The liquid continent (800 BC-826 AD) : the colonies of Magna Graecia, Hellenistic culture, Roman-Byzantine occupations -- The polyglot kingdom (826-1182) : life in the Emirate, Norman conquest, hybrid architecture -- The anti-Christ of Palermo (1182-1347) : an emperor-king, the 'peaceful crusade', Sicily's war of independence -- A silent scream (1347-1693) : black death, the Spanish Inquisition, spells and incantations -- Decadence and parlous games (1693-1860) : Baroque towns, legendary bandits, folk politics -- A revolution betrayed (1860-1891) : Italian unification, the origins of the mafia, the paradoxes of liberalism -- A modernist dystopia (1891-1943) : political corruption, fascism and futurism, a colonial administration -- The return of the mafia (1943-2013) : the American connection, concrete cathedrals, bunga bunga -- Epilogue : 'they are our salvation' (2013-present)