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Midnight in Sicily
Chronicles the relationship of Italy's high-ranking politicians with the Sicilian Mafia, from the end of World War II to the present day. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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4194 people want to read
About the author
Peter Robb
30 books42 followersBorn 1946. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Robb
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
December 9, 2021
I was lucky to find this book in Sicily on the tiny English section of the Mondadori bookshop in Ragusa Ibla a few summers ago. It is an excellent read about the author's love of sicilian culture and food with the backdrop of the mafia's complete control of the island up to the assassinations of the anti-mafia judges Borsellino and Falconi. I learned an immense amount of things about Sicily thanks to this book. It is also thanks to Robb that I discovered and later read and LOVED Il Gattopardo, the great masterpiece of Lampedusa (and the incredible film as well). Another fascinating anecdote explained the connection between Lucky Luciano and the US Government that facilitated the Allied invasion of Sicily and laid the groundwork for a deeper incrustation of Cosa Nostra in the US after the war. A definite must for those curious about Sicily and about the Sicilian mafia.
May 12, 2016
This book is a pretty comprehensive account of the development, changing nature and widespread influence of the main groups of organized criminality in Italy (Mafia with origins in Sicily, and Camorra in Naples) after WWII. Much of the history is taken from firsthand accounts and documentation, some of it used in famous Mafia trials.
A bit disjointed and occasionally tedious to read - the complex intertwining and overlapping of organized criminality, foreign powers interests, terrorism, cultural factors, politics and widespread corruption at all level of civil society, so characteristic of the modern history of Italy, is maddeningly complex at best of times: unfortunately the author tends, at times, to provide a too-close perspective of this intricate morass, indulging into the minute details and listing all principal actors in relation to the many plots (and subplots, and sub-sub-plos) that even the best magistrates in Italy failed to untangle.
It must also be said that the author tends to get worryingly close to expressing some form of respect towards this phenomenon – almost justifying it in the light of the history of poverty, oppression and foreign domination that feature in so much of the history of Southern Italy, and Sicily in particular. The criticism of the phenomenon of the Mafia feels almost half-hearted – the author might have spent more space in highlighting the terrible economical and social costs of the presence of the organized criminality in Italy, rather than devoting several pages on food or Guttuso's lovers, or Marta Marzotto.
On the other hand, some parts are extremely interesting, and the author manages to highlight with great effect the intimate relationship and deep links between organized criminality and the upper echelons of Italian politics, including the government itself and the prime minister himself.
The case of Giulio Andreotti is an example well explained by the author, with overwhelming and detailed evidence.
I also like how the author did not refrain from highlighting the heavy responsibilities of the US authorities in WWII, when they supported the re-establishment of the Mafia structure in Sicily, in exchange for support in their occupation of the island - the famous Mafia boss Calogero Vizzini ("the boss of all bosses") was even made Honorary Colonel in the US Army.
The author is also very clear in detailing the many political interests that colluded in the murder of Aldo Moro, one of the darkest moments in modern Italian history: Aldo Moro knew too much about the relationship between the governing party, the mafia, the business world, and he made the big mistake of promoting a compromise with the Communist party – so all affected parties (Italian and foreign) could not wait to see him killed by the Red Brigades.
I also appreciated that the author refrains from expressing personal opinions, impressions or generic statements, relying heavily, instead, on actual proofs and documentary evidence. And the picture that emerges is shocking and dis-heartening even for a reader already intimate with many events of recent Italian history. A grim reading experience indeed.
I am pleasantly surprised by the author's knowledge of Italian culture and history, something quite rare with non-Italian authors. His first-hand accounts of his visits to some inland Sicilian villages, and of the historical quarters of Naples, are beautiful. He also captures some peculiar aspects of the Italian mindset with really insightful perspectives.
But even this author does not really get fully into the heart of the problem: it is not just about a particular politician (such as Andreotti) or a particular political party (Democrazia Cristiana), or a particular region (Sicily): the problem is about a widespread culture of corruption, dishonesty and “omerta'” (a typically Southern Italian concept, virtually untranslatable, whose meaning is: “conspiracy of silence” or “refusal to cooperate with the authorities, even if victims of crime”), which touches ALL levels of the Italian society, including the common people evading taxes, the Church authorities, the industrialists, local and central politicians, public servants, magistrates, police etc. This is still a country where Mafia bosses funerals represent them as heroes, and where you wonder if the "Godfather" movie is still applicable: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-....
