Private Angelo

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Private Angelo
Front cover of novel
Author	Eric Linklater
Cover artist	T. M. Jaques (artist), Linda Wade (design)
Country	Scotland
Language	English
Genre(s)	satire, war
Publisher	Jonathan Cape Ltd
Publication date	1946
Published in English	1946
Media type	paperback
Pages	272
ISBN	ISBN 0-907675-61-1
OCLC	13668586

Private Angelo was written by Scottish author Eric Linklater and first published in 1946. It had subsequently been made into a film of the same name, produced and starred by Peter Ustinov as well as adapted for the stage by Mike Maran Productions.

The novel covers the (mis)adventures of an Italian soldier during World War II. The offspring of an English father and an Italian mother, the eponymous main character of the novel found himself unwillingly drafted into the Italian army, with Count Pontefiore, Commanding Officer of the 914th Regiment of Tuscan Infantry, as his colonel. Not only was the Count Angelo's patron, but he was also a former lover of Angelo's mother.

The novel opened with the Italian armistice of 1943, and traced the fortunes of Angelo as he sought to survive and regain a measure of control over his lives during the turmoils of the war.

Though distinctly lacking in dono di corragio (gift of courage), an annoying but life-saving characteristic, Angelo strove to main his cheerfulness and beautiful voice in chaotic circumstances beyond his control.