Rising up from the heart of the Mediterranean, Sicily has a rich and ancient history spanning over 2,000 years. A bounty prized by invaders from the Greeks, Romans, and Vandals to the Byzantines, Arabs, and Normans, Sicily's violently beautiful landscapes are haunted by a vibrant mix of cultures, and her soil has always been fertile ground for the literary and artistic imagination. This compelling guide uncovers the island's multifaceted personality through the experiences of those literary figures who have managed to get under her skin, including Pindar, Cicero, Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Cervantes, DH Lawrence, Coleridge, Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Ezra Pound, and Lawrence Durrell; as well as local writers who have defined the modern Italian novel, including Giuseppe di Lampedusa and Leonardo Sciascia. Through their words and lives we witness the beauty, pain, and power of the Sicilian cultural landscape and discover how the potent mix of influences on the island's society have been preserved forever in literature.