Comrade Don Camillo, by Giovanni Guareschi. Copyright © Rizzoli Editore, 1963; © Giovanni Guareschi, 1964. First published in Italy in 1963 as Mondo Piccolo: Il Compagno Don Camillo. Translated by Frances Frenaye. NEW YORK: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Inc.; 1964.
First published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz, Ltd.; 1964.
Published (UK) by Penguin Books, 1966.
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This is the first of the Don Camillo books whose feel approaches that of a novel. Of course, its chapters can, as always, be read as self-contained serial episodes, but together they compose a coherent larger story, complete with climax, denouement, and even a little character development. The story has the further distinction of being the first to take Don Camillo out of his familiar Po Valley setting, for his most audacious adventure yet: an undercover trip to the USSR during the height of the Khrushchev era.

It all comes about under the reluctant offices of Peppone, who is now a Senator and a man of some influence in Rome. That doesn't keep him from being bested by Don Camillo in one of their little battles, however, and the price of defeat this time is high: he must arrange for his friendly enemy to have a place (incognito, of course) on a team of Italian comrades specially invited to study firsthand the glories of Soviet communism. But "Comrade Don Camillo" has his own agenda...
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Gold Fever-- a repeat of "The Gold Rush" (from Don Camillo's Dilemma); "Pepito Sbezzeguti" wins the lottery
Don Camillo's Revenge-- now-Senator Peppone's clandestine lottery winnings come back to haunt him
Don Camillo in Disguise-- "Camillo Tarocci" has joined Peppone's group of Italian Communists on a tour of Russia
Operation Rondella-- Don Camillo exploits an Italian comrade's national pride to effect his "return to the fold"
A Forced Rest-- Don Camillo goads Peppone over a razor, while Comrade Scamoggia makes time with the Russian translator
The Space Cell-- the Italians form a cell, and a soon-to-be-ex-comrade is disciplined for black market trading
Politics on the Road-- the comrades tour Russian farms and discuss religious freedom
Christ's Secret Agent-- Don Camillo and Peppone meet a reluctant Italian expatriate, and some sacraments are administered
The Rains Came to Stay-- the cell enjoys a party, another expatriate appeals to Don Camillo for help, and Cupid's arrows fly
Three Stalks of Wheat-- Don Camillo says a Mass for the Dead
The Cell Goes to Confession-- having won the trust of the other cell members, Comrade Tarocci dispenses advice
In the Jaws of Hell-- another Italian-in-exile finds Comrade Don Camillo and makes a confession
Comrade Nadia's Coffee-- a comrade seeks his past love, while the Russian translator investigates her new Italian beau
The Next-to-Last Wave-- the cell members take a boat trip, and in dire extremity remember their God
A Story That Has No End-- epilogues to a few stories, and a wedding
A Note from the Author-- some sad and slightly bitter comments by Guareschi on a world which seemed to have stopped caring