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Travel, History, Literature, People and Current Events, Arts and Architecture, Cooking, Archeology and more. Best of Sicily has selected the best books about Sicily. Around twenty titles. Most can be ordered through Amazon.Com for shipment in the United States and Canada, and to most other countries. If you live in the United Kingdom, Ireland or Continental Europe, you may find it more convenient to order through Amazon.Co.UK, whose editions and selections may vary slightly from those of Amazon.Com. We chose Amazon because they're international, and their stock of interesting titles on Sicilian travel, history and culture is more complete than those of their worthy competitors, even though some of those competitors offer higher referral commissions. Yes, Best of Sicily receives a small commission for books sold via this page; this helps us to defray site maintenance costs without compromising our editorial principles by accepting advertising from firms whose marketing or pricing policies might differ from ours. More importantly, this page makes it easy for you to find interesting books that can make your discovery of Sicily more enjoyable, even if you don't plan on visiting. While it's impossible (and inappropriate) to generalize about these titles, it is interesting that many deal with two particular themes, namely women's experiences and the island's multicultural historical heritage.

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Titles of books our editors have reviewed are preceded by an asterisk (*). Other reviews are written by publishers or Amazon's reviewers. PLEASE NOTE that the Buy it in the USA links take you to Amazon's American site. Buy it in the UK takes you to the UK site. If you wish to purchase a book from the UK site but it has no Buy it link, you can read about it here and search for it with the Amazon.Co.UK Search Window by entering its title or author. All prices may vary; UK prices may differ from the American ones indicated here. Editions are trade paperback unless otherwise indicated. We don't use a ranking or classification system. Any book listed here is highly recommended.

*Sicily Blue Guide (6th Edition). Wouldn't it be nice to have a travel guide that could be useful as a planning tool even before you set foot in Sicily? Something with plenty of website listings, as well as hotels and restaurants different from those mentioned in all the other guides? In other words, a good original guide that stood apart from the others, featuring plenty of "secret" information, without simply imitating every other guide book's choices. Your search is over. In nearly 500 pages of dense text and refined line drawings, Ellen Grady (who, in stark contrast to the authors of other guides, actually lives here in Sicily) presents all kinds of practical information, and she doesn't insult your intelligence. The narrative sections are travel writing at its finest. There's art, archeology, history, cuisine, wildlife, local festivals, lodging, museum information, maps and, of course, beaches. The English author, a longtime resident of Sicily, is not afraid to suggest visiting some sights while overlooking others, and presents insightful information on the Real Sicily --imperfect but endlessly fascinating. Everything you would expect in a good travel guide and more. Ellen Grady even mentions internet points in Sicily, though some of those listed only have a single station or are rarely open. This reflects one of our few criticisms: We might have preferred a more careful consideration of certain cultural, lodging and service options mentioned, partly because some of their websites (indicated in the book) are really bad, but at least you are offered a choice. Other guides have virtually ignored the World Wide Web except for mentioning a few mediocre travel bureau sites. From the standpoint of competent, objective, "foreign" but locally-based authorship, the Blue Guide is a remarkable book. We never thought anybody would "out-do" the other travel guides mentioned here, but Ellen Grady just might have done so with this enlightened edition of an old standard. Clearly, this is a sophisticated guide for a new century of travelers, establishing a new benchmark in this field. Good stuff. $17.47 (£16.00 in the UK) Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Michelin Green Guide To Sicily. In typical Michelin Guide fashion, this useful book's authors are anonymous, but their very traditional British "public school" education in Greek classics shows through anyway. That's a welcome change from the vast sea of Sicilian travel guides written by people who think Hercules was an American bodybuilder. No silly or "politically correct" observations here --just useful factual information presented in an appealing way. It's amazing how much information is packed into a volume small enough to fit into a purse or deep pocket. Not just for more popular places, but also smaller towns off the beaten path. The architectural section, which uses real Sicilian temples, castles and churches as its pattern, features great illustrations (think of our paintings). The historical passages are detailed without being boring, though we wish there had been a little more on medieval history to complement the excellent parts on Greek Sicily. Despite a few typographical errors (Frederick II instead of Frederick III), this is an excellent general travel guide for Sicily. First published in 1998, it is still fresh enough not to require extensive updating or revision anytime soon. There are a few ratings we strongly disagreed with. Cefalù, for example, gets two stars (worth a detour), while we would have given it three (worth a journey). But these are relatively unimportant details in a project of this kind. The section on Monreale Abbey is priceless, describing which scenes are depicted in which parts of the cathedral's mosaic interior, and there's even a section on Greek deities. Okay, we've said (almost) enough. Now for the big question: Considering Michelin's reputation, is this the best travel guide for Sicily currently published? For some visitors, it may well be, though the Blue Guide and Dorling Kindersley Guide are both superlative, too, and actually superior in some ways. Michelin's general expertise, appeal and approach have very few serious competitors (we mention some serious ones in other reviews on this page), and the publication of a Green Guide dedicated exclusively to Sicily was a long-awaited event. Having said that, however, we should mention that this is essentially a "destination guide." Other guides may be more suitable to your needs if you're planning a highly "specialized" journey, or if you need more information on hotels. One of these is the Rough Guide described below. The Michelin Green Guide To Sicily is a nectar worthy of the Greek gods. $16.