Robert Capa biography becomes children's novel 'Una giusta distanza'

A new children's novel titled 'Una giusta distanza' (A Just Distance), inspired by the life of war photographer Robert Capa, is set for release on October 1, 2024, by Einaudi Ragazzi. Written by the duo Luca Cognolato and Silvia del Francia, the book blends biography and fiction to explore Capa's adventurous life and the horrors of war. Capa, born Endre Ernő Friedmann in Budapest in 1913, fled Hungary due to his socialist sympathies, studied in Berlin, and began his career photographing Leon Trotsky in Denmark in 1932 using a hidden Leica. He later moved to Paris, where he met and collaborated with German war photographer Gerda Taro. During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, he adopted the pseudonym Robert Capa and captured his iconic image 'The Falling Soldier'. The novel follows Capa through key events: covering the Allied campaign in North Africa, parachuting into Sicily, advancing through Italy, landing on D-Day in Normandy, entering liberated Paris, and visiting Nazi extermination camps where he was too horrified to photograph. The authors, who previously wrote about Giorgio Perlasca, were inspired by a photography exhibition. They aimed to tell Capa's story to all ages, focusing on his relentless pursuit of the perfect shot and the ethical questions surrounding war photography.