Page 591 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

dystopian novel Erewhon which presents the argument that the Odyssey was written

by a Sicilian woman, and was set around Trapani and in the Egadi Islands.

Brian Caven Dionysius I: Warlord of Sicily. The life of Dionysius I, by a historian
who sees him not as a vicious tyrant but as a valiant crusader against the
Carthaginians.

Christopher Hibbert Garibaldi and His Enemies. A popular treatment of the life and

revolutionary works of Giuseppe Garibaldi, thrillingly detailing the exploits of “The
Thousand” in their lightning campaign from Marsala to Milazzo.

R. Ross Holloway The Archaeology of Ancient Sicily. The standard work on the
ancient monuments and archeological discoveries of Sicily, from the Paleolithic to the
later Roman period.

John Julius Norwich The Normans in Sicily. Published together under one title,
J.J. Norwich’s The Normans in the South and Kingdom in the Sun tell the story of the

Normans’ explosive entry into the south of Italy, and their creation in Sicily of one of
the most brilliant medieval European civilizations.

Steven Runciman The Sicilian Vespers. The classic account of Sicily’s large-scale
popular uprising in the thirteenth century. Runciman’s A History of the Crusades: 1, 2
& 3, meanwhile, covers the Norman kings of Sicily, as well as the crusading
Frederick II.

CRIME AND SOCIETY

John Dickie Cosa Nostra. Dickie, an Italian professor at University College London,
is an expert on the Mafia and its role in Sicilian society, and offers an in-depth look at

the secret workings of the Mafia, from its early days in the mid-1800s to its current
manifestation.

David Lane Into the Heart of the Mafia. This look at life in the Italian south offers a
contemporary journey through corruption from Naples to Sicily, an essential
counterpoint to any number of expat-life-in-a-vineyard experiences.

Norman Lewis The Honoured Society. Originally written in the 1960s, this is the
most famous account of the Mafia, its origins, personalities and customs, and is still

the most accessible introduction available to the subject.

Clare Longrigg Boss of Bosses. One of the Mafia’s most notorious capo dei capi
(Boss of Bosses), Bernardo Provenzano, was arrested in Sicily in 2006 after four
decades spent evading the law. Longrigg’s careful unravelling of his successful
shifting of criminal enterprise into mainstream business explains the subtitle: How
One Man Saved the Sicilian Mafia.