"In the Interest of the State. Asinara Island between the National Park, the Red Brigades, and the Cosa Nostra" by Vittorio Gazale has won the ninth annual Piersanti Mattarella Literary and Journalism Award in the Investigative Books category. The book, published by Solferino and recently presented in Olbia (a meeting sponsored by the Friends of the Simpliciana Civic Library), traces the history of Asinara Island from its state expropriation in 1885—which transformed it into a notorious prison, first for soldiers, then for Red Brigades members and Mafiosi—up to its reconversion into a National Park in 1997.
A story, with a preface by Nando dalla Chiesa, which encompasses over a century of Italian history and with which Vittorio Gazale, director of the Park, wanted to pay homage to the memory of a territory and its protagonists. "Winning the Piersanti Mattarella Literary Prize was a profound honor for me and a responsibility I feel intensely," Gazale commented. "In this book, I have attempted to restore the memory of an area that, for over a century, has been the scene of difficult choices and a silent commitment to serving institutions, remembering extraordinary figures such as Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, Giovanni Falcone, and Paolo Borsellino. I thank the Asinara National Park, the Solferino publishing house, the Prize jury, and, in particular, Professor Nando dalla Chiesa, who guided the work from the initial stages to the final draft, enriching it with a powerful and moving preface. And I dedicate this prize to all the places that, like Asinara, are committed to transforming a painful past into a promise of civil, moral, and environmental rebirth, without ever forgetting their own history."