Review of Dead for Duty, the true story of Roberto Mancini

This book is a memorable biography about an Italian hero, a man, who donated his life to save his people, especially children, from the environmental pollution. This is the true story about policeman Roberto Mancini, who, between Naples and Caserta ( Southern Italy), in 1995, started an inquiry against traffic in toxic wastes headed by the Camorra. This criminal organization gained big earnings from this traffic. To prevent from being discovered, the toxic wastes were buried under the ground. Unfortunately, the ground was the one of farm lands of this Italian region, namely Campania. When all the lands were occupied with trash and toxic compounds coming from the wastes of North Italy and Europe, many toxic bins were burnt along the countryside streets. These fires developed nasty smells and the continuing inhalation of the toxic smoke caused many cancer cases in this territory. For this phenomena, this area was also called “The Land of Fires”. Said like this, it seems to discuss about another planet, but instead I am talking about a marvellous land turned into a hell by ruthless men. During the investigation to spot and arrest the guilty of this environmental crime, even Roberto Mancini and some members of his team developed cancer. Despite all this, and the disease, Mr. Roberto Mancini continued to fight against this dirty traffic of radioactive and toxic compounds deposited in one of the most beautiful territories in Italy. This brave policeman died in April of 2014, after some years dedicated to fight his awful disease. Roberto was a man capable to not surrender in the face of this enormous environmental crime which, in turn, is also a crime against mankind. In Campania, indeed, many mothers witnessed the absurd and unnatural death of their children because of cancer. No mother should see her little children dying from cancer caused by environmental pollution. Unfortunately, only few people who lived near the Land of Fires were spared from cancer. Many other men, women, children, instead, developed rare and awful kinds of cancer, such as leukaemia, lymphoma and other malignity somewhat linked to environmental pollution and contact with radioactive substances. This book, hence, is also a cry of sorrow for all these children and people died for these environmental crimes. But this work is also a scream of pain coming from an Italian land that was injured, harmed and spoiled by a sinister illegal traffic. The original title of this book is Io, morto per dovere" that I translated into “Dead for Duty”. The Italian subtitle is : La vera storia di Roberto Mancini, il poliziotto che ha scoperto la Terra dei fuochi, namely: The true story of Roberto Mancini, the man who discovered the Land of Fires". This book is in Italian, but I believe it very soon will be translated into English. The author couldn’t write his memoir because of his early death from cancer. Indeed, the book was written by Italian journalists Luca Ferrari and Nello Trocchia and by Monika Dobrowolska Mancini, the widow of the policeman. From the book was also drawn an Italian Tv Movie titled. “ Io non mi arrendo” ( I don’t give up). To play the role of Roberto Mancini, it was Italian actor Giuseppe Fiorello, who also wrote the foreword of the book. This great masterpiece about the life and the death of this Italian policeman is really a heartfelt witnessing about how it is always possible doing something to save the world from evil and crime. It does not matter if one must also die to save others. Roberto Mancini knew he would die, but, in spite of this, he kept fighting against his same cancer and against criminals. This book is a great example of courage and tenacity, but also of love and generosity. It is a superb and poignant story in which it is impossible to hold back tears. I was not able to not cry. I cried, indeed, for Roberto, for the dead children, for this polluted land and I also wondered “Why do the good people die for first? To reply to this question, it was the same daughter of the author, who, during the funeral of her loved father, told a sentence just said by Roberto: “In the meadow, only the best flowers are picked”. Yes, only the best flowers are always picked, and I believe that also the best books are always read and appreciated. And Dead for Duty is one of the best memoirs I have ever read in my life!