ViviDolomiti Cronache da oltre frontiera Stories of guards, smugglers and... brigands novel

ViviDolomiti Cronache da oltre frontiera Stories of guards, smugglers and... brigands: The smugglers who, over a century ago, traversed the most rugged paths of Alta Lessinia, the intertwining of beautiful love stories and true friendships, the description of the mysterious places of popular legends, the "filò" gatherings that once took place in stables during long snowy winter evenings, the often ironic and amusing dialogues of the protagonists, with some brief passages in Venetian and Cimbrian, the ancient dialects spoken here, and still, the extraordinary agricultural landscape of Lessinia: these are just some of the ingredients of this tale.

The life of mountain people and those who lived in the valleys near the border was hard, often marked by hunger, sacrifices, and difficulties that are hard to imagine today. The author, with true expertise and admirable meticulous research, finally does justice to the scarce or non-existent knowledge of that historical period, of that phase in the growth of our people. In that era, smuggling (a phenomenon vigorously opposed by the authorities of the time) was seen as a modest opportunity for redemption, even at the cost of secrecy and the constant risk of being caught in the rigid nets of the police or by the relentless nature of the rugged terrain and the harsh winter climate of the Lessini mountains, Carega, and other border peaks. This is a book to read, and perhaps also to study, for those who love to know the history of the mountains and the people who lived there. From the preface by Bepi Magrin.