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Sicily: The Rough Guide by Robert Andrews and Jules Brown. Let's start by explaining how the Rough Guide is different from, for example, Michelin's Green Guide (above). The Rough Guide has lots of user-friendly information on Sicilian restaurants and hotels, something Michelin publishes in its "Red Guide Italia" but not in the Green Guide to Sicily. And since Michelin rates most hotels and restaurants with its star-ranking system, some establishments it recommends are rather expensive. Rough Guide's authors provide details on a whole range of places, and of course descriptions of the most important sights. What we like most about the Rough Guide is that it combines a lot of very useful information in one volume. Michelin might be a bit better for history and culture, but the Rough Guide also offers good suggestions on where to stay and where to eat. It has page after page of things that are good to know. Even translations of the names of Sicilian foods with descriptions (something like our Food and Wine page). Lots of maps, too. The Rough Guide also offers schedules for things like ferries and buses. At 448 pages, it's substantial, and since it's the fourth edition the editors have had time to fine tune the Rough Guide. One wonders how much time they've spent in Sicily recently, since, unfortunately, Rough Guide's authors are seriously misinformed on certain sociological and historical matters, and this leads to some remarkably astounding statements better suited to a medieval edition. (Do they really believe, for example, that a young Sicilian woman cannot walk down a street unaccompanied by a man?!?) Nevertheless, this fine travel guide may be just the thing you need. $14.36 in the US, £8.79 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide: Sicily. We love competition, and as long as there are new entries like this book, the authors of the other guides shouldn't plan on resting on their literary laurels. At 240 pages, the Eyewitness Guide is full of practical information of every kind: Descriptions, history, culture, food, lodging... It also contains a lot of information the others don't --on things like local customs, emergencies and more. We'd venture to guess that the editors took a close look at some of the other travel guides published about Sicily and decided to fill in the gaps. They did a good job. Eyewitness is superb, especially if you consider that the first edition was published only in 2000, based primarily on an Italian research firm's suggestions. There are many things we like about this book. The restaurant recommendations, for example, are at least slightly more objective than most of Michelin's suggestions, while the architectural descriptions are every bit as accurate, and the photography is exceptional. The book is richly illustrated and provides accurate information without being boring. Indeed, this beautiful volume is far more attractive than any other travel guide we've seen; you'll enjoy re-reading it long after your return home. $15.95 in the US, £11.45 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*The Normans in Sicily: The Normans in the South 1016-1130 and the Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194 by John Julius Norwich. If you thought the Norman conquerors of Sicily and England were long buried, this landmark work will bring them to life in vivid detail. Actually a new omnibus edition combining two of Norwich's books written in the 1960s, The Normans in Sicily chronicles the Conquest of Sicily ("The Other Conquest") in breathtaking detail. Now considered a cornerstone of scholarship into the European Middle Ages, this definitive piece of research represents years of study in Italian records at a time when very few scholars in the English-speaking world knew anything about the Battle of Messina, fought a few years before the Battle of Hastings (and by at least a few of the same knights), or the fascinating relationship between the Norman rulers of Europe's two most important islands. Palermo, where Thomas Becket was venerated, an Englishman was bishop and Henry II's daughter was Queen, had long been part of the "Grand Tour," but its wider attraction to British visitors coincidentally flowered in the years following publication of Norwich's books. At its height, the Kingdom of Sicily, founded by a little-known family of Norman knights errant, was a uniquely tolerant multicultural realm whose wealth was unmatched in Europe. Norwich, an English aristocrat with a classical education but a natural interest in all things medieval and Mediterranean, weaves his masterful narrative with all the skill of a writer of historical fiction. But this is no novel. The Normans in Sicily is real history. Kings, queens, popes, emirs, nobles, knights, and much more. This is an eloquent scholarly work written in a lively style that makes the people, places and events of the Middle Ages understandable and real. Captivating. $28.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century by Steven Runciman. On 30 March 1282, as the church bells of Palermo were sounding vespers, a crowd of Sicilians descended upon a party of French soldiers, the enforcers of Angevin rule over the island. Within minutes the French lay dead. The Palermo revolt spread quickly across Sicily, opposed by Frankish lords and the Italian clergy but supported by Sicilian commoners, Aragonese infiltrators, Byzantine spies, and unruly barons. Against a complex but fascinating multinational backdrop, the learned historian Steven Runciman deftly portrays the tangled world of Mediterranean politics of the thirteenth century, the apex of the Middle Ages. This distinguished scholar of medieval history explains the reasons for the War of the Vespers. In a definitive work that could be said to pick up where Norwich's ends, Runciman spends several chapters laying the groundwork for what is to come. The Vespers uprising is either the beginning or end of an era, depending on your point of view. It was certainly a turning point in European medieval politics, affecting the complex mosaic of international power. This book isn't just a compilation of facts and dates. It's a spectacular account of the motives, personalities, virtues and vices of the people whose actions shaped another age, including several who figure prominently in Dante's Inferno. More than a historical treatise, The Sicilian Vespers will hold your interest as you read further into its pages to discover the outcome of decisive events like the Battle of Benevento. To say that Runciman's masterpiece defines our study of an important era would be a monumental understatement: It is virtually impossible to contemplate any study of the Vespers or thirteenth-century European history without reading this book. This erudite author's fluid prose style, at once scholarly and literary, makes this unique book as entertaining as it is informative. The Sicilian Vespers is the measure by which other medieval studies are judged. It will remain so for a long time to come. $12.