The collection of short stories “Within the Walls of the City” is the first of the books by the Italian writer Giorgio Bassani (1916–2000), included in the cycle of works under the general title “Ferrara Novel”. This edition is the author’s revised version of “Five Ferrara Stories” (1956). This is Bassani’s second book for the Text publishing house: in 2008, Text published the novel The Garden of Finzi-Contini, which is also part of the Ferrara cycle. Bassani’s leisurely, measured narrative, as if coming from the depths of time and memory, is truly mesmerizing: the world seems to stop, and only the skillful, subtle ligature of the story remains.