A NARROW ESCAPE

CLIMBING A STEEP SLOPE a few miles outside the central Italian city of Sulmona, I come across a wooden bench grafted invitingly into the hillside and sit down to study the view. To the northeast lie Abruzzo’s smooth-topped Morrone Mountains, dotted with medieval hermitages and ancient beech forests. To the east and partially obscured are the taller, craggier peaks of the Majella range. Beneath me, in the Peligna Valley, lies the compact city of Sulmona with its 12th-century aqueduct and, if I look closely enough, something more sinister: an infamous prisoner of war camp known as Campo 78.

Nearly 80 years ago, during the winter of 1943-44, passing travelers would not have wanted to sit on this solitary bench and admire the view. Danger lurked all around. The steep, narrow path I’m following—which starts just outside Sulmona and winds precipitously across the Apennines for nearly 40 miles—was