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor by David Abulafia. His death in the middle of the thirteenth century signalled the end of an era in Sicily. Except for brief intervals, Palermo would never again be the principal residence of the reigning sovereign as it was under Frederick II. Descended through the female line from Norman kings, Frederick II was a Hohenstaufen of Swabia raised in Palermo. As Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily and, eventually, King of Jerusalem, he actually ruled most of German-speaking Europe, Italy (except for the Papal State) and part of Palestine. His travels took him to Lombardy and Germany to tame his rebellious vassals, and to the Holy Land on the Sixth Crusade to claim his birthright as heir of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem. In his own time, Frederick II was considered the most powerful monarch of Europe, and certainly the most enlightened. His brilliance and intellect earned him the nickname "Stupor Mundi" (Wonder of the World). Both the Germans and the Sicilians claim him as their own. Palermo, where he was raised, was the seat of his power, and he is interred in that city's cathedral. Abulafia describes Frederick's ongoing power struggle with the popes, who rightfully saw in this monarch a threat to their political influence in Italy and elsewhere. This book seeks to "humanize" the myth of Stupor Mundi, presenting Frederick as a product of his times. The attempt at revisionism is unconvincing; Frederick von Hohenstaufen was exceptionally intelligent and articulate, and though he suppressed some of his Muslim subjects when their activities threatened the stability of his realm, he continued the Norman tradition of governing Sicily as a multicultural society where Christians, Muslims and Jews were resepected equally. Even the Sixth Crusade was, in the end, a remarkable exercise in diplomacy that transcended considerations of religion, ethnicity and culture. While details about the Emperor's life and personal achievements are included, some of the text concentrates on rather arcane political and legalistic themes. David Abulafia has written one of the better books about Frederick II published in English in recent years, and perhaps its point of view reflects our own cynical era, when fundamental historical "truths" are challenged every day. This book is an excellent introduction to Frederick II and his historical era. However, it cannot be said to be the definitive biographical work on this unique man. (That distinction still goes to Heinz Goetz's "Castle del Monte.") Nevertheless, Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor is a good choice if you want to learn more about Sicily's most famous monarch. $15.26 Buy it in the USA. (Check UK availability with the Amazon.co.UK search window.)

Italy and Its Monarchy by Denis Mack Smith. This masterful, eloquent account of who Italy's monarchs were and what they got up to (usually something not very edifying) demonstrates once again why Mack Smith is widely viewed as the leading authority on Italy writing in the English language. Post-unification Italy's development might well have been less turbulent had it not been for the distressing tendency of successive kings to interfere in politics and indulge their taste for intrigue. Nurturing the tender seedling of Italian democracy was usually the last thing on their minds. As in his other works, Mack Smith wastes little sympathy on the civilian politicians who were, if anything, even more culpable than their royal masters in contributing to Italy's failure to construct a stable, corruption-free democracy before the First World War. But his particular focus is the monarchy, from its crucial part in the wars of unification after 1860 to its inglorious association with Benito Mussolini's dictatorship in the inter-war years. After putting down Mack Smith's book --a gem of concise writing and lightly worn learning-- one can only be glad that the Italians eventually abolished the monarchy after the Second World War. Republicanism, though drenched in corruption and crime, has at least done something to modernize public life in Italy. $23.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*The Norman Kingdom of Sicily by Donald Matthew. Published by Cambridge University Press, this book is a useful complementary work to the Norwich and Runciman books reviewed above. In just over 400 pages, Professor Matthew describes the economic, political and social development of the Kingdom of Sicily under the Norman kings. This Kingdom included not only Sicily but most of Italy south of Rome, and Donald Matthew covers its history from 1085 to 1266. Published in 1992, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily isn't quite as lively or engaging as Norwich's book, or Runciman's, but the author does an exceptional job of explaining institutions such as feudalism and monastic administration, both important aspects of medieval Sicilian life. This book is accurate, its tone analytical, its focus the Kingdom of Sicily as a powerful cornerstone of European politics. Throughout, Matthew draws upon the Anglo-Norman model as a basis for understanding the Sicilian one, and vice versa. This English author observes that "the Norman kingdom of Sicily has an assured place in the teaching of medieval European history in this country." Reading this book (used as a textbook at Cambridge University) will convince you that the Sicilian Normans' royal legacy is unforgotten. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily is an excellent reference work for any medievalist's library. $28.