The Kingdom of Sicily 1130-1860

This lively narrative traces the history of Sicily from the foundation of its multicultural kingdom in the twelfth century to the end of its baroque monarchy in the nineteenth, with framing chapters covering the periods before and afterward. Here, in a captivating text, a leading historian tells the complex yet fascinating story of the world's most conquered, most contested island.

Accompanied by numerous maps, pedigree charts and a lengthy chronology, this is a rare journey into understanding, and a solid reference, the first history of the Kingdom of Sicily from its medieval Norman origins to Italian unification. The author explains how we are all Sicilians, and why it matters.

Louis Mendola

Louis Mendola is one of Sicily’s foremost medievalists, and one of the very few whose work is known beyond Italian borders. His first scholarly paper (on the Battle of Benevento of 1266) was published in 1985; others consider such topics as the history of the medieval Normans in Sicily. He wrote the first book covering the entire seven-century history of the Kingdom of Sicily, and the first English translations of two chronicles of the thirteenth century. Having researched in Italy, Britain, Spain, Germany, France and the Vatican, he has been consulted by The History Channel, the BBC and The New York Times. Read by millions internationally, his online articles have made him one of the most popular Sicilian historians of the present century.