Midnight in Sicily: on Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra

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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. A journey into the heart of Sicily, using art, food, history and literature to shed light on southern Italy's legacy of political corruption and violent crime. The text takes as its starting point the ongoing trail of seven-times Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti

Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel and la Cosa

Still in print 50 years after publication, outdated in parts, yet full of insights into the Italian psyche, which are as apt today as they were in 1964: “Dull and insignificant moments in life must be made decorous and agreeable with suitable decorations and rituals. Ugly things must be hidden, unpleasant and tragic facts swept under the carpet whenever possible.” Or, more sardonically and pertinently in the context of Italy’s current economic plight: “free competition, this selection which heartlessly favours only uncouth and rough persons whose only merits are those of passing tests, doing their job well and knowing their business, is naturally resented by most Italians”. 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.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.

Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb | Open Library Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb | Open Library

Only partly about Sicily; more an exploration of the corrupt dynamics of Christian Democracy enlivened by digressions into the art, literature and gastronomy of the Mezzogiorno. Ideally read in conjunction with Paul Ginsborg’s masterly History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943-1988. Overlapping words: Peter Robb's Midnight in Sicily and Leonardo Sciascia's Detective Stories in Italics". Swinburne Research Bank . Retrieved 6 May 2015. 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. This book has it all...a travel book, FOOD!, and the omnipresent corruption of the Mafia in Sicily. Peter Robb has written a masterpiece detailing how La Cosa Nostra has invaded every part of Sicily's everyday life. First published in 1996, Robb updated this book in 2007.

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Big refrigerated lorries carried off the entire catch every morning before dawn. Shellfish, however, abounded. They were for the locals. There were glossy mussels, sleek brown datteri di mare, sea dates who lived inside narrow holes they burrowed in the soft yellow tufa below the waterline, cannelicchi, which were Chinaman’s fingernails, pipis, taratafoli, vongole, others whose names eluded me, though not the memory of their shape and flavour, the smooth mottled shells and the dark grooved ones.

Midnight in Sicily - Penguin Books UK

The thing that is great about this book is the language. The topic is a bit grim, but the language is just enchanting. Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-beta-20210815 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9913 Ocr_module_version 0.0.13 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-WL-0000192 Openlibrary_edition Off the southern coast of Italy lies Sicily, home to an ancient culture that–with its stark landscapes, glorious coastlines, and extraordinary treasure troves of art and archaeology–has seduced travellers for centuries. But at the heart of the island’s rare beauty is a network of violence and corruption that reaches into every corner of Sicilian life: “La Cosa Nostra,” the Mafia.In an intoxicating mix of crime and travel writing, Peter Robb, a writer who lived in Southern Italy for fourteen years, sets out to understand both the historical roots of the Mafia and its central place in contemporary Italian politics. And whether he’s touting the gustatory pleasures of Sicilian ice cream, unveiling the Arabic origins of pasta, or unraveling the criminal history of a bandit, Robb seductively brings Sicilian culture to life. Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb – eBook DetailsI lived in Sicily. Robb's descriptions of the marketplaces, the dusty heat that is Sicily are spot on. The Sicilians I lived with simply accepted the Mafia as a business...nothing more. But it is MUCH more.

MIDNIGHT IN SICILY | Kirkus Reviews

urn:lcp:midnightinsicily0000robb:epub:499dd689-fa41-49f0-895c-77da96ff9562 Foldoutcount 0 Grant_report Arcadia #4117 Identifier midnightinsicily0000robb Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t6n105182 Invoice 1853 Isbn 1860465978Rocca di Capraleone is an ugly, mostly industrial city near the coast famous for being the birthplace of Maria Grazia Cucinotta, a well known Italian model and actress. Not Messina, as she often tells the press; I wonder why she would lie about this? I guess because Rocca isn’t as beautiful or romantic as Messina. 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. I enjoy travelling by train, it is comfortable, reasonably inexpensive and easy to do, especially in Italy. It’s a good idea to travel in Sicily by train as you can see a fair amount of the countryside as the line takes a coastal route, but for a few moments in the odd tunnel, you get primarily uninterrupted views. It’s a little slow, but today I’m not in a hurry, so I’m happy to look out the window and soak up the sunshine.