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories by Giovanni Verga. Translated by G. H. McWilliam. A new translation of the greatest Italian short story writer since Boccaccio. Born into a well-to-do Sicilian family in Vizzini (near Catania), Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) became an active observer of Milanese salon society in the 1870s and 1880s but eventually found in the everyday lives of Sicilian peasants the inspiration for his finest narratives. Love, adultery, and honor are recurring themes in the stories collected here, set against the scorched landscapes of the slopes of Mount Etna and the Plain of Catania. Verga's rich naturalism and originality of style are faithfully rendered in G. H. McWilliam's superb translations. In addition to the title story, the basis for Pietro Mascagni's operatic masterpiece, this volume includes "Nedda," the groundbreaking narrative of Italian verismo, as well as "Jeli the Shepherd" and "Rosso Malpelo," which D. H. Lawrence considered two of the finest stories ever written: "The landscape will be more or less familiar to anyone who has gone in the train down the east coast of Sicily... and anyone who has once known this land can never be quite free from the nostalgia for it, nor can he fail to fall under the spell of Verga's wonderful creation of it." Verga was a prolific and popular writer of novels, short stories, and plays. His fiction includes The She Wolf, "Story of a Blackcap," "Eva," "Royal Tigress" and Eros. G.H. McWilliam is Professor Emeritus of Italian at the University of Leicester, England. $11.01 in the US, £7.19 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa Panarello. Translated by Lawrence Venuti. (Erotic Fiction) This is the bestselling Sicilian novel since The Leopard (above). One very hot Italian summer evening, a schoolgirl sits alone in her bedroom, staring at posters of Marlene Dietrich and listening to classical music. She strips before her mirror, examining her adolescent body pleasurably yet without desire. She writes: 'I want love, diary. I want to feel my heart melt, to see the stalactites of my ice shatter and sink in the river of passion, of beauty.' The narrator searches for love but the men she meets only want sex. With the pain of unrequited love comes the excitement caused by her discovery of the sexual power she has over men (and other women). This diary of a teenage girl's sex life is a work of deceptive innocence. Influenced by Nabokov and Anais Nin, it is both erotic and literary. When the book was first published, it was assumed that this could not be the work of a teenager. In fact it is the first novel of a young writer of great literary talent. An instant blockbuster in Italy, where it has sold over 700,000 copies, and now an international literary phenomenon, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery. Melissa begins her diary a virgin, but a stormy affair at the age of fourteen leads her to regard sex as a means of self-discovery, and for the next two years she plunges into a succession of encounters with various partners, male and female, her age and much older, some met through schoolmates, others through newspaper ads and Internet chat rooms. In graphic detail she describes her entry into a Dante-esque underworld of eroticism, where she willingly participates in group sex and sadomasochism, as well as casual pickups. Melissa's secret life is concealed from family and friends, revealed only in her diary entries. Told with disarming candor, Melissa P.'s bittersweet tour of extreme desires is as poignant as it is titillating. A stunning erotic debut, a story of (and for) our times. $13.00 in the US, £8.00 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, translation by Stephen Sartarelli. (Fiction) Urbane Sicilian police inspector Salvo Montalbano makes his long overdue English-language debut in this spare and spry English translation of the first novel in the series. When two garbage collectors find the body of local politician Silvio Luparello locked in his BMW with his pants down, in "the Pasture," the Vigata town dump frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers, the coroner rules that Luparello died of natural causes, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Montalbano refuses to oblige his superiors who want a hasty close to the case, and it will take a corrupt lawyer's murder to break it open. Camilleri's strength lies in his gallery of eccentric characters: the victim's admirably cool widow; a pimp (and old classmate) of Montalbano's; an 82-year-old schoolteacher who shoots at people because he thinks his 80-year-old wife is cheating on him; and Montalbano's attractive deputy, "who every now and then, for whatever reason, would try to seduce him." Even the two garbage men have Ph.D.s. The maverick Montalbano doesn't hesitate to destroy clues or extract money from a crook to help a child, but he wraps up the case by telling rather than showing. $13.97 in the US, £11.39 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

The Terra Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri, translation by Stephen Sartarelli. (Fiction) Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Salvo Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic, engaging take on Sicilian life and his genius for deciphering the most enigmatic of crimes. The Terra-Cotta Dog opens with the inspector's mysterious tete-à-tete with a mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There, in a secret grotto, he finds a harrowing scene: two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terra-cotta dog. $19.95 in the US. Buy it in the USA.

*Sweet Lemons: Writings With a Sicilian Accent Edited by Venera Fazio and Delia De Santis. (Fiction) Interesting compilation of short stories and poetry by various authors, mostly Americans and Canadians with roots or interests in Sicily. Though not all of the stories reflect actual native Sicilian authorship (by people born and resident here in Sicily), this is a diverse mix. Some pieces have a strong travelogue element while others recount purely personal (or familial) experiences. In that respect, the collection fills a certain void in Sicilian "diaspora" literature. Importantly for fans of "native" Sicilian literature, there are also new English translations of short works by Quasimodo and Pitré. $22.00 in the US, £24.00 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Timeless. That's the best word to describe this book, first published in 1940. The classical Greek and Roman myths haven't changed in these last sixty years, and Hamilton's definitive work recounts the ancient religion of Greek and then Roman Sicily in magnificent detail. In her able hands, the entire world of ancient mythology becomes an intimate stage. Reading Mythology is the best way to really understanding the myths and folklore of ancient Sicily. It is a unique world far more interesting than mere fantasy or science fiction. $10.36 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays by Luigi Pirandello. Translated by Mark Musa. Sicilian-born Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) is best known in the English-speaking world for his radical challenge to traditional Western theatre with plays such as "Six Characters in Search of an Author." But theatre is just one aspect of this Nobel laureate's experiments with language which constituted a distinguished collection of novels, short stories, and essays as well as his work for a film industry then in its infancy. Pirandello believed in the primacy of the literary character in