<DIV>The three short stories of <I>Into the</I> <I>War,</I> set in Italy in the summer of 1940, draw on Italo Calvino’s own memories of the Second World War. Through the eyes of adolescent narrators, these stories record the buildup of Mussolini’s Fascist Youth forces, the looting of an occupied French town, and the experiences of reluctant conscripts in the Italian army. Appearing here in its first English translation, <I>Into the War </I>is one of Calvino’s only works of autobiographical fiction, and it offers not only a glimpse of this writer’s extraordinary life, but also a snapshot of Calvino’s developing literary style at an early point in his career.<br></DIV>