Sicily
The art of the political lunch
We had been discussing Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, the possibility of a nuclear exchange across the Punjab and other trifling matters.…
My new-found love for Marsala
Western Sicily is one of the most wonderful places on Earth. From the Greek temples in the south to the…
Is it art or science?
William Henry Fox Talbot had many accomplishments. He was Liberal MP for Chippenham; at Cambridge he won a prize for…
The rise and fall of Sicily
There are lessons to be learned from the disintegration of this once majestic multicultural Norman kingdom, says Martin Gayford
The rarest blend of white and gold
This unusual book is beautifully written, produced and illustrated, but its subject — the small Slender-billed curlew — is strangely…
Best in show
Martin Gayford recommends the exhibitions to see — and to avoid — over the coming year
Africa’s most wanted
The godfather of people-trafficking is an Ethiopian called Ghermay Ermias. But it’s unlikely we’ll ever catch him
Beautiful, bedevilled island
The Arabs invaded Sicily in the ninth century, leaving behind mosques and pink-domed cupolas. In the Sicilian capital of Palermo,…
Ways of hearing
‘What gives your lies such power?’ asks the bewildered Sicilian leader in Szymanowski’s opera Krol Roger. The question is addressed…
The people from the sea
Encounters with those who have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean
Sicily
Syracuse is a handsome place, steeped in a rich historical broth. At the tip sits Ortygia, an island offshoot, which…
Diary
‘Please God, make me good, but not yet.’ I know the feeling. As I get older and more deeply retired,…
The rumour mill
Geoffrey Dickens’s ancient dossier of (alleged) paedophiles in high places cannot be found among the 138 miles of government files,…