a creative process fraught with internal conflicts. Each of his characters is engaged in a continual performance which transcends the distinction between stories and plays. In the early years of the twentieth century, his groundbreaking genre was the very focal point of the European avante-garde. It would not be unfair to suggest that the ironic, introspective books and films of Woody Allen owe much to Pirandello. Later in life, Pirandello reputedly became something of a political reactionary, a tendency certainly not evident in his earlier achievements. Since few of his later works openly defended the Fascist regime (which funded some of his projects), one prefers to think that the elderly Pirandello's politics were merely part of a grand personal drama. This is a collection of new translations of the master's plays. Included are "Six Characters in Search of an Author," "Henry IV" and "It Is So If You Think It Is." $10.16 in the US, £6.39 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Good Girls Don't Wear Trousers by Lara Cardella. Translated by Diana Di Carcaci. (Fiction) Living in a remote Sicilian town in the early 1960s, Annetta, barely thirteen years old, doesn't dream of the romantic prince who will carry her away from an eternal boredom. Instead, the young narrator dreams of wearing pants rather than the "mandatory" dress or skirt. She imagines that this will liberate her from the stifling atmosphere that permeates the village of her birth. The Women's Movement is still several years away. To Annetta, the future seems to offer little hope of anything beyond the life of a local rural housewife in a society conditioned by men's ideas of what constitutes a proper spouse. And in the collective opinion of that rustic society, only prostitutes wear pants. Desperate to escape the village's stifling environment, Annetta becomes something of a tomboy, and begins to fantasize about becoming a nun because she imagines that they wear pants under their habits. She soon abandons this idea, but a friend who has experienced city life tacitly encourages the young girl to express herself. The original Italian edition of this award-winning debut novel, complete with passages in the Sicilian language, bore the title Volevo i Pantaloni ("I wanted to wear pants.") and created a national sensation as it climbed the Italian bestseller list in 1989. Translated into several languages, Good Girls Don't Wear Trousers soon became the biggest international Sicilian literary success since The Leopard thirty years earlier, spawning a sequel and a critically acclaimed film. While the book earned popular praise, its nineteen year-old author was shunned by her own Sicilian village, whose residents claimed that the brutal, gossipy small-town culture she depicted was an inaccurate reflection of their rustic community. Could it be, they asked, that the experiences of Annetta had more to do with a particular family than a particular town? On the talk show circuit, Cardella, by then living in Rome, said that her book was not, strictly speaking, autobiographical, though it reflected some of her own experiences. Detractors seemed to forget that the novel's fictional events took place two decades earlier, before tight jeans and tiny miniskirts were a normal part of the Sicilian landscape. Whatever her fellow small-town residents may have thought of this book, Cardella crafts a vivid image of provincial rural life in Europe in the 1960s, whether in Sicily or anyplace else. Hardcover. $16.95 Buy it in the USA. (Check UK search window for availability in UK.)

Open Doors and Three Novellas by Leonardo Sciascia. Translated by Sacha Ravinovitch and Marie Evans. (Fiction) He was one of Sicily's most eminent authors. Leonardo Sciascia, who died in 1989, wrote most of his fiction in the 1960s and 1970s. Much of it dealt with his longstanding fascination with important moral issues in politics, the law, and Fascism. Certain metaphysical themes appeared every now and then. Sciascia posed good moral questions that nobody will ever answer perfectly. These are his last stories. In Open Doors, a jurist must wrestle with his conscience during the Fascist period, deciding whether to sentence a man to death. In Death and the Knight, a terminally ill police investigator must separate lies from fundamental moral truths. His narrative is rarely overbearing; Sciascia prefers to let his complex characters think and speak for themselves. Leonardo Sciascia has become something of an Italian literary institution, earning a deserved reputation as a skillful storyteller whose Kafkaesque novellas are relentlessly engrossing thrillers of moral magnitude. In the process, his work has crossed the line from popular fiction to fine literature. $17.00 in the US, £10.36 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

The Sicilian by Mario Puzo. This fictionalised account of the life of the Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano was the basis of the Michael Cimino film starring Christopher Lambert, John Turturro and Terrence Stamp. The film wasn't particularly well-received by critics, but the book sold well, especially in the United States. It was also published in translation in Italy, where critics failed to recognise in Il Siciliano anything more than American pseudo-cultural fantasy. A Sicilian journalist remarked that "these Americans come to Palermo every few years to make movies about the Sicily their grandfathers remember, and the memories aren't even very accurate." At all events, the screenplay itself deviated somewhat from the story recounted in Puzo's book, which was written as a "quasi-sequel" to The Godfather. Salvatore Giuliano's nephew and heir, who runs a hotel and restaurant, Il Castello di Giuliano ("Giuliano's Castle"), in Montelepre, wrote a book (published in English in a limited printing) that seems more faithful to the biographical facts of this "Sicilian Robin Hood" who took an active part in the movement to make Sicily an American state in the years immediately following the Second World War. The Sicilian represents its author's most significant foray into native Italian territory. Like the book's hero, Mr. Puzo may have been on safer ground in the United States, but in this entertaining novel he captures the essence of the spirit of Sicily in the late 1940s. As one reads the work of the late Mario Puzo, one cannot resist the temptation of asking, does art imitate life or does life imitate art? Both metaphorical forces seem to be at work here, but screen actors and literary characters are usually more colourful than their real-life counterparts. Enjoy The Sicilian, but before you don a gun belt, black overcoat and high Italian riding boots, remember that it's only a novel. Paperback reissue edition. £4.79 Buy it in the UK.

