From a land defined by the ancient, civilized coexistence of diverse people and culture to the blood-stained soil of republican Italy, Alfio Caruso takes the reader through the history an island that has written both the noblest and darkest chapters of Italy.
Invaded by all yet conquered by none, the history of Sicily is one of constant struggle. Uniquely situated between East and West, it is a land of remarkable coexistence between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Frederick II, who created the concept of a unified Italy, made Sicily the center of a cosmopolitan empire, where both Europeans and Muslims were irresistibly lured. There, he created the first school of poetry and a vernacular language. It has been ruled by the Sicels, for whom it is named, followed by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Swabians, and Normans; Royal and imperial dynasties, like the Aragons, Angevins, Hapsburgs, Bourbons; and lastly, the Piedmonts under the protective mantle of the British Empire, which allowed Garibaldi to invade and unite the country.
To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, 1787
Alfio Caruso: an author intolerant of clichés and faithful to irrefutable truth.
—la Repubblica