And it is a mistake to identify the Mafia organization with just what is visible in prisons or in the streets – the borders between organized criminality and the rest of society have become so blurred that in some cases it is almost impossible to distinguish between a corrupt politician and a “mafioso”, and distinguishing between dirty money and legitimate businesses. The inconvenient truth is that the organized criminality would not have had such success, had it not found a fertile soil in the Italian society. Still now there are recurrent scandals and cases of corruption in Italy, and just a few days ago a massive amount of explosive has been found by the police - explosive targeted at killing a magistrate who was investigating the activities of the Camorra.
This makes the amazing sacrifice, that the few honest Italian magistrates and politicians have made by paying with their own lives for their courageous fight, all the more poignant and heroic. Heroes who were in so many cases progressively ostracized and isolated by the very authorities that they were supposed to represent, until the organized criminality could kill them without too much fuss.
Fortunately, there is still an important part of civil society that refuses to give up. The hope is that it will finally prevail and transform Italy into a truly European and independent country.
To conclude: this is a reasonably good book, recommended to all readers interested in the recent history of organized criminality in Italy, even if it must be said that prior knowledge of the political history of post WWII Italy would definitely help in the appreciation of this book. 3 stars.
A bit disjointed and occasionally tedious to read - the complex intertwining and overlapping of organized criminality, foreign powers interests, terrorism, cultural factors, politics and widespread corruption at all level of civil society, so characteristic of the modern history of Italy, is maddeningly complex at best of times: unfortunately the author tends, at times, to provide a too-close perspective of this intricate morass, indulging into the minute details and listing all principal actors in relation to the many plots (and subplots, and sub-sub-plos) that even the best magistrates in Italy failed to untangle.
It must also be said that the author tends to get worryingly close to expressing some form of respect towards this phenomenon – almost justifying it in the light of the history of poverty, oppression and foreign domination that feature in so much of the history of Southern Italy, and Sicily in particular. The criticism of the phenomenon of the Mafia feels almost half-hearted – the author might have spent more space in highlighting the terrible economical and social costs of the presence of the organized criminality in Italy, rather than devoting several pages on food or Guttuso's lovers, or Marta Marzotto.
On the other hand, some parts are extremely interesting, and the author manages to highlight with great effect the intimate relationship and deep links between organized criminality and the upper echelons of Italian politics, including the government itself and the prime minister himself.
The case of Giulio Andreotti is an example well explained by the author, with overwhelming and detailed evidence.
I also like how the author did not refrain from highlighting the heavy responsibilities of the US authorities in WWII, when they supported the re-establishment of the Mafia structure in Sicily, in exchange for support in their occupation of the island - the famous Mafia boss Calogero Vizzini ("the boss of all bosses") was even made Honorary Colonel in the US Army.
The author is also very clear in detailing the many political interests that colluded in the murder of Aldo Moro, one of the darkest moments in modern Italian history: Aldo Moro knew too much about the relationship between the governing party, the mafia, the business world, and he made the big mistake of promoting a compromise with the Communist party – so all affected parties (Italian and foreign) could not wait to see him killed by the Red Brigades.
I also appreciated that the author refrains from expressing personal opinions, impressions or generic statements, relying heavily, instead, on actual proofs and documentary evidence. And the picture that emerges is shocking and dis-heartening even for a reader already intimate with many events of recent Italian history. A grim reading experience indeed.
I am pleasantly surprised by the author's knowledge of Italian culture and history, something quite rare with non-Italian authors. His first-hand accounts of his visits to some inland Sicilian villages, and of the historical quarters of Naples, are beautiful. He also captures some peculiar aspects of the Italian mindset with really insightful perspectives.
But even this author does not really get fully into the heart of the problem: it is not just about a particular politician (such as Andreotti) or a particular political party (Democrazia Cristiana), or a particular region (Sicily): the problem is about a widespread culture of corruption, dishonesty and “omerta'” (a typically Southern Italian concept, virtually untranslatable, whose meaning is: “conspiracy of silence” or “refusal to cooperate with the authorities, even if victims of crime”), which touches ALL levels of the Italian society, including the common people evading taxes, the Church authorities, the industrialists, local and central politicians, public servants, magistrates, police etc. This is still a country where Mafia bosses funerals represent them as heroes, and where you wonder if the "Godfather" movie is still applicable: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-....
