Set in Italy in the summer of 1940, this trio of stories explores the relationships between the different generations caught up in the war as well as Calvino`s own experiences as a teenager. In the title story, ” Into the War”, we are given an insight into what life was really like for those too young to be conscripted into Mussolini`s army, while in ” The Avanguardisti in Menton”, Calvino & his friends take a revealingly anti-climactic trip to the garrisoned French town of Menton, the sole Italian conquest of the early months of the conflict. The final story, ”UNPA Nights”, is a touching, comic tale of friendship in a blackout, where the narrator`s imagination wanders as he roams through the seedier parts of the darkened town instead of guarding the school buildings. ” Into the War” is Calvino at his autobiographical best, combining brilliantly recollected memory with compelling wit & perfect prose.