A popular travel guide book for Sicily is a great choice for ninety percent of those planning a visit to this fascinating island. This book was written for the other ten percent. Inspired by the travelogues penned by cognoscenti and academics a century ago, long before the days of mass tourism, this is essentially a history of Sicily that presents information on specific sites and localities, along with details on architecture, geography and literature. There are even sections on Sicilian wine and olive oil. Its seemingly endless chronology covers history from neolithic times to our own era, and it’s the longest timeline of Sicily ever published. Most guide books are written by travel writers, with occasional updates outsourced to local ‘fact checkers.’ The author of this one is a leading historian who has written six books dealing with Sicily’s complex past, some based on original research, earning the nickname ‘Sicily’s historian.’ His writings are what tour leaders consult when they bring their groups to discover the world’s most conquered island. Not only is this book a good destination guide, it is a useful reference work full of details overlooked by the editors of most of the general-interest guide books published until now. Two archeological examples are the ‘secret’ Greek theatre at Agrigento, and Europe’s two oldest mikvehs in the Jewish districts of Siracusa and Palermo. Among more recent topics are candid, erudite chapters on Fascism, the Mafia and the Second World War in Sicily. That’s what you’ll find in this thick volume. What you won’t find are hotel and restaurant recommendations, transportation information and other ‘current’ details readily available online. Useful as most guide books are, they can’t guarantee information of this kind to be up-to-date. This book is different. It won’t be obsolete any time soon. It will enjoy a privileged place on your bookshelf before your trip and long afterward. Since 1999, Lou Mendola has been the chief history editor of the website Best of Sicily, the most popular destination guide dedicated to Sicily, with over two million unique visits each year. Somebody is reading his work every minute of every day. This has made him the most widely-read Sicilian historian of the present century. Get this book to get the insider’s view. And get to Sicily!
