It is true that I am a citizen of the world, but I am from Abruzzo and the love for my own land one carries within, becomes a part of you, in whatever part of the world you live.
- Ignazio Silone -

For some years now the figure of Ignazio Silone - the Italian anti-fascist writer by definition - has divided the opinions of historians and intellectuals in an apparently irreconcilable way. And souls become inflamed, so much so that, despite the numerous publications published on the subject, the diatribe does not seem to abate. What happened? Let's start with an established and undisputed fact that emerged from the state archives just over a decade ago.

On April 13, 1930, from Locarno, Silone writes a "last letter" to Guido Bellone, an Italian public security official. Of what kind were they - here is the question of debate - the correspondence between the two beforehand? Silone was the most astute and effective informant of the fascist police, as historians Dario Biocca and Mauro Canali claim, or a tireless and consistent adversary of the Mussolini regime, as Giuseppe Tamburrano maintains (to cite only the "founders" of the opposing fronts)? Who is Ignazio Silone really? And what value to attribute to his writings?

Who really intends to investigate the intellectual biography of Ignazio Silone, to seek the truth with respect for people (invitation to scholars from the widow Darina Silone, in Pescina, on May 1, 2000), must go beyond the two sides of innocentists and guilty parties. But let's proceed with order.