This book focuses on the cultural history of Sicily as well as the current issues that the small island faces. As an American born child of Sicilian parents, I found it especially interesting to listen to. I have family that lives in Sicily and when we visited, I saw many of the places discussed. This account includes the different people that inhabited the island at different times and created the heritage and culture. The author also addresses the current political and social issues that the Sicilians face today.

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Sicily really was the crossroads of empires, some expected (Greeks, Romans, Muslims), some much less so (I had no idea that the Normans ruled Sicily for a while). I also had no idea what a regional power Sicily was for long stretches, compared to it's relative standing today. The long history also helps make sense of the present, particularly centuries of playing off and development of different regions for political gains which has contributed to the impoverishment of the south of Sicily. I also know little about the formation of the nation of Italy and the decision the new nation made to prioritize industrial development in the north and agriculture in the south, which have had ruinous consequences for Sicily. The book also does a good job covering the rise and fall and rise and current status of the mafia, framing them as a quasi-governmental actor that takes advantage of political and economic chaos to profit on drugs, corruption, and misery. On the whole a fascinating and well written book I learned a ton from.

I received The Invention of Sicily audiobook as part of a NetGalley giveaway.

Over its long history, Sicily has a complex history: layers of cultures (Greek, Roman, Jewish, Byzantine, Islamic, Holy Roman, etc.) have left their mark on the island that in some ways has held it apart from the Italian mainland with which it has become affiliated over the past century and a half. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries harsh economic conditions led generations of Sicilians to emigrate elsewhere in Italy or abroad, to align with various radical political groups, and to develop far-reaching networks of organized crime. Most recently, migrants from Africa and the Middle East have arrived on Sicilian shores seeking freedom and a better life in Western Europe, placing it at the center of conversations about race and racism in modern day Italy.

This was a fairly brief romp through Sicily's history. As a medieval history geek, the first half of the book was most interesting to me, but the broad sweep of the book gives useful context and one can really sees how circumstances in one period lead to later conditions. Keeping the narrative moving is useful for novices to the subject, who are certainly the targeted audience. For those who like to learn about new places, The Invention of Sicily is a really well-researched, well-paced read.

I studied abroad in Sicily in college and was always fascinated by the amount of diverse history that was there. The land has been part of so many different groups of people and fought over by so many empires and I thought this book really reflected all of that. I will definitely be utilizing this book as a resource for my classes when teaching Cultural Geography because I
Thought it did a great job of contextualizing the vast cultural history of Sicily. I learned a lot and the narrator is excellent and his vocal inflections kept me interested. History books are tricky as audiobooks because sometimes they can get boring. This narrator did a great job at holding interest.

As a person whose family is deeply rooted in Sicily, This book was beautiful. Prior to this book, I knew the general history of the Island but this gave me such a deeper understanding of its history. Despite this book being a historical account, it was an engaging and interesting book to listen to. Highly recommended.