Mattanza: Love and Death in the Sea of Sicily by Theresa Maggio. (Biographical) Mattanza is a magnificent journey inside the world of a Sicilian fishing community and its thousand-year-old rituals. Every spring for untold centuries, great schools of giant bluefin tuna have swum through the Strait of Gibraltar to spawn in the Mediterranean Sea. And there, for untold centuries, men have been waiting for them. In this stunning debut, Theresa Maggio brings us inside the insular world of the "tonnara" --the ritual trapping and killing of bluefin enacted by fishermen since the Stone Age. In a single, bloody spectacle --called the mattanza-- the fishermen harvest the bluefin, lifting them by hand from the Chamber of Death, the last room in an elaborate trap. Theresa Maggio witnessed her first mattanza on Favignana, a butterfly-shaped island off the western coast of Sicily. Brought to the island by a fisherman who was in love with her, Maggio in turn fell in love with Favignana, with its white magic and stonework, its anchors and nets. Penetrating this exotic, all-male world as no woman has before her, Maggio documents a dark and beautiful ritual that might soon disappear --a casualty of the modern fishing industry. Part memoir, part natural history, part travelogue, Mattanza is a riveting narrative of one woman's journey into another world, a world where moon lemons grow wild, and where the sea holds the promise of renewal. Theresa Maggio, the granddaughter of Sicilian immigrants, is a free-lance travel writer. Her work has appeared frequently in the New York Times as well as the Financial Times, London Daily Telegraph, New York Daily News, and elsewhere. Hardcover. $18.75 in the US, £19.50 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*The Stone Boudoir: Travels Through the Hidden Villages of Sicily by Theresa Maggio. (Travel and Biographical) It's not exactly a sequel to Mattanza (see above), but this book offers some interesting, and not always flattering, firsthand views of life in rural Sicily, with occasional forays into larger urban areas (the Mondello mentioned is actually part of Palermo). Masterfully expresed in the most minute details, with insights into the lives of women and the challenges faced by those now in their thirties or forties in a man's society, The Stone Boudoir is an exceptional book, written from the same real-world perspective as Mary Taylor Simeti's books (see the following review) and those of other authors who sought, and discovered, the real Sicily --both savory and unsavory. Writing in the late 1990s, Ms. Maggio met some exceptional people in some remote places. Their stories represent something far beyond generic social history and everyday travel writing. There is a strong autobiographical element here, but it is not overbearing. Maggio herself (who we've met) is a charming and astute American (of Sicilian ancestry) with a personal passion for an imperfect but fascinating Sicily. One might suggest that life in Palermo and Catania is a bit different from what is encountered in the isolated villages she visited, but Boudoir is a personal journey, not an academic one. It is sometimes meditative but never lacking in appeal. Trade paperback. $10.47 in the US, £6.95 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal by Mary Taylor Simeti. (Biographical) Persephone was the Sicilian girl lured and abducted by Hades, the King of the Underworld. The young Mary Taylor was attracted to Sicily by a more benevolent presence, the social worker Danilo Dolce. She arrived in Sicily in 1962 to do volunteer work. Freshly graduated from Radcliffe College after growing up in New York, she wanted to make a difference to the marginalized people assisted by Dolce's innovative program. Falling in love and marrying a Sicilian was the last thing on her mind. This is the ambivalent love story of an intelligent, complex, and self-reflective woman. The book recounts the events of 1983, the year Simeti turned 42. Her narrative alternates between Palermo, where her children attend school and her husband is a professor of agricultural economy, and Bosco, in eastern Sicily, where she shoulders demanding responsibilities on the working farm that has belonged to her husband's family for several generations. Simeti feels the isolation of being an expatriate and outsider, although she claims to welcome this perspective when faced with frustration and disgust at the pervading political corruption and corrosive effects of the Mafia on everyday life. Despite her natural diffidence, she shares personal insights that make On Persephone's Island as compelling as her prose. Simeti intersperses rich helpings of Sicilian history and culture with mundane events and insight into what motivates the workers essential to the survival of the family farm. And she makes pessimistic observations about the complexity of changing times in a society where the persistent reliance on "feudal" relationships and agriculture is finally crumbling. Passionate for Sicilian myth and folklore, Simeti researches and ruminates on the mythological underpinnings of the many holidays and festivals that punctuate the rhythm of Sicilian life. She focuses particularly on the Greek goddesses Persephone and Demeter, who held Sicily under their protection. Simeti eventually discovers a correlation between her own situation and the story of Persephone, who alternately inhabited the worlds of light and darkness. As you read her story, you'll come to appreciate that Sicilian life evolves at a snail's pace, but if this book were written today, in the era of satellite television, reliable telecommunications and the Internet, a younger Simeti might feel less isolated. The American Persephone's story is the singular story of a singular woman. $12.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

A House in Sicily by Daphne Phelps. (Biographical) Near Mount Etna lies Casa Cuseni, a beautiful house built in golden stone --and the home which Daphne Phelps was astonished to find she had inherited in 1947. War-weary from working as a psychiatric social worker, with barely any Italian and precious little money, she plunged into a fascinating Sicilian world. The many problems to be overcome included not only financial difficulties but local authorities and a house staff who initially felt no loyalty to the new Signorina, but who gradually accepted her as a respected member of their small community. To help make ends meet, for many years Daphne Phelps ran Casa Cuseni as a small hotel. To her doors came Roald Dahl, Tennessee Williams, Bertrand Russell and the painter Henry Faulkner. But just as important to her life and her story, which she tells in this book, are the Sicilians with whom she shared the love and care of Casa Cuseni: Don Ciccio, the local mafia don; Vincenzio, general manservant who recited while he served the meals; Beppe, a Don Juan who scented his eyebrows and his moustache to attract the local girls; and, above all, the steadfast cook and housekeeper who lives with Daphne Phelps still, and to whom the book is dedicated. "I had always been a bit of a maverick," she writes, looking