LUIGI MENEGHELLO (1922-2007) was among Italy's most acclaimed twentieth century writers. After taking part in the resistance during the war, he accepted a one-year scholarship to the University of Reading in 1947. This led to a teaching appointment in the English department, and in 1961 Meneghello founded a highly influential Italian Studies department, which he led until his retirement from teaching in 1980. Deliver Us (Libera nos a malo 1963) was his first book. Among his other significant books are I piccoli maestri (1964), about the Italian resistance; Pomo pero (1974), Fiori italiani (1976) and Jura (1987), on the nature of speech, writing, and literary form.

FREDERIKA RANDALL's translations include Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age (2010) and The Body of Il Duce (Metropolitan Books, 2005) by Sergio Luzzatto; and Sicilian Tragedee by Ottavio Cappellani (2008). A journalist in Rome, she has written for The New York Times, The Nation, and many other publications.