

Loading... Midnight In Sicily (1996)by Peter Robb
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. This book tells the story of modern Sicily from its liberation in WW2 to the mid 1990s. Prior to this period, the Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, had existed as another layer of society between the people and the government and controlled the daily lives of the masses. But since the war, the Mafia has also become enmeshed in and corrupted the politics of both Sicily and Italy. Having personally seen, heard, read and experienced Sicily and its rich past, this book fills in the modern picture through the author's personal journey and retelling the stories of some of the key players on all sides of the law - from the politicians, magistrates and police, through the artists, writers, photographers and bystanders, to the mafiosi themselves. There are some parts that dwell on Naples where the author also spent some years. But this is done to compare and contrast the Sicilian experience to the similar one, at least to the outside observer, of Naples. Shared history, it seems, is not always shared equally. It is a tragedy that such a beautiful land has such a savage underbelly that controls almost all aspects of life. One can only hope that the lives of the investigating magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino blown up by the Mafia, as well as the many others wishing to be freed from this yoke, will not be in vain. But there remains the suggestion that the Mafia still has some control over government in more recent times. The theme of the book, and by implication life in Sicily, is echoed in the last line of this edition (2007): Everything has to change so everything can stay the same. I highly recommend this book to those wishing to understand Sicily, its rich history and modern reality. grippingly intelligent on the scandal of Italy (and rather interesting about food, too) I read this while traveling through Sicily. It was a wonderful way to understand what I was experiencing. The descriptions of the catacombs in Palermo were exacting, but better yet was touring the "anti-mafia" museum in Corleone and seeing the pictures of the people he described throughout the renditions of the mafia wars. The significance of the book is understated. This could be the best book I have read on Sicily and Naples. Robb lived for 14 years in Naples and Sicily. The books wanders wondrously through time, however, Robb writes so seamlessly you do not seem to notice. His passions are food and art and he tells history through these passions. The book's primary focus is on the mafia and how it has come to poison Italian society, with corruption going all the way to the top. He recounts how the Aliies after their occupation of Sicily during WWII turned to the Mafia to restablish local political control, out of fear that the Communists would fill the political vacuum caused by the demise of fascism. Lucky Luciano was released from prison to be our diplomatic go-between. No wonder they have problems. no reviews | add a review
Constructed around the mafia trial of Giulio Andreotti in 1995, this narrative combines a history of the Cosa Nostra with travel writing, accounts of Italian life and Sicilian food. It also presents portraits of the many people involved in the trial. No library descriptions found. |
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Mr Robb’s book does divert, and has entertaining parts on, for instance, the history of the fork, and the origin of pasta. Mr Robb also meets interesting people, like a woman photographer turned politician, fiercely anti-Mafia. But every time, he ultimately comes back to his prime subject, the Mafia, and every time, he spells out other gruesome details – sometimes, perhaps, too much. But it doesn’t diminish the intensity of the book, and the message it puts forward, that Italy was on the brink of becoming ungovernable. Great book for anybody interested not just in Sicily, but also in the post-war history of Italy. (