Sicily

Part of Europe and Africa, yet belonging to neither, Sicily is unique. Its early history is a microcosm of the youthful civilized Mediterranean: the Phoenicians were there, so were the Greeks and the Romans. Later came Arabs, Byzantines, Normans, Angevins and Spanish. Even the English were there for a short time, as were the Americans. Each of the conquerors added to the mixture of people and contributed new customs, language, art and cuisine, though in the end these have always taken on an inimitably Sicilian flavour. Where else would you find a Greek temple made into a Norman church then embellished in a baroque style ornate beyond the famous extravagance of Rome? A feature of this informative book is its treatment of Palermo, that magnificent but crumbling warren where almost every building has some history of eccentricity or extravagance.