La Parte più buia della Notte

(The Darkest Part of the Night)

During those incredible months in which I went from a normal life to a new life, at war, with my children growing up in a distant country, I was contacted by Rizzoli to write our story. I decided to give the book the title of a phrase that my wife’s grandmother often said, namely that “after the darkest part of the night, dawn always comes”. This phrase is particularly important considering that my wife’s grandmother was one of the leaders of the UPA and for this reason spent 27 years in Russian prisons without ever losing her optimism and hope.

I am very grateful to Rizzoli for this opportunity because talking about it and raising awareness of our situation helped me overcome the difficulties, giving me the motivation and hope to commit myself to doing something more than just suffering the change brought about by Russia’s criminal invasion (the lowercase is a must).

I would also like to thank Feltrinelli, who distributed the book throughout Italy, organising promotional events and supporting me in the presentations I organised myself, such as the one in Perugia at my friend Sara’s Cantina Goretti.