An Italian writer, he made his debut with The Sergeant in the Snow (1953), one of the most notable literary testimonies of the Second World War, in which the author participated with the Alpine troops on the Russian front. Since 1970 he dedicated himself full time to the ‘craft of writing’, to cultivating the garden, to raising bees. Honorary degrees in forestry and environmental sciences and in political sciences. His books express poetic sensitivity and moral tension, historical memory and commitment to the defense of nature. His works include Ritorno sul Don (1973), The Story of Tönle (1982) and Uomini, boschi e api (1980).