Iris Origo

A life between history and literature

Iris Origo, 20th century Anglo-American writer and patron of the arts, is known for her diaries and essays that offer a vivid insight into life in Italy during the Second World War. Having settled on the La Foce estate in Tuscany, she sensitively documented and acuteness the human and social events of the time, making her an important figure in contemporary literature.

Discover Iris Origo's books

A Chill in the Air

An Italian War Diary

In this posthumously published diary from 1939-40, Iris Origo captures the anguish and uncertainty of a country that, unaware and unprepared, slowly slides into a devastating war. With a foreword by Sergio Romano and a contribution from Katia Lysy, Iris Origo’s granddaughter, this volume serves as an essential companion to the bestseller "War in Val d'Orcia," a classic that has left an indelible mark on literature.

Images and Shadows

Autobiography

Iris Origo's autobiography takes us on a journey through her childhood spent between Europe and America, eventually leading to her life in the enchanting Tuscany, nestled within the vast and evocative agricultural estate of La Foce. There, together with her husband Antonio, she dedicated herself with passion and determination to transforming a barren and neglected land, improving the living conditions of the local community, and breathing new life into a forgotten corner of Italy.

War in Val d'Orcia

War Diary 1943 - 1944

A classic of World War II, this diary is a simple yet elegant account of daily life at La Foce in Tuscany, a no man's land caught between foreign invasion and civil war. "The faithful account by Marchesa Origo is one of those rare and precious documents that tells historical truth with the artistic mastery of a writer: a noble testimony of ignoble times" (Helen Wolff).

Bernardino da Siena

And his Time

Iris Origo, distinguished biographer and erudite historian, reconstructs the life and world of a saint of rare charm. A nobleman and scholar, born in Siena in the late 14th century, he has been called the second founder of the Franciscan order. With his humor and ability to communicate simply and directly, he was beloved by both the common people and the learned. The book paints a portrait of a saint who was a man of his time, made eternal by his profound humanity.

Leopardi

Portrait of a Poet

A sensitive and brilliant portrait of the melancholic, semi-reclusive Italian poet whose genius, pain, and frustrated hopes found expression in poetry admired for its vibrancy, intensity, and seemingly effortless musicality. "Lively and incredibly readable" (Peter Quennell).

The Last Attachment

The Story of Byron and Teresa Guiccioli

Teresa Guiccioli was just nineteen, and recently married to a jealous husband nearly three times her age, when she met Byron. He was one of the most infamous men in Europe; she was an inexperienced but beautiful provincial noblewoman. For the next four years, until Byron went to Greece, this formed the basis of a passionate, scandalous, and very intense love affair.

The Merchant of Prato

Francesco di Marco Datini

The book tells the story of Francesco Datini. Living in the second half of the 14th century, Datini represents the prototype of the modern merchant: an indefatigable traveler, he lived in Avignon before returning to Tuscany and starting commercial enterprises in Pisa, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, and Ibiza. His life is recorded in the correspondence and accounting ledgers discovered at the end of the 19th century during the restoration of his palace: tens of thousands of documents, an exceptional archival collection that has served scholars of Italian and European economics and capitalism, and which the author has used to create an authentic portrait of a man of the Italian Renaissance.

A Need to Testify

Four Lives

Portraits of Lauro De Bosis, Ruth Draper, Gaetano Salvemini and Ignazio Silone and an essay on Biography. Iris writes about four anti-fascists, all personal friends, in pre-World War II. Iris Origo's account is enriched by her own gift of empathy, which made her a matchless friend and a wonderful historian.

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