{"product_id":"a-dinner-of-herbs-john-verney-9781589881327","title":"A Dinner of Herbs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eGoing to the Wars\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Dinner of Herbs\u003c\/i\u003e] have charm and high literary quality and are testaments to the art of self-deprecation and a world in which memoirists drew attention to the people they knew rather than to themselves. Verney had, at times, a taxing and dangerous war, but to read his accounts of it, one might think he was merely an observer. They are marvelously entertaining reads, not least because they open up to us a world that has just passed from view; and they speak to us in a voice we understand, but that is no longer entirely familiar.\"―\u003ci\u003eThe New Criterion\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1943, after parachuting into Sardinia to raid a German airfield, John Verney and several of his comrades from the British irregular forces were captured and sent to a POW camp in Italy's Abruzzo region. As the Allies attempted to retake the country, Verney and two others made their escape. For months, they survived on the generosity and bravery of the local Italians who fed them and kept them hidden in haylofts and mountain caves--despite the scarcity of resources and the dangers they themselves faced by harboring English soldiers. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwenty years after the war, Verney revisited the scenes of his imprisonment and escape, and the result is both an enchanting evocation of Southern Italy and an exhilarating story of wartime daring. He recounts the ironic upsides of being a prisoner of war (\"for the first time in four long years, I was free to do entirely what I wanted, which was to read as much as possible and try to learn to draw and write\") as well as the anxiety aroused by the possibility of attempting an escape. He describes the extremes of boredom, hunger, discomfort, and mutual irritation that he and his companions faced after their escape, and the immense capacity for tolerance and goodness that they discovered in each other--and especially in the desperately poor Italian families who helped them. Verney writes with a deceptive ease and wit, which reveals a subtlety and a candor that make this book as penetrating as it is delightful. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Verney\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 158988132X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781589881327\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Paul Dry Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/15\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 250\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.60d","brand":"John Verney","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43939839049983,"sku":"9781589881327","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_ba0b61d6-faad-478f-8774-4e79fe0bca2e.jpg?v=1681443788","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-dinner-of-herbs-john-verney-9781589881327","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}