Partisan Diary
A Woman's Life in the Italian Resistance
Ada Gobetti
Translated and edited by Jomarie Alano
Reviews and Awards
Named one of the 'Five Best Diaries of World War II' by Max Hastings in the Wall Street Journal, January 2020
"Her diary, first published in 1956, was a best seller in Italy. It is now available in English translation, a monument to an authentic heroine who became a symbol of civilian resistance to tyranny." -- Max Hastings, The Wall Street Journal
"Ada Gobetti's Partisan Diary is a classic text of the Italian Resistance and its publication in English translation is most welcome. It is doubly important as both political and personal testimony: one that clearly explains the ideology of the Action Party while documenting the critical contributions of Italian women in the fight against Fascism and Nazism. Fundamental for an understanding of anti-fascism and World War II, and critical for gender and memory studies, it reminds us--with its eloquence and powerful poignancy--of the perennial struggle against Fascism in all its myriad forms."--Stanislao G. Pugliese, editor of Fascism, Anti-Fascism and the Resistance in Italy
"Ada Gobetti gave the world the gift of her memoir, Diario partigiano, and now Jomarie Alano has given us the gift, at long last, of the English translation of this extraordinary testimony of everyday life and activism in the Italian Resistance. Alano is Gobetti's biographer as well as her translator; as such, she is uniquely suited to the task of bringing Gobetti's memoir to a wider public. Thanks to Alano's introduction, readers will appreciate Ada Gobetti's activism for what it was: a lifelong struggle, from the early days of the antifascist movement in the 1920s through the women's liberation movement of the '60s and '70s. Partisan Diary is an extraordinary primary source for historians of Resistance, gender, and fascism."--Paula Schwartz, Lois B. Watson Professor of French Studies, Middlebury College
"Ada Gobetti's Partisan Diary is a fundamental text for any in-depth understanding of the personal and political complexities of the partisan struggle. Now made available for the first time in English, Ada Gobetti's book offers a narrative of the Italian resistance that is unique in its details, point of view and voice."--David Ward, author of Piero Gobetti's New World: Antifascism, Liberalism, Writing