back on why --at the age of 34-- she gave up her profession in London, left behind her ordered life with its museums, theater, family and friends, and embarked on a lifelong adventure in Taormina. Reading her intriguing memoir, one is glad Phelps chose the unconventional path: After inheriting her uncle's Casa Cuseni with its terraced gardens and staggering views of Mt. Etna, she struggles to make ends meet, but instead of selling the estate, opens its doors to a steady stream of visitors--many of them artists, writers, and intellectuals. Inheriting an estate in Italy in isn't quite like winning the lottery, it turns out. In short sketches, Phelps reminisces about stepping into small-town Sicilian life, speaking very little Italian, and even more scandalous, being unmarried. With her no-nonsense British humor, she recounts the typical questions from men, young and old: "Are you married?" "When are you going to get married?" "Why aren't you married?" As she points out in the book's conclusion, for more than 50 years now, house-related problems have kept her on her toes. While Phelps's cynicism can be a bit hard to take when she's serving up her servants, she is, perhaps, at her best when telling stories about her famous houseguests. Some were charming, some were horrid. But the visitors came from 26 countries, with friends introducing their friends. Around the dining room table and in this volume, Phelps has mixed people who in "normal life one would be unlikely to meet." It is this Sicilian menagerie --anchored to a singular place and time, and viewed through a British prism-- that makes Phelps's life story so worth the telling. $20.00 in the US, £6.39 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb. The title of this debut book by an Australian author who lived and taught in Italy for fourteen years refers to the events which open and close its time frame --the hour the Allies landed on the Sicilian coast on a night in July 1943, and the sober trial of former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti for Mafia association in Palermo from 1997 to 1999. The Andreotti prosecution was less successful than the Allies' efforts; the lifetime politician was acquitted following this book's publication. Through its Palermo circuit court, the Italian state had spent billions of lire (millions of dollars) trying to prove that the longtime exponent of the now-defunct Christian Democratic party had bought votes in Italy's most populated region with the help of the Mafia. That he might have done so was hardly a great revelation, and Italians were cynical about the trial from the beginning. To level these charges was rather like pointing fingers at Fascist sympathizers and soldiers who had collaborated with the Regime that began to crumble on that other Sicilian midnight, in 1943; the simple fact is that almost everybody was involved in some way. The Andreotti trial, therefore, was viewed as a collective exorcism for all the political corruption of the last half century. Unfortunately, this pattern of political life didn't end in that courtroom in Palermo's bleak, Fascist-era courthouse, though Mr. Andreotti was allowed to go home to enjoy his retirement and write books and articles espousing the "Roman Catholic Italian View" of world events. If this book dealt only with Italian political corruption and the trial of one of its alleged exemplars, it wouldn't be particularly interesting. Instead, most of it weaves a complex tapestry that seeks to explain WHY Italian political life is the way it is, using Sicily as its model. This is not because Sicily is much more corrupt than other regions, but because, in the final analysis, the nature of its corruption is usually linked to organizations and individuals which can at least be identified in some way, and because the Sicilian approach to politics and business has had a profound effect on other parts of the country, even Milan and Turin. If, as Leonardo Sciascia said, Sicily is a metaphor for the world, it is unsurprising that Palermo would be a metaphor for Rome or Milan, where the "Clean Hands" political trials (for bribery) of the early 1990s were no more conclusive than the Andreotti trial at finding the culprit for Italy's persistent political difficulties. However, much of Robb's book is dedicated to other aspects of twentieth-century Sicilian life --daily events, business, and even food. Midnight in Sicily is probably one of the best books of this kind since Luigi Barzini's books about Italians in the 1960s. $10.40 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Octopus:The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia by Claire Sterling. When it came to international journalism, Claire Sterling was the epitome of polished professionalism (and no, she didn't die at the hands of the criminals she describes in this book). For this remarkable piece of highly investigative, revealing research, her Italian-American background was certainly an asset. Ms. Sterling spoke Italian flawlessly, with only the slightest trace of a foreign accent, something that greatly assisted her in this project because it facilitated her investigations in Italy. Octopus is an eye-opening book. Without delving into the romantic "Puzo-esque" image of the Sicilian and American branches of this criminal organization, the author sets out to unveil the traditions, history and structure of the Mafia. This she achieves with a deft precision that makes the Mafia's activities crystal clear. And the scope of those activities is simply astounding. Could a bunch of semi-educated Sicilian men really be this powerful in the international arena? That's one of the questions you'll ask yourself as you read this fascinating book. But Claire Sterling doesn't expect you to accept anything on faith. The uncensored evidence is presented in coldly unflinching detail throughout the book and in its lengthy bibliography. In the years since this book's publication, the Mafia has continued to thrive. The new frontiers of international organized crime look to Russia and the Far East for their funding, but the Sicilian Mafia is their model and inspiration. For better or worse, it remains Sicily's most successful export product. Whatever the fate of its victims, the Octopus itself is far from dead. Hardcover, $11.00 in US. Paperback, £6.39 in UK, where it is published as "The Mafia". Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Palaces of Sicily by Angheli Zalapi, with an Introduction by Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi. Photography by Melo Minnella. Stunning. In slightly over 300 pages full of beautiful color photographs and flawlessly descriptive text, the authors take us on a journey to some of Sicily's most stupendous homes, almost never open to the public. The original Italian title of this book, published in 1998, is Dimore di Sicilia, literally "Sicilian Residences," and that's probably more accurate than "Palaces" since these aren't just Baroque palaces but also medieval castles, aristocratic country homes, and an ancient country villa (namely the Roman one at Piazza Armerina). Minnella's photographs and Zalapi's text also introduce us to royal palaces old and new --the Royal Palace and the Zisa of the Norman kings, and the Chinese Villa of Ferdinando I (Bourbon) of the Two Sicilies. Interiors as well as exteriors. A few of the aristocratic residences included are the castles of Mussomeli and Paternò, the Steri Castle in Palermo, Villa Palagonia in Bagheria, the Biscari Palace in Catania, and Palermo's Pietragliata Palace, a fifteenth century Gothic structure that resembles a castle, complete with towers and battlements. Palaces and manor houses at Siracusa, Noto and other towns are also featured. Sicily's architectural treasures have deserved this kind of presentation for a long time, and Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, nephew and heir of Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (author of The Leopard), is the perfect person to introduce the reader to this unique world. Words fall short of describing this precious volume. Don't delay buying this book; there may not be a re-issue or second printing once the current stocks are exhausted. Hardcover. $66.50 in the US. £52.13 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

*Pomp and Sustenance: 25 Centuries of Sicilian Food by Mary Taylor Simeti. In the last few years, it has become very stylish to write cookbooks that offer not just recipes and cooking methods, but also interesting details about the history and traditions of the culture whose food is described. This book does it very well. In Pomp and Sustenance (published in the United Kingdom as Sicilian Food), you'll learn how to prepare some classic Sicilian dishes, as well as a few lesser-known ones, but you'll also discover something about the culture that spawned this unique cuisine. Like polyglot Sicilian history itself, Sicilian cuisine is a phenomenon that brings together the influences of all the societies that conquered or colonized the island. Even within Sicily, however, the cuisine has regional variations. There's more to the Mediterranean Diet than pasta and olive oil, and the Sicilian version certainly doesn't lack for variety. Mary Taylor Simeti is better known for books (like On Persephone's Island) that delve into Sicilian social history, and her research has unveiled some interesting customs and folk traditions, many of which focus on food. You'll enjoy every delicious morsel. $16.00 Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

The Heart of Sicily: Recipes and Reminiscences of Regaleali, a Country Estate by Anna Tasca Lanza. Photography by Franco Zecchin. Many cookbooks tempt, inform, and inspire. A few capture the essence of a place, but rarely does a cookbook communicate the very soul of a place. In more than 200 pages and over 100 photographs, Anna Tasca Lanza's telling of life at Regaleali, the vast country estate that has belonged to her family since 1830, is so vivid that you feel her sitting next to you, talking and turning the pages of The Heart of Sicily as if it were a photo album. She provides enough information about Sicily's complex history and rich culture to help you understand the special nature of Regaleali and what her aristocratic family --rich with barons, princesses, and countesses-- has created. Under their stewardship, this working estate has become an international cooking school. It is also the place where Tasca Lanza pursues her passion for preserving the abundant culinary and cultural traditions of Sicily. You will appreciate the years Anna took to make the intense flavours of Sicilian food come through using ingredients readily available outside Italy. Many recipes are short and simple, relying on seasonal ingredients, as in Pasta con le Zucchine Fritte (Pasta with Fried Zucchini) and Melanzane a Cotoletta (Breaded Eggplant Cutlets). There are recipes for all of the best-known traditional Sicilian dishes, from Caponata (Aubergine Salad), Involtini di Pesce Spada (Swordfish Rolls) and Pasta con le Sarde (Pasta with Fresh Sardines) to Sfincione (Sicilian Pizza) and Cassata, a marzipan-coated cheesecake decorated with candied fruit. You'll also discover cold minestrone, creamy fricassee of lamb, earthy pigeon ragù and more. Many recipes are presented in the context of the season in which these foods are usually prepared. Illustrated with extraordinary photographs by Franco Zecchin that capture the rigor and beauty of Sicily, this is an inspiring cookbook for anyone who loves food. Hardcover. $28.00 in the US, £21.95 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

Gangivecchio's Sicilian Kitchen (La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio) by Wanda Tornabene, Giovanna Tornabene and Michele Evans. So much has been written, produced, and marketed in recent years about the glories of northern Italian cooking that people have ignored the accomplishments of the cooks of southern Italy, especially those of the island of Sicily. Giovanna Tornabene opened a restaurant in her home in the scenic Madonie Mountains of Sicily in 1978 because it seemed the only way to hold on to her family's centuries-old estate. In La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio, her daughter, Wanda, who helps run this restaurant on the secluded family property, shares the history of their family, the estate and the colorful evolution of Sicilian cooking. Michele Evans captures the graceful generosity, spontaneity and charm of both mother and daughter in this work. It features veal and pumpkin stew made with just four ingredients; Swordfish in Umido, steamed with oregano and garlic; cauliflower drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil; a tart filled with sweetened ricotta studded with chocolate chips; and 200 other dishes. This is the simple yet deeply flavored, humbly sophisticated food that makes Sicily a culinary paradise. Hardcover. $24.50 in the US, £19.21 in the UK. Buy it in the USA or Buy it in the UK.

Sicily Before History: An Archaeological Survey from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age by Robert Leighton. Students and travelers to Sicily will welcome this inviting introduction to the archaeology of the Mediterranean's largest island. In the first English-language book on prehistoric Sicily in over forty years, Robert Leighton explores the region's rich archaeological record. He charts the development of Sicily's early cultures from the Palaeolithic onward, concluding with an account of the indigenous society at the time of Greek and Phoenician settlement in the 8th century B.C. Each chapter in this generously illustrated volume highlights the principal developments of a major chronological period and then addresses social and economic themes. Among the topics discussed are settlement patterns and structures, local autonomy, external influences, cultural expression, and contacts with Italy, nearby satellite islands, and the Mycenaean world. Informed by recent fieldwork and scholarship, this book is a necessary guide to the current state of knowledge on prehistoric Sicily. $24.95 in the US. Buy it in the USA or Check for UK availability.

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