Book Lists for Further Study
“Books are our best bet to overcome
the silly stereotypes of Sicilians by the mass media.
We need to educate people about the true nature of the Sicilian people
and of their contributions to western civilization.”
Historical Books about Poggioreale Written in Italian:
1. Histories of Poggioreale:
Two Catholic priests born in Poggioreale wrote renowned books about their beloved home town. Can. Nunzio Caronna, born in 1860 and died in 1928, wrote Memorie Storiche di Poggioreale in 1901 and Vita Civile o Supplimento alla Monografia Storica di Poggioreale in 1906. Dott. Can. Francesco Aloisio, born in 1877 and died in 1965, wrote Storia di Poggioreale in 1956. Click the button below to read our book summaries. We are making English translations available to you!
2. Modern Books about Poggioreale written in Italian:
Several authors in the 20th Century wrote about Poggioreale. To date, our PIA editors have found titles written by Erasmus Vella, Gaetano Zummo, and Giovannie Maniscalco. Click the button below to read our book summaries. In some cases, excerpts have been translated into English.
Modern Studies of Poggioreale Written in English:
Dr. Jeremiah Spence, former professor, genealogist, and author, has written about Poggioreale in his many books that mostly focus on the family names of Poggioreale. Come back here to this page again to see our updates as we are preparing more information for you. Also, check amazon.com for a list of his available books.
Books about Sicily, Italian Americans, and More:
Listed below is a small sampling of the many books written about Sicily, our Italian American heritage, and related topics. Some of these books, and many others, can be found on amazon.com or Legas (www.arbasicula.com).
Search your local libraries (use www.worldcat.org and www.hathitrust.org to find a library with the book). Some are out of print (try ebay and Google). Our list below will certainly get you started since it was compiled by several American descendants of Poggioreale who, like you, seek reading material about our ancestors' country of birth, their ancestral town, their American descendants ... AND MORE!
Note: If you have books to recommend, please contact us!
Alio, Jacqueline, Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens, and Rebels, Trinacria Editions LLC, New York, 2015.
ISBN 9780991588602
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American-Italian Cultural Club, Port Arthur, Texas, compiler, Italian-American Family Stories, Looking Glass Media, 1998.
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Barzini, Luigi, The Italians, a Full-Length Portrait Featuring Their Manners and Morals, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1965, 1996.
Basile, Gaetano, Gaetano Cippolla, trans, Sicilian Cuisine Through History and Legend, NY: Legas, 1998.
Belfiglio, Valentine J, Italian Experience in Texas, Austin TX: Eakin Press, 1983.
Belfiglio, Valentine J, Italian Experience in Texas, a Closer Look, Austin TX: Eakin Press, 1995.
Benjamin, Sandra, Sicily, Three Thousand Years of Human History, Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2006.
Blok, Anton, The Mafia of a Sicilian Village, 1860-1960, A Study of Violent Peasant Entrepreneurs, Cambridge: Waveland Press, 1974, 1988.
Boykin, Rosemary DePasquale, Brazos Valley Italians, A Series of Interviews, College Station, TX: C & R Publications 1993. This version is no longer in print; see below for republication.
Boykin, Rosemary DePasquale, The Italians of Steele’s Store, Texas, College Station, TX: C & R Publications 1993. This version is no longer in print; see below for republication by Boykin, Left-Write Ink, 2019.
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Boykin, Rosemary DePasquale with Anne Boykin, The Italians of Steele's Creek and Brazos Valley Italians, A Series of Interviews, Left-Write Ink, 2019.
Boykin, Rosemary DePasquale, Elizabeth Anne Boykin, The DePasquales, From Italy-Sicily to Texas, C & R Publications 2003, reprint Left-Write Ink, 2019.
Brownstone, David M., Irene M. Franck and Douglass Brownstone, Island of Hope, Island of Tears, Barnes and Noble, 2000.
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Caroli, Betty Boyd, Harney, Robert F., and Tomasi, Lydia F., eds., The Italian American Immigrant Woman in North America, Toronto, Ontario (Canada), Oct. 28 and 29, 1977
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Cipolla, Gaetano, revision, Learn Sicilian / Mparamu lu sicilianu, Legas Series Sicilian Studies, Arba Sicula.
