As the Second World War drew to a close, European borders were being redrawn. The regions of Istria, Dalmatia, and Venezia Giulia, nominally Italian but at various times also belonging to Austria and Germany, fell under the rule of Yugoslavia and its dictator Marshal Tito. The ensuing removal and genocide of Italians from these regions had been little explored or even discussed until 1999, when the esteemed Italian journalist Arrigo Petacco wrote L'esodo: La tragedia negata degli italiani d'Istria, Dalmazia e Venezia Giulia. Now this story is available in English as A Tragedy Revealed.

Petacco explains the history of the regions and how they were shifted between empires for centuries. The greater part of the story however details the genocidal program of the Yugoslav Communist government toward the native Italians in the regions. Based on previously unavailable archival documents and oral accounts from people who were there, Petacco reveals the events and exposes the Italian government's mishandling – and then official silence on – the situation. This is a riveting work on a little-known, tragic event written by one of Italy's most highly regarded journalists.

Arrigo Petacco is a journalist, author, and historian living in Liguria, Italy.

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Konrad Eisenbichler, Curator at the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at Victoria University, has been studying Cecchi’s theatre for several years. His research has twice taken him to Italy, once in 1976 under the auspices of the Renaissance Society of America and once in 1980 on a Buchanan Scholarship from the University of Toronto. There he was able to consult manuscripts of Cecchi’s unpublished plays and search Florentine archives for biographical information into this retiring dramatist’s life. Mr. Eisenbichler’s translation, the first for any of Cecchi’s plays, is thus supported by a thorough critical apparatus, while retaining the lively and jovial style of Cecchi’s original.

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• Winner, Premo Internazionale Letterario Umberto Saba