And it is a mistake to identify the Mafia organization with just what is visible in prisons or in the streets – the borders between organized criminality and the rest of society have become so blurred that in some cases it is almost impossible to distinguish between a corrupt politician and a “mafioso”, and distinguishing between dirty money and legitimate businesses. The inconvenient truth is that the organized criminality would not have had such success, had it not found a fertile soil in the Italian society. Still now there are recurrent scandals and cases of corruption in Italy, and just a few days ago a massive amount of explosive has been found by the police - explosive targeted at killing a magistrate who was investigating the activities of the Camorra.
This makes the amazing sacrifice, that the few honest Italian magistrates and politicians have made by paying with their own lives for their courageous fight, all the more poignant and heroic. Heroes who were in so many cases progressively ostracized and isolated by the very authorities that they were supposed to represent, until the organized criminality could kill them without too much fuss.
Fortunately, there is still an important part of civil society that refuses to give up. The hope is that it will finally prevail and transform Italy into a truly European and independent country.
To conclude: this is a reasonably good book, recommended to all readers interested in the recent history of organized criminality in Italy, even if it must be said that prior knowledge of the political history of post WWII Italy would definitely help in the appreciation of this book. 3 stars.
January 22, 2015
The title promises a broader and more rounded view of Sicily than what we actually get. Instead of a balanced overview of many aspects of the history of the island, we get an awful lot of Cosa Notra, with the occasional short chapter, or even just a few paragraphs, on a particular typical recipe or representative work of art, and then it's back to the mafia stuff again. Which is fine, if that's what you're interested in. Personally I found myself skimming over some of the interminable and hopelessly convoluted descriptions of the internal power struggles, in order to get to the political angle involving Andreotti, or the personal stories like that of Marta Marzotto.
Robb is obviously intelligent and knowledgeable, although he leans a little too heavily on one particular source: the legal dossier titled The True History of Italy, and I sometimes felt that he got bogged down in trying to present too much information rather than communicating some key facts more clearly. Then again, when it comes to Sicily it seems that very little is clear or uncomplicated.
Robb is obviously intelligent and knowledgeable, although he leans a little too heavily on one particular source: the legal dossier titled The True History of Italy, and I sometimes felt that he got bogged down in trying to present too much information rather than communicating some key facts more clearly. Then again, when it comes to Sicily it seems that very little is clear or uncomplicated.
June 20, 2022
interesting flaw between details on the Mafia in Sicily to great descriptions and love to Sicilian culture and especially food. sometimes fun read and sometimes i got lost in too many names and events.
February 13, 2016
Appreciation... and disappointment. These are the feelings I'm left with after finishing "Midnight in Sicily". I'm appreciative that Robb is willing to dig down into an area of Italian life that so many - particularly Italians - are reluctant to, but I can't help feeling a pang of disappointment (several, actually) that the result is so lackluster and unenthusiastic. Having just finished Alexander Stille's "Excellent Cadavers" (which was indeed excellent) the contrast couldn't be sharper. We lived with the individuals Stille reported on, got a visceral look at the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra. Robb, by contrast, seems like he hasn't quite figured out what he wants to be talking about at all. "Midnight in Sicily" is 80 percent mafia, the other 20 percent a smattering of things like coffee, sculpting, the elderly, photography, etc. If Robb wanted to write a book about the mafia he should have committed to doing so wholeheartedly. Instead what we're left with is an account of political thugs like Giulio Andreotti (Italy's former Prime Minister) and then 5 pages on children visiting a museum in Palermo and being told by their guide of the beauty of a particular sculpture's buttocks. What? If you want to talk about the mafia, you can't do so halfheartedly. What I thought I was getting with "Midnight in Sicily" was an overview of Sicily itself. Equal parts mafia, cuisine, people, culture, and history. Instead it's almost all mafia with the rest crammed in as filler for god knows what reason.
Ironically, the book's best chapter isn't about Sicily at all, but about Napoli. There are two or three very intriguing pages about the history and culture of Neapolitan coffee (the best in the world) and then a few on the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra. What this is doing in a book called "Midnight in Sicily" I don't know... perhaps it should have been called "Midnight in the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" as that would have no doubt made for a much more intriguing book.
