John Julius Norwich was the author of more than twenty books, including the New York Times bestseller Absolute Monarchs. He began his career in the British foreign service, but resigned his diplomatic post to become a writer. He was a chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund and the honorary chairman of the World Monuments Fund. John Julius Norwich died in 2018.
“Suavely readable . . . The very model of a popular historian,
[John Julius Norwich] writes to give pleasure to the common reader.
And what pleasure it is. . . . Even by European standards, Sicilian
history is a crazy-quilt affair, and the nearly 3,000 years of it
covered by Mr. Norwich—from the founding of the first Greek
colonies in the eighth century B.C. through World War II—feature a
‘Who’s Who’ of powers, dynasties and civilizations.”—The Wall
Street Journal
“Entertaining on every page . . . There is something ancient and
sorrowful in Sicily, ‘some dark, brooding quality,’ just as
captivating as its spellbinding history or its beautiful and varied
landscapes, from beaches to lemon groves, pine forests to
volcanoes. . . . The most amiable and freewheeling of guides,
Norwich will always find time for the amusing anecdote.”—The Sunday
Times
“Utterly engrossing . . . written with passion about the art and
architecture of this magical island, filled with gossipy tidbits
and sweeping historical theories.”—The Daily Beast
“Dazzling . . . Norwich is an elegantly graceful and entertaining
storyteller.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Charming . . . richly nuanced history relayed with enormous
fondness.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A brisk and always-lively tour.”—Open Letters Monthly
“Norwich is deeply in love with Sicily. [His] boundless affection
has inspired a determined effort to understand its painful past.
The result is impressionistic, as love often is.”—The Times
“Sicily’s political history is full of so much turbulence it’s
sometimes hard to keep track of the battles, murders and
successions, but Norwich sketches personalities vividly: Emma
Hamilton, for example, a glamorous former courtesan whose
celebrated affair with Nelson began in Sicily; or Salvatore
Giuliano, ‘Sicily’s most notorious but . . . best-loved bandit.’
Norwich calls this book his ‘valediction’ to Sicily: he does the
island and the reader a generous service in providing such an
amiable introduction.”—The Sunday Telegraph
“Norwich tells [Sicily’s] long, sad but fascinating story with
sympathy and brio.”—Literary Review
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