Karoline Newman

THE PIKE - by Lucy Hughes Hallett

In 2013 The Pike, a detailed analysis of the life of Gabriele D'Annunzio,  won the Samual Johnson Prize for non fiction and the Costa biograpy award. It is an erudite work that charts the life of a fascinationg and repellent and surprisingly little-known man who was part of the Italian Futurists movement amid the rise of Fascism.

 

The unabridged reading of 655 pages (!) runs to 23 hours and spans D'Annunzio's life in Italy and France, with commentary and observations from important people of the day drawn from across Europe. 

 

The narration required careful research and checking for Italian, French and German pronunciations.