Is a 3-star book worth your time? Not when there are so many 5-star books out there that deal with the mafia, Italian history, culture, and cuisine so much better. I wish I'd stopped reading after the chapter on Naples - somewhere midway through the book. At least then Robb and I could have parted ways on a sweet, rather than a bitter, note - much like a Neapolitan Caffè.
Ironically, the book's best chapter isn't about Sicily at all, but about Napoli. There are two or three very intriguing pages about the history and culture of Neapolitan coffee (the best in the world) and then a few on the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra. What this is doing in a book called "Midnight in Sicily" I don't know... perhaps it should have been called "Midnight in the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" as that would have no doubt made for a much more intriguing book.
Is a 3-star book worth your time? Not when there are so many 5-star books out there that deal with the mafia, Italian history, culture, and cuisine so much better. I wish I'd stopped reading after the chapter on Naples - somewhere midway through the book. At least then Robb and I could have parted ways on a sweet, rather than a bitter, note - much like a Neapolitan Caffè.
August 9, 2016
This is a complex and fascinating read that weaves together Camorra, Cosa Nostra, Mafia and the politics of post war Italy. At times I felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic but as I continued to read I found the threads coming together to create a complete picture of this period in history. I really enjoyed the travelogue components that included history, culture and the food of Naples and Sicily, along with the interviews and descriptions with some significant spectators to the unfolding events. After recently reading the Neapolitan series by Ferrante I now feel I have a much better understanding of the scene in Naples, and perhaps also her reasoning for remaining anonymous and writing a fictional account. These were clearly times when it was dangerous to be identified and speak your mind.
February 6, 2017
A fascinating insight into Sicily and the Cosa Nostra, particularly the political influence of Andreotti. The extreme violence of the 1970's and 80s reads like fiction.
I was fortunate enough to see Litizia Battaglia's work exhibited in Taormina, Sicily (times have changed in Sicily after all!) and those images along with Robb's writing really bring home the terrifying violence and power of the Mafia in Sicily .
I was fortunate enough to see Litizia Battaglia's work exhibited in Taormina, Sicily (times have changed in Sicily after all!) and those images along with Robb's writing really bring home the terrifying violence and power of the Mafia in Sicily .
January 29, 2023
One of my favourite books, I've just re-read it for the third time (I've got an appalling memory, so it almost reads like new each time if I allow enough time to pass).
Robb weaves Sicilian history, the Mafia, food, culture, politics and intrigue into a heady brew. None of these themes are explored in real depth, so if you want a recipe book or a detailed history of Cosa Nostra then look elsewhere.
If you have an existing knowledge of the Sicilian Mafia and of general Italian history since 1945 then this book is a treat, adding as it does a context for those incredibly turbulent decades through to, well, through to the present.
Throughout it all is the cancerous presence of Giulio Andreotti, the slipperiest, most Machiavellian western politician of recent times. In fact, of all time, perhaps. A man who built his power base within the DC through his "friends" in Sicily and who was up to neck in "it".
There's a fair bit on art and culture in the book. As someone whose cultural hinterland stops at a couple of Edward Hopper prints slung up on the lounge wall these can be tiresome - but they can also be skipped through.
Well worth a read.
Robb weaves Sicilian history, the Mafia, food, culture, politics and intrigue into a heady brew. None of these themes are explored in real depth, so if you want a recipe book or a detailed history of Cosa Nostra then look elsewhere.
If you have an existing knowledge of the Sicilian Mafia and of general Italian history since 1945 then this book is a treat, adding as it does a context for those incredibly turbulent decades through to, well, through to the present.
Throughout it all is the cancerous presence of Giulio Andreotti, the slipperiest, most Machiavellian western politician of recent times. In fact, of all time, perhaps. A man who built his power base within the DC through his "friends" in Sicily and who was up to neck in "it".
There's a fair bit on art and culture in the book. As someone whose cultural hinterland stops at a couple of Edward Hopper prints slung up on the lounge wall these can be tiresome - but they can also be skipped through.
Well worth a read.
