Il cannocchiale del tenente Dumont
When Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in Egypt faces consistent defections, a medical commission stumbles upon an unexpected cause: the clues all point towards an unknown drug called “hashish”, which troops discovered along the Nile.
Three unaware drug-smugglers – a literate captain, a tough Basque soldier and a lieutenant who is something of a dreamer – land in Italy after days of navigation. When chaos breaks loose during the battle of Marengo, they all defect and flee to a future free from war and blood.
Welcomed by Liguria’s valleys and shores – a local paradise that is also a shelter to countless spies and soldiers, as well as a gruff yet heaven-sent woman –, the three fugitives will face crossed love stories, deaths both real and fake, and delusions from their past under the beaming Italian sun.
Lieutenant Dumont is the compelling and lyrical narrator who skilfully conducts this visionary and ever-changing novel by one of the most esteemed Italian authors of our time.
Marino Magliani was born in 1960. He is a novelist and translator from Spanish and Dutch. He lives in The Netherlands. He has been honored with several lifetime achievement awards. Some of his novels and short-stories have been translated into English, Dutch, Spanish, French and German. His book Prima che te lo dicano altri (Chiarelettere 2018) has been awarded with the Selezione Bancarella prize and Premio Augusto Monti.
