Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History

I found out my grandpa was from Sicily not Italy. This is interesting

Interesting to learn the history of Sicily

This book got off to a bit of a slow, meandering start. But, I'm glad I didn't stop reading it. The author's style improved greatly after the first couple of chapters, and I found her writing to be not only informative, but also entertaining. I think that a bit more could have been written about the origins of the Mafia. The one thing that would make this book much better would be illustrations and/or photos. But otherwise, this was a very good read.

I recommend this book. It is easy to read. It moves along at a enjoyable pace. The author takes the reader on a trip through the complex Sicilian history with the readers enjoyment in mind and not an as a monument to the author.

I purchased this book prior to traveling to Sicily to give me a background of a country with a long and confusing history. If you are looking for a scholarly history, this is not the book for you. It is also not a tourist guide. It was, however, perfect for my purposes. It is not often that you find yourself laughing when reading a history book..not because of the content, but rather because of the amusing style of writing.In fact I enjoyed reading this book so much that I ordered her first book, even though it is currently out-of-print.

This an excellently written and very detailed history of the people, rulers, and culture of an important island.The conquests and the people involved really come to life. Background stories and related histories of the Mediterranean area add additional texture and give important insight.One of those books I couldn't put down!

I intend to make an extended visit to Sicily soon, and this book, though not a "scholarly work", is factual and well organized by topics, from ancient times (Greek, Carthaginian, Muslim colonization) through to post-WWII. I purchased the Kindle version, which came with audio, so that I could "read" it at night in bed with the lights out! Lots of maps for reference. A good value for the casual traveler.

I read this book because my paternal grandparents emigrated to New York from Marsala, Sicily, back in the late 1920's. I found the book to be interesting and insightful, as I knew little about it other than it was where the Mafia first established itself.

Very informative book!

This was an interesting approach to Sicily. The author made the history of this beautiful island accessible and enjoyable.. This book is as insight into how geography, combined with various waves of invasions and settlements, wars and weddings, agriculture and volcanoes, created the Sicily we know today. It is a great read..

Delivery excellent, as expected from Amazon Prime. The history and story are totally fascinating, but the writing is horrid. The author would have profited much from a professional editor. In my case, my intense interest in the subject matter helps me to ignore poor sentence construction, grammatical errors, and inappropriate colloquialisms.

"Sicily" è un ottimo libro che consiglio a tutti. Ha molti pregi. In particolare è chiaro e ben informato, organico e coinvolgente. Soprattutto ha il pregio che si fa leggere agevolmente e con piacere, anche dal lettore che ha scarsa dimestichezza con l'inglese.

I bought that book just before the bad reviews in 2010 and enjoyed the reading.Ok, I had strictly no prior knowledge of Sicily's history and bought the book in preparation for my summer holiday (2010) there.I was extremely pleased with it because the material is simply fascinating and gave me an idea of why Sicily is what it is today.I can't argue with the criticisms because I am neither a writer nor a historian... However (of course!) I do find the underlying material extremely interesting and regret the lack of alternative proposal in the previous reviews.My advice would therefore be to read wikipedia by all mean... and buy the book if you think you need more... unless a reviewer gives us some alternative(s)!:-)-