February 10, 2017
This is an excellent insight into Sicilian life. I read this as 'research' just before I went to live there in 2000. The family I lived with were amazed of the things I knew about because I had read about them prior.
Go to Sicily... it's wonderful!
Go to Sicily... it's wonderful!
April 28, 2015
A look at the post-war rise of Cosa Nostra and its intertwining with Italian politics (what with most of the Government’s ministers apparently being either a part of or closely tied with the group), this was an interesting although sometimes confusing book.
A complex subject at the best of times, the vast array of names (whether they be the many organisations like the Demochristians, the Red Brigades and the Cosa Nostra, the criminals and the politicians - who are often one and the same, the prosecutors or the people met by the author either during his past or along this journey) along with a habit of jumping around chronologically and wandering geographically sometimes left me a little befuddled as to who, when and where I was reading about.
I’m not entirely sure that the book’s byline (On Art, Food, History, Travel and the Cosa Nostra) really fit, as the parts that weren’t about the Cosa Nostra mostly took on the form of brief tangents or reporting of what Robb ate when he met such and such a person, and didn’t really bring anything particularly illuminating to the subject. The book may have even been more successful at getting across the huge amount of information delivered on the Cosa Nostra had these little distractions not been included.
Mostly I was left with a vague sense of how corrupt it seems Italian politics are, that ex-Prime Minister Andreotti was extremely dodgy (to say the least – Berlusconi seems a choirboy in comparison) and that I need to look elsewhere if I want to read about Sicilian food.
This is all probably starting to sound as if I didn’t enjoy this book. I did – it’s just more of an buffet than a fulfilling meal.
**Also posted at Randomly Reading and Ranting**
A complex subject at the best of times, the vast array of names (whether they be the many organisations like the Demochristians, the Red Brigades and the Cosa Nostra, the criminals and the politicians - who are often one and the same, the prosecutors or the people met by the author either during his past or along this journey) along with a habit of jumping around chronologically and wandering geographically sometimes left me a little befuddled as to who, when and where I was reading about.
I’m not entirely sure that the book’s byline (On Art, Food, History, Travel and the Cosa Nostra) really fit, as the parts that weren’t about the Cosa Nostra mostly took on the form of brief tangents or reporting of what Robb ate when he met such and such a person, and didn’t really bring anything particularly illuminating to the subject. The book may have even been more successful at getting across the huge amount of information delivered on the Cosa Nostra had these little distractions not been included.
Mostly I was left with a vague sense of how corrupt it seems Italian politics are, that ex-Prime Minister Andreotti was extremely dodgy (to say the least – Berlusconi seems a choirboy in comparison) and that I need to look elsewhere if I want to read about Sicilian food.
This is all probably starting to sound as if I didn’t enjoy this book. I did – it’s just more of an buffet than a fulfilling meal.
**Also posted at Randomly Reading and Ranting**
May 10, 2017
This book is one of the very best I have read on an aspect of Italian life and politics.(The other is Christ Stopped At Eboli) I am going to read it again, as some of the detail is fading from memory. Robb, a long-term ex-pat writes seriously about the underbelly of Italian life, but also conveys hislove and respect for the country, its traditions and food especially!
When visiting my husbands relatives in Sicily, I found the undercurrents there present - men with rifles nd wolf-dogs standing in country lanes at dusk, protecting their orange trees, for example. My cousins not naming the menace, but refering to it obliquely, shrugging their shoulders....my uncle working two jobs, the first as a respected paramedic in an ambulance service, but earning enough for a basic existence only, but with the promise of a state pension. The second job in the afternoon in order to afford the types of consumer goods and housing that the now advanced Italian nation takes for granted. Much has changed since WW2, since the mass emigrations from a broken country. But much also remains the same and Robb gets to the heart of it beautifully.
When visiting my husbands relatives in Sicily, I found the undercurrents there present - men with rifles nd wolf-dogs standing in country lanes at dusk, protecting their orange trees, for example. My cousins not naming the menace, but refering to it obliquely, shrugging their shoulders....my uncle working two jobs, the first as a respected paramedic in an ambulance service, but earning enough for a basic existence only, but with the promise of a state pension. The second job in the afternoon in order to afford the types of consumer goods and housing that the now advanced Italian nation takes for granted. Much has changed since WW2, since the mass emigrations from a broken country. But much also remains the same and Robb gets to the heart of it beautifully.
October 19, 2014
I bought this book in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Sicily and read it during my trip (although I must admit that I disliked it so much that I skimmed the last half). I have no doubt that Robb knows his way around Italy (or knew his way around Italy--the book is nearly 20 years old) and conducted a massive amount of research on Sicily (and other parts of Italy, most notably, Naples ), but the end result was painful to read--disorganized, disjointed, repetitive, and lacking a much-needed index, glossary, and list of footnotes.
May 7, 2009
I am trying to get a trip to Sicily organized for April. I thought this would help set the scene, though I am more interested in the volcanoes and food than the mafia. Anyone read it?
Agonizing structure--so disjointed. It isn't holding my attention, too many mafiosi. I've put it in the loo--but I think it means I've given up.
Agonizing structure--so disjointed. It isn't holding my attention, too many mafiosi. I've put it in the loo--but I think it means I've given up.
August 1, 2025
I adored this book as I have adored all of Peter Robb's books - they are unique in the combination of the personal with politics and history. I can't review it properly until I read it again but I have hesitation in recommending it and it is not simply a book I will read again but one I intend to buy. What more can I say!?
June 14, 2009
The thing that is great about this book is the language. The topic is a bit grim, but the language is just enchanting.
You can just start anywhere and read onward from there.
You can just start anywhere and read onward from there.
August 13, 2011
A tale of the Sicilian mafia and an Australian journalist's life in Italy. Interesting information but tedious to read. This man cannot write.
May 17, 2015
Bleh!
Read
April 20, 2025Książka lekko chaotyczna, duży natłok informacji, ale sprawiła że zatęskniłam za Sycylią. Dużo w niej mafii, polityki ale też kultury, jedzenia i życia sycylijczyków
October 25, 2023
Intense, eye opening, but most of all a great read. Makes me want to visit Sicily but also makes me nervous to visit. Loved the references to other books I’ve read, such as The Leopard, which helped my understanding them a bit more. Truly a classic book.
October 21, 2024
Took a second for me to get accustomed to the more meandering style, but once we focused on the mafia and political tales as opposed to the travel writing portions, I enjoyed. FYI don’t read while hungry, Robb is really talented at poetically describing Italian pasta.
July 27, 2016
It takes significant talent to write a book about murder that is also life-affirmingly beautiful. It takes significant talent to write a book about labyrinthine institutional corruption that is also engrossing. Peter Robb's is one such talent, and "Midnight in Sicily" combines incisive thoughts on politics and gangsterism with reflections on food, art and literature that are so richly evocative that one's senses are attuned not only to Sicily's olive groves and caponata but to its corpses and smoking ruins. A deeply cultured, human book.
August 19, 2023
I think it just might have been me, but I fund this very tough to read. While it is extremely well researched and has received critical acclaim, I just couldn't get into it. Far too much detail and in my view not told like a story. I found myself rereading sections of it as I grappled to make sense of it. But, as I said, it just might have been me.
June 20, 2020
A wonderfully written account of the dark heart of Sicily, its literature, painting, and food — and the inescapable all-pervasive Cosa Nostra. Essential reading on Italy, and not just the country's south.
July 13, 2022
This was a very difficult convoluted read. The only reason I kept with it is because of an upcoming trip to Sicily and the books highly recommended reviews. That said, I did learn a good deal about politics and mafia in Italy.
October 25, 2023
Deep and intense, but if willing to put int he effort, it is an excellent account of Italian politics and the Mafia up to 1990s
September 10, 2019
Midnight in Sicily is a fantastic and frustrating book, written by Peter Robb an Australian with a deep abiding love for the Mezzogiorno and its people.
I picked up the book thinking that it would be an insight into the life of those in Sicily. It certainly is but I was not prepared to the extent that it would focus on the Cosa Nostra (the mafia) and its pernicious grip on Italian politics and business as the lens through which to view Sicily. For me, this was not an unwelcome angle given I have prior historical interest in the topic and given the era in which Robb lived in Palermo it is certainly justified. However, I can imagine that for many readers the minute detail with which he examines various sagas of mafioso murders and political intrigue would be too much. It is difficult to pick out larger themes amidst all the details, however the various threads do tie together as one goes on.
