(Een ware held)
‘With A True Hero, Driessen illustrates that you don’t need many words to tell a great story. The book is less than a hundred pages long, but it is thrilling.’ De Standaard
In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria, solely to conquer Tyrol. Just as in the West, the conflict led to trench warfare, with trenches stretching 600 kilometres along the entire Italian-Austrian border, through the highest mountains in Europe. 900,000 dead and wounded were the result of a war that was hopeless for the Italians. The Austrians were positioned high on the slopes, holding a major advantage over the enemy below. Triggering an avalanche was an effective weapon…
Tyrannical Italian General Luigi Cadorna forms the backdrop to the story. To the General, who liked to compare himself to Napoleon, the life of the ordinary soldier didn’t matter. If his soldiers lost a battle, he would proceed to decimate his troops. Every tenth man was executed. He attributed all failures to the shortcomings of his subordinates, and punished them for it. He also abandoned Italian prisoners of war to their fate, resulting in the deaths of 100,000 in captivity.
Two brothers, Beppo and Luigi, are among the men who are to be punished. A battle is lost; this time, one in four men will die. As they shiver in the cold and the snow falls harder, they wait for the General’s plane. Beppo desperately tries to calculate their odds, so he knows where they must stand to avoid execution. At least one of them must survive!
Driessen describes the resignation among the soldiers. The squabbling over the last can of sardines, the men’s obedience in the face of death, and then the lining up.
A True Hero is the title of this book. Who, then, is that hero? Luigi, who panics in the face of death? Beppo, who goes to such lengths to position his brother and himself as favorably as possible? Or is it perhaps, in an ironic sense, the General, who ruthlessly pushes through his cruel, pointless ideas?
A short story that says so much. In a poignant and cinematic way, it highlights a defining scene from wartime history that you will never forget.
Sales
- Van Oorschot NL (new edition, March 2026)
Material: Dutch finished copies and pdf