Bread and Wine is an anti-fascist novel, meaning that it looks down upon the system of totalitarianism, where one person is in complete control of the government and its functions. Originally published in 1936 in Switzerland, though in the German language, the novel was written by the Italian novelist Ignazio Silone.
Obviously, in a time dominated by Stalin and Mussolini, who ruled over his own country, the book was highly regulated and sometimes burned. In 1955, Silone revised the book completely to stay "up with the times", renaming it Wine and Bread, which is considered a separate book, but less recognized.
Born in the year 1900, Ignazio Silone was an Italian writer and activist. He was member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1946-1948, and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature ten times, but never won it. Relatively new research suggests that Silone was at first in contact with the fascist police, but after he learned that his brother had been tortured, he became an activist.