That being said, it cannot be doubted that the detailed narrative shines a very illuminating light on a host of figures who deserve opprobrium. Robb centres on Giulio Andreotti, several times Prime Minister of Italy and his associations with various corrupt, murderous ‘Men of Honour’ from Michele Sandona who caused the largest banking crash in Italian history, to Shorty Riina, a corpulent brutal butcher of a man, who all but waged war against the Italian state in the early 1990s as he attempted to bend the entire Mafia and Italian government to his will. The central place of Andreotti in the book works very well, once one becomes used to the way the narrative jumps around, providing an insight into how interlinked with crime key political players were.
When not focusing on Cosa Nostra and politics, there are various interesting asides into Sicilian cuisine, culture and literature. From insights on Di Lampedusa the melancholy Sicilian aristocrat who wrote the famous The Leopard, to the mosaic like dish of pasta con le sarde, all of these asides are majestically written and charming. He writes about food with a real passion and a description of his first encounter of a market in Palermo will stick long in the mind.
That being said, these are perhaps less of these than I would have liked. While I greatly enjoyed the book, I was expecting more of such writing rather than a continual return to the pernicious shadow of Cosa Nostra. The book could be said to be more a history book on the Mafia than a piece of travel writing on Sicily and its people. But then again perhaps the constant return of Robb to a dark subject matter reflects his view of the Sicily he found.
Robb approvingly quotes the writings of Leopoldo Franchetti, a Tuscan visitor to the island in the 1880s who noted that while Sicily was beautiful and hospital after a certain number of mafia murders "all that perfume of orange blossom and lemon blossom starts to smell of corpses.’ I think Robb, whether intentionally or not, endorses the same message, and this is a shame because he writes so evocatively about so many of Sicily's positives. I would have liked to read a bit more about these, as there is a danger that a reader could come away from this book, which is meant to be a travelogue written about the island, associating Sicily with nothing more than Cosa Nostra.
I picked up the book thinking that it would be an insight into the life of those in Sicily. It certainly is but I was not prepared to the extent that it would focus on the Cosa Nostra (the mafia) and its pernicious grip on Italian politics and business as the lens through which to view Sicily. For me, this was not an unwelcome angle given I have prior historical interest in the topic and given the era in which Robb lived in Palermo it is certainly justified. However, I can imagine that for many readers the minute detail with which he examines various sagas of mafioso murders and political intrigue would be too much. It is difficult to pick out larger themes amidst all the details, however the various threads do tie together as one goes on.
That being said, it cannot be doubted that the detailed narrative shines a very illuminating light on a host of figures who deserve opprobrium. Robb centres on Giulio Andreotti, several times Prime Minister of Italy and his associations with various corrupt, murderous ‘Men of Honour’ from Michele Sandona who caused the largest banking crash in Italian history, to Shorty Riina, a corpulent brutal butcher of a man, who all but waged war against the Italian state in the early 1990s as he attempted to bend the entire Mafia and Italian government to his will. The central place of Andreotti in the book works very well, once one becomes used to the way the narrative jumps around, providing an insight into how interlinked with crime key political players were.
When not focusing on Cosa Nostra and politics, there are various interesting asides into Sicilian cuisine, culture and literature. From insights on Di Lampedusa the melancholy Sicilian aristocrat who wrote the famous The Leopard, to the mosaic like dish of pasta con le sarde, all of these asides are majestically written and charming. He writes about food with a real passion and a description of his first encounter of a market in Palermo will stick long in the mind.
That being said, these are perhaps less of these than I would have liked. While I greatly enjoyed the book, I was expecting more of such writing rather than a continual return to the pernicious shadow of Cosa Nostra. The book could be said to be more a history book on the Mafia than a piece of travel writing on Sicily and its people. But then again perhaps the constant return of Robb to a dark subject matter reflects his view of the Sicily he found.
Robb approvingly quotes the writings of Leopoldo Franchetti, a Tuscan visitor to the island in the 1880s who noted that while Sicily was beautiful and hospital after a certain number of mafia murders "all that perfume of orange blossom and lemon blossom starts to smell of corpses.’ I think Robb, whether intentionally or not, endorses the same message, and this is a shame because he writes so evocatively about so many of Sicily's positives. I would have liked to read a bit more about these, as there is a danger that a reader could come away from this book, which is meant to be a travelogue written about the island, associating Sicily with nothing more than Cosa Nostra.
