Inside the Book
In recent years a growing number of world travelers have “discovered” Sicily. The island has emerged as an exciting new holiday destination, rich in magnificent historical treasures from the ancient, medieval and enlightenment periods, and a wonderous rugged land of spectacular natural beauty. Despite thousands of years of well recorded history and significant academic research of the island, real knowledge of Sicily and her people remains largely unknown throughout the world, even to many millions of individuals of Sicilian descent.
Beginning in the 19th century and continuing to present day, the real story of Sicily has been largely overshadowed and obscured by the sensationalized activities of a vicious, despicable, and parasitic class of organized criminals, well-known to the world as the Mafia or Cosa Nostra. My book seeks to present the true history of Sicily to a mass audience, which has been fed a steady stream of fictitious Hollywood inspired stories that have glorified the Mafia life style. The dearth of any accurate depictions of real Sicilians by the media and entertainment industries, has effectively left these fictitious Mafia stories as the only representations of Sicilians that most people will ever know, thus inferring a presumptive association of Sicilians with violence, lawlessness, criminality, and immorality.
My original objective in beginning this project was to leave my daughters and their future children with an accurate picture of their Sicilian heritage, one which would inspire pride. However, over time my goals became more ambitious — to reintroduce the real Sicilian people, as well as their true culture and history, to a much wider audience. It is my sincere hope that the book will be a source of inspiration and pride for all people of Sicilian descent, and that it will challenge the prior false perceptions and unjust prejudices held by many of its readers.
Joseph Sturiale