` Sicily is the key to everything` Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The author of the classic book on Venice turns his sights to Sicily in this beautiful book full of maps & colour photographs. The stepping stone between Europe & Africa, the gateway between the East & the West, at once a stronghold, clearing-house & observation post, Sicily has been invaded & fought over by Phoenicians & Greeks, Carthaginians & Romans, Goths & Byzantines, Arabs & Normans, Germans, Spaniards & the French for thousands of years. It has belonged to them all
- & yet has properly been part of none. John Julius Norwich was inspired to become a writer by his first visit in 1961 & this book is the result of a fascination that has lasted over half a century. In tracing its dark story, he attempts to explain the enigma that lies at the heart of the Mediterranean`s largest isl&. This vivid short history covers everything from erupting volcanoes to the assassination of Byzantine emperors, from Nelson`s affair with Emma Hamilton to Garibaldi & the rise of the Mafia. Taking in the key buildings & towns, & packed with fascinating stories & unforgettable characters, Sicily is the book he was born to write.