Sicily Quotes

“No one can fail to be impressed by Monreale, ablaze as it is with over an acre and a half of superb mosaics, all completed within five or six years, between 1183 and the end of the decade. It lacks the gemlike perfection of the Palatine Chapel, the Byzantine mystery of the Martorana, or the sheer magic that streams down from the great Pantocrator at Cefalù. Its impact is chiefly due to its size and its splendor. But this impact, like the cathedral itself, is colossal. Wandering slowly through the vast length of the building, one might be forgiven for thinking that virtually every Bible story is here illustrated. Nor would one be very far wrong; but there is one particular mosaic—and not a narrative one either—that should on no account be missed. Look now to the second figure to the right of the central east window. There is no problem of identification: in conformity with the usual canons of the time, the name runs down the side of the halo for all to read: SCS. THOMAS CANTUR. Whether or not it bears any resemblance to the martyred Archbishop we have no idea;*3 it remains, however, the earliest certain representation”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History

“In little over a month, a handful of poorly armed and largely untrained men had brought one of the greatest royal houses of Europe to its knees.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“At this time, too, many Mafia bosses were appointed to responsible positions in the administration simply because there was no one else.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“The Mafia, meanwhile, had benefited greatly from its collusion with American intelligence”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“Whether or not the Mafia was able to make much difference is not easy to judge; resistance to the invaders was certainly greater in the east, where the Honoured Society was a good deal less powerful.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“As commander of II Corps, Bradley had an unexpected problem to tackle: the deluge of Italian prisoners. During a single week in Sicily, the number of these prisoners comfortably exceeded the total taken during the whole of the First World War. Many of them were described as being ‘in a mood of fiesta … filling the air with laughter and song’. Some American units were obliged to post signs saying ‘No Prisoners Accepted Here’ or advising those wishing to give themselves up to come back another day.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“More than once, during the Sicilian campaign, he put the whole operation at serious risk.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“We’re going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket …”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“Patton loved war; Monty loved himself.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“Few Allied generals can have hated each other more than Patton and Montgomery.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“In the first instance it would carry the American Seventh Army under the celebrated gun-toting General George S. Patton and the British Eighth Army under General (later Field Marshal) Sir Bernard Montgomery.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

“American intelligence officers, somewhat better informed than the Duce, understood that for the projected invasion to be successful it was vitally important to have the Mafia firmly on the Allied side.”
― John Julius Norwich, Sicily: A Short History, from the Ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra