John Phillips (1912-1996) was one of the most important reporters of the last century: a leading name at Life, author of remarkable accounts made during the Second World War, he produced frames that became icons — from Hitler's entry into Vienna to the meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Tehran conference, to the last mission of the airman Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

In 1959 Phillips and his wife were guests in Italy, and that stay is part of the story told here.