite to recreate the horror of the violent fascist reaction to the failed attack (on Addis Ababa): thousands of deaths, vandalized homes, rapes. The collective’s name tellingly combines a traditionally female Ethiopian first name with the last name of an anti-fascist activist. This book casts a disturbing shadow on the myth of the "good Italians" reminding us of the atrocities committed in the name of a still simmering ideology of racial supremacy, committed against a population that has not forgotten.

Available Languages: Italian