Palermo is a destination with a difference. The city is a treasure trove of ancient monuments and works of art, combined with architecture of grand proportions. Jeremy Dummett provides the first concise history of Palermo, together with a survey of its most important monuments and sites. The city first blossomed under the Arabs and then the Normans and became the preferred city of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily. Later it became the scene of the Sicilian Vespers when the island rose against the French, and in the late nineteenth century, Sicily finally gained independence. Over the centuries, prominent writers have fallen for Palermo, including Goethe, Henry Swinburne and Maupassant. Its monuments are striking and unusual, from the Byzantine mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in the Palatine chapel, to the sculptures by Giacomo Serpotta, the decorative piazzas Pretoria and Quattro Canti, the Sicilian-Norman style Cathedral and the Norman complex of buildings at Monreale. In addition to being an essential companion for visitors to Palermo, this book can be equally enjoyed as a standalone history of the city and its place at the heart of Sicily.