The first historical appraisal of the astonishing life and times of a controversial twentieth-century saint. Padre Pio is one of the world's most beloved holy figures, more popular in Italy than the Virgin Mary and even Jesus. His tomb is the most visited Catholic shrine anywhere, drawing more devotees than Lourdes. His miraculous feats included the ability to fly and to be present in two places at once; an apparition of Padre Pio in midair prevented...

Situated more than one hundred miles off Italy's southern coast, the rocky island of Lampedusa has hit world headlines in recent years as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern refugees fleeing civil war and terrorism and hoping to make a new life in Europe. Dr. Pietro Bartolo, who runs the lone medical clinic on the island, has been caring for many of them--both the living and the dead--for a quarter century....

Tells the story of the flight of some members of the White Army and their sympathizers near the end of the Russian Civil War, including generals, a professor, and the wife of a St. Petersburg businessman who had renounced her to save his own skin. Shows their journeys to the Crimea, Constantinople and Paris as they cope with the bitter fate of living in exile.

In post-WWII poverty-stricken Rome, a man struggles to earn a living for himself and his family. When his bicycle and main means of transport is stolen, with his young son in tow, he attempts to find the thief.