Forced labour crippling taxes torture as a customary practice people shut away for the slightest offence for no more than a wrong word in

Forced labour, crippling taxes, torture as a customary practice, people shut away for the slightest offence, for no more than a wrong word, in the horrific cells below him, cavities hardly big enough to admit a crawling figure. The iron railings surrounding the Great Fountain in Cathedral Square had been garnished continuously with decomposing heads."Or the same man, after a seminar: "Of course, there were pitfalls in this game of patterns; one tended to lose the sense of their provisional nature, to believe they expressed a settled truth. He writes with the same sombre, direct plangency about the later misrule of the place by Papal Legates.Here is Monti, musing: "The destruction of the Baglioni houses had signalled the end of the oppressive rule of that lawless and arrogant brood; but the government of priests that followed had been a tyranny crueller, more systematic, far worse. Unsworth writes well in this novel about a range of matters from Italian painting to Hannibal's victory over the Romans on the shores of Lake Trasimene, from money and mean-heartedness to the Umbrian vegetation and the magic of its sunlight. But he writes best of all when Monti is brooding on the apparently endless recurrences of vainglory and savagery in the history of Perugia; or when Ritter is trying to come to terms with his father's having been an Intelligence Liaison Officer during the war, and involved in the massacre of 335 Italian civilians in the Ardeatine Caves.Unsworth writes dispassionately about the clans which dominated Perugia when it was a free state, about the cycles of murder and counter-murder - the preferred method generally having been the stabbing by several men of one unarmed man. He paints a portrait of its speculators and innocents vividly, but there is a lot more to the novel than this.The two most interesting characters are Professor Monti, a historian of mediaeval and renaissance Umbria, and Anders Ritter, a disillusioned interpreter who after a nervous breakdown has come to live in an old farmhouse and till the land. There are a number of foreigners living along this road as well as Italians not native to the region.

And on a superficial level, After Hannibal is about the tragi-comedy of the newcomers' imcomprehensions and set-backs. It is about their ruinous dealings with crooked surveyors, project managers and builders; and about their being saved, some of them, by the splendidly diabolical lawyer Mancini. Unsworth knows his Italian land law, its delays, loopholes, injustices, absurdities, and uses. The story is seamlessly told, and it starts with a wall tumbling into this road, and a squabble which in consequence breaks out between a family of local farmers and an English couple who have recently bought one of the linked houses. And the point about this particular road is that it links the lives of the diverse cast of characters who have their houses dotted along it. But getting somewhere, in this Italy and in this novel, is not often desirable and still less frequently possible.

These roads meander from farmhouse to farmhouse, from hamlet to field, from church to wood and on again, generally petering out just when you thought you were getting somewhere. The scene is set in Umbria, a province which the author clearly knows with an insider's knowledge, along one of the rough roads winding through the hills, muddy in winter, dusty in summer. The tradition of English writing about Italy is a wonderfully rich one, (good Italian writing about England being disappointingly rare,) and Barry Unsworth's new novel, After Hannibal, is a most welcome addition to it. Served with BreadPlats ChaudsNavarin d'AgneauTraditional Lamb stew cooked onthe boneorMarmite DieppoiseNormandy Fish Stew of Scallops, Mussels, Prawns and Salmon finished with Mushrooms and CreamDessertsOranges CarameliseesCaramelised Oranges,Cinnamon Ice CreamorProfiterole Sauce CaramelProfiterole filled with Vanilla Ice Cream, Butterscotch SauceFilter coffee. For city branches, check with yourlocal Cafe Rouge.SPECIAL OFFER MENUpounds 5 LunchHors d'OeuvresSalade de MerguezSalad of Warm Spicy Sausage with Red & Green PeppersorSalade de Bleu d'Auvergneaux NoixLittle Gem Lettuce with Blue Cheeseand WalnutsPlats ChaudsSaumon GrilleBearnaise, Pommesde Terre RissoleesGrilled Salmon with RissoleesPotatoes& Bearnaise SauceorPoulet Roti au Gratin DauphinoisRoast Breast of Chicken withDauphinois PotatoesFilter coffeepounds 10 DinnerHors d'OeuvresSoupe de PoissonsMediterranean Fish Soup withCroutons, Rouille and Gruyere cheeseorTerrine MaisonPate of Chicken Livers flavoured with Madeira.

For readers who have anIndependent/Cafe Rouge promotional postcard, this qualifies as a voucher. It can be redeemed at any Cafe Rouge restaurant listed in our promotion, as long as two differently numbered tokens are attached, alongside your Starter Token.7. Offer does not apply to Cafe Rouge Dublin.CAFe ROUGE RESTAURANTS:LONDON:Battersea, Blackheath,Canary Wharf,Chelsea, Chiswick, Clapham, Crouch End,Dulwich, Ealing, Earlsfield, Fetter Lane, Fulham, Fulham Palace Road, Frith Street, Hampstead, Hays Galleria, Highgate, James Street, Kensington, Kew, Knightsbridge, Limeburner Lane, Maida Vale, Old Brompton Road, Portobello,Putney, Richmond, Sheen, Southgate, Shepherds Bush, Strand On The Green, Wandsworth, Wellington Street, West Hampstead, Whiteleys, Wimbledon, St John's Wood.OUTSIDE LONDON: Aberdeen, Bath, Beckenham, Birmingham, Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Dorking, Edinburgh, Esher, Glasgow, Guildford, Harrogate, Henley, High Wycombe, Kingston Hill, Knutsford, Loughton, Manchester, Oxford, Pinner, Reigate, Stanmore, Sunbury, Weybridge, Wilmslow.If you are not sure where your nearest Cafe Rouge is, simply call 0171 478 8042 for details Opening hours are Mon-Sat: 10am-11pm, Sun: 10am- 10.30pm. Only one Starter Token can be used instead of a numbered token.3. The cost of drinks is not included in either offer and a 12.5% optional service charge will be added to the cost of any drinks or purchases additional to the offer.4 Photocopies of tokens and vouchers are not acceptable.5 The offer is valid from 30 September to 13 October 1996.6. The offer entitles two people to either Lunch for pounds 5 or Dinner for pounds 10 when a voucher and threedifferently numbered tokens are presented at one of the Cafe Rouges listed in our promotion.2. Just remember tocollect three differently numbered tokens plus a voucher for each offer.Tokens can be redeemed at any time between 30September to 13 October 1996 inclusive.Terms and Conditions1.

You must identify yourself as an`Independent/Cafe Rouge Voucher Holder' and present your voucher and tokens on arrival at the restaurant. You will be given a copy of our our exclusive menu, detailed on this page.Today we print Token 1; Token 2 will be printed intomorrow's Independent on Sunday. Vouchers will be printed on Monday 23, Thursday 26 and Sunday 29 September.If you want to try both our superb offers of lunch forpounds 5 and dinner for pounds 10, youcan do so. If you have a Starter Token, it can be used instead of a numbered token, but only one Starter Token can be used to make up your token collection.Attach your three tokens to one of the special vouchers printed in the paper and take it to your nearest Cafe Rouge between 30 September and 13th October inclusive, to enjoy one of our two great offers - lunch for pounds 5 or dinner for pounds 10. For further details, see our list below.How to QualifyTo qualify for the offer, simply collect three differently numbered tokens from the eight we will be printing in The Independent andIndependent on Sunday.