September 25, 2020
Midnight in Sicily is a bit dated (written mid-90s, with afterword updated to around 2007) and rambles erratically at times. Yet the material stands on its own as a snapshot of the period from the 1950s to 1990s in Sicily when Cosa Nostra was in the ascendance and it's bloody reign defined the island and indeed the state of Italy. The level and scale of the savagery is hard to contemplate but it certainly set a template for the modern drug cartels now operating even in this country. There are side trips back in history to the incredible array of cultures and civilizations that have impinged on Sicily--Greeks. Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French, Americans and oh yes, the Italians. You will find yourself looking up names such as Lampedusa, Battaliga, Guttuso, Dalla Chiesa and towns such as the ancient 'city' of Mozia or Trapani or Corleone. There is also much on Naples and the other organized crime groups from that region. In addition, the book is festooned with gastronomical musings from the rich and unique food history of the area. But the main focus is on that period from WW2 and the Allied invasion of Sicily and subsequent rise of the modern Mafia to the epic 'Maxitrial' (1986-1992) and all that preceded and surrounded it. Events that culminated in the brazen assassinations of prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino and the earlier murder of General Dalla Chiesa and his wife. Much of the material from the documentary film 'Excellent Cadavers' is covered in more detail in this book but more with fascinating insights into the bizarre cast of characters and events. I dropped one star due to the general disorganization and the absence of photos, which would have really helped to humanize the canvas of characters. The often elaborate descriptions of places, art and various photographs will drive the curious reader to the internet anyway but it would have been a real bonus to have them in the book.
March 17, 2025
Solidna dawka reportażowej prozy, momentami zabójczo przygnębiająca, we fragmentach przesiąknięta niepodważalną miłością do Mezzogiorno, jego ludu i kuchni. Australijczyk Peter Robb próbuje zrozumieć, czym różni się mafia od państwa. Konstatacja jest pesymistyczna nie tylko dla Włoch. Jak wyraził się przywoływany tu wielokrotnie Sycylijczyk Leonardo Sciascia: "Sycylia to metafora współczesnego świata". Choć z grubsza znam brutalną historię powojennych Włoch, rozmiar i brutalność opisanej tu przemocy porażają. Czasem można się trochę pogubić w nielinearnej narracji Robba, ale trzeba przyznać, że zadanie nie było łatwe. Zaciekawiły mnie też zasygnalizowane jedynie powiązania Watykanu i mafii, a wielu moich rodaków oburzyłoby się na zawarte w książce sugestie na temat niezbyt świątobliwych podwładnych czy znajomych Jana Pawła II. Robb ciekawie połączył główny wątek (cosa nostra i jej związki z oficjalnymi władzami) z uwagami na temat jedzenia, sztuki czy pięknymi stronicami poświęconymi księciu Lampedusy, autorowi wspaniałego "Lamparta".
February 1, 2025
Marks book 2 in the unintentional 'me reading books about Italy' cinematic universe. I really enjoyed it. The series of different stories really painted a picture of Sicily and modern Italy as a result. The back did say 'this is more then a story about the mafia', and I was a bit like "yeah thats what they all say", but in hindsight it's very true. Sure you get lots of messed up mafia stories, but you get insight into art, politics, food, history. All of which comes together to create a vivid depiction of Italy.
Only main issue with the book was the structure, namely the lack of it. This was obviously an intentional choice, but it did make each chapter feel like a substack post rather then as part of a narrative.
Only main issue with the book was the structure, namely the lack of it. This was obviously an intentional choice, but it did make each chapter feel like a substack post rather then as part of a narrative.
December 27, 2021
Onvoorstelbaar informatief boek over de Mezzogiorno. Het gaat voornamelijk over de Siciliaanse Cosa Nostra en haar banden met zevenvoudig Italiaans premier Giulio Andreotti, maar Peter Robb verweeft ook schijnbaar ongedwongen studies van de belangrijkste Siciliaanse gerechten en de levensverhalen van enkele belangwekkende kunstenaars in zijn vertellingen. De hoofdstukken over de opkomst van de Gomorra in Napels en dat over gravin Marta Marzotto zijn pageturners. Bere boeksje wi.
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