Correnti, Santi, A Short History of Sicily, Arba Sicula, Legas, 2002.
Cronin, Constance, The Sting of Change, Sicilians in Sicily and Australia, University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Decaro, Connie Mandracchia, Sicily: The Trampled Paradise, Revisited, Legas, 2008.
Di Donato, Pietro, Christ in Concrete, 1st printing, 1939, Signet; Reprint 1993.
Di Stasi, Lawrence, ed, Una Storia Segreta, The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Interment during World War II, Heyday; 5th Printing , 2001.
Duggan, Christopher, A Concise History of Italy, 1994.
Esposito, Russell R., The Golden Milestone, Over 2,500 Years of Italian Contributions to Civilization, The New York Learning Library, 2000.
Faenzi, Carol, The Stonecutter’s Aria, Aperto Books, 2005.
Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Greater Houston, Inc, Houstonians of Italian Descent, Their Culture and Heritage, Vol I and Vol II, Houston, TX: Cate Media, nd. (Vol II has index to both volumes).
Foster, Betty Clements, ed, Bryan Legends and Legacies, Bryan, TX: City, 1996. (side note: (Vancie Todaro has a memory in there – submitted by Frances X DeGelia). Also, there are other Italian stories, not indexed.)
Fucilla, Joseph G., Our Italian Surnames, Originally Published in Evanston, Illinois, 1949. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD. 2003.
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Gambino, Richard. Blood of My Blood: The Dilemma of the Italian-Americans. Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, New York, 1974.
Laurino, Maria, Were You Always an Italian, Ancestors and Other Icons of Italian America, W. W. Norton & Co Inc, 2000.
Lloyd, Susan Caperna, No Pictures in My Grave, A Spiritual Journey in Sicily, Mercury House, 1992.
Malpezzi, Frances M. and William M. Clements, Italian American Folklore, Proverbs, Songs, Games, Folktales, Foodways, Superstitions, Folk Remedies, and More, August House, 1992.
Maggio, Theresa, Mattanza, Love and Death in the Sea of Sicily, Counterpoint 2000.
Maggio, Theresa, The Stone Boudoir, Travels Through the Hidden Villages of Sicily, Perseus Books Group, 1997.
Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale, La Storia, Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, HarperCollins Pub, 1992.
Margavio, A.V. and Jerome J. Salomone, Bread and Respect, The Italians of Louisiana, Pelican Pub, 2002.
Maselli, Joseph and Dominic Candeloro, Italians in New Orleans (Images of America), Arcadia Pub, 2004.
McCarver, Norman and Norman L. McCarver, Jr, Hearne (TX) on the Brazos, San Antonio, TX: Century Press of Texas, 1958.
Mendola, Louis, Sicilian Genealogy and Heraldry, Trinacria Editions, New York, 2013.
ISBN 9780615796932
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Mendola, Louis and Alio, Jacqueline, The Peoples of Sicily: A Multicultural Legacy, Trinacria Editions, New York, 2014. ISBN 978-0615796949
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Montalbano, Andrew J., We’re All Made Out of the Same Pasta, Metairie, LA: New Writers’ Ink Publishing Co, 2003.
Salomone-Marino, Salvatore, Rosalie N. Norris, ed. Customs and Habits of the Sicilian Peasants, Associated University Press, 1981.
Norwich, John Julius. An Island at the Crossroads of History, Sicily, Random House, 2015
Paolicelli Paul. Dances with Luigi, Thomas Dunne Books, 2000.
Paolicelli Paul. Under the Southern Sun, Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.
Robb, Peter. Midnight in Sicily, Vintage Books, 1996.
Scarpaci, Jean. “Italian Immigrants in Louisiana’s Sugar Parishes, Recruitment, Labor Conditions, and Community Relations, 1880 – 1910”, Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers University, 1972.
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Simeti, Mary Taylor. On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc, New York, 1986.
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Viviano, Frank P., