Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006) was defined as “one of the most-read and best-loved writers in the world” by the dean of Chicago’s Columbia College, who awarded her an honorary degree in literature. As a war correspondent she had covered the great majority of our time’s conflicts, from Vietnam to the Middle East. Her books have been translated and sold in thirty countries.

Published for the first time in 1979 by Rizzoli, A Man is the passionate story of Alekos Panagulis, hero of the Greek Resistance and Fallaci’s partner. On May 1, 1976, Alexandros Panagulis, known as Alekos, the lonely hero of the Greek riot against tyranny and power, died tragically in a suspicious car crash. During his funeral, millions of people crowded the streets of Athens screaming “Zi, zi, zi!”—“Live, live, live!” This is the opening scene of A Man—and the final scene in the life of Alekos and of his love story with the author.

The narration goes back some years, and the reader relives the breakdown of Alekos’s relationship with Oriana Fallaci, starting with his attempt to kill the tyrant Papadopulos and his consequent arrest. Balancing romance and reportage, Fallaci describes Alekos’s personal fight against tyranny and his desperate attempt to escape his inevitable arrest.

Alekos became a real hero for the Greek population; the political leadership could not kill him without stirring up the suspicion of the public. The government built him a prison called Boiati, where he survived tremendous torture, hunger strikes, and terribly unsanitary conditions. After his release, Fallaci met and interviewed him. They fell in love and shared years of romance, obsession, and madness, all recounted in this extraordinary book. The story centers on their strong and deep love, intertwined with the struggle of this Greek tragic hero, who desperately looked for freedom and who, in the end, was just a man.