Princes under the Volcano : Two Hundred Years of a British Dynasty in Sicily

by Raleigh Trevelyan

• ISBN13: 9781842124352
• ISBN10: 1842124358
• Edition: Paperback
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Phoenix Press

Summary

The 'Princes' of the title are Anglo-Saxon merchant princes in Sicily who arrived at the time of Nelson when it was virtually a British colony, and who rose to heights of luxury and esteem on a par with the Lampedusas (who also feature in the book). This incomparably beautiful island has its famous volcano, but was subject to eruptions from revolutions, earthquakes, cholera epidemics, bandits and the Mafia. Based on unpublished letters, diaries and papers, many of great historical interest, the story begins with the discovery of Marsala wine by Benjamin Ingham, an irascible tycoon from Leeds who wielded immense power and made huge profits out of interests in America (including land in Manhattan). The next stage moves on to the the period of the Belle Epoque when Palermo was at its most fashionable and ambitious hostess, Tina Whitaker, married to Ingham's great-nephew. She knew Wagner, Mussolini, the Kaiser and Edward VII, Empress Eugenie and Queen Mary. Attracted by homosexual company, she unwittingly found herself in a circle involved in the Irish Crown Jewels scandal. First published in 1972. This edition contains a new introduction.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Prologue	xiii
PART ONE: THE MERCHANT PRINCES
The English Croesus of These Parts	3	(9)
Any Gentleman's Table Might Receive It	12	(11)
The Fleas With Which Your House is Pestered	23	(13)
Scissors into Swords	36	(16)
Travellers and Romance	52	(11)
Awful and Unexplained	63	(18)
In Pursuit of Wealth	81	(16)
PART TWO: THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
Revolution!	97	(21)
The Good Folk Appear Stark Mad	118	(16)
Entire Families Have Been Carried Off	134	(14)
Garibaldi Cometh	148	(19)
Doomed to be Bombarded, if not Sacked and Burned	167	(16)
Mercenaries, Victory and Blood Lust	183	(20)
PART THREE: THE INHERITORS
Viva La Vescovina	203	(19)
The Mafia Supreme	222	(17)
PART FOUR: PRINCES OF THE REVOLUTION
Exiles	239	(12)
Successor to Adelina Patti?	251	(16)
PART FIVE: LIVING AS PRINCES
Flowers from the Grand Duke	267	(15)
Simpatica and Rather Sad	282	(25)
Your Majesty Commands	307	(29)
Some Horrors; and for Norina -- Auletta	336	(35)
PART SIX: PRINCES OF FASCISM
No Ordinary Ambitious Climber	371	(25)
Liberty Curtailed	396	(25)
PART SEVEN: IN RETIREMENT
Besieged in Rome; Mists and Suns	421	(34)
Epilogue	455	(8)
Envoi	463	(2)
Acknowledgements	465	(2)
Bibliography	467	(8)
Notes and Sources	475	(37)
Family Trees	512	(5)
Index	517