The struggle of the individual to thwart the dehumanizing forces of history occupies center stage in all of Ignazio Silone's work. The poor Fontamarans; the cafoni (peasants), who face both oppression and punishment at the hand of Fascists and yet survive; the Communist militant who realizes that all totalitarianism is inherently fascist; the "cynic" who denounces the savant who lacks sapientia (wisdom); the innocent convict who would rather serve a life sentence than betray a noble secret; the pope who resigns so that he can continue to serve the Lord; the intellectual who reads the signs of history and decodes them for his readers--all these are exemplary of the principal theme of Silone's works: the individual's ability to withstand the test.

Silone was born Secondino Tranquilli on 1 May 1900 to Paolo Tranquilli, a modest landowner, and Marianna (Delli Quadri) Tranquilli, who worked as a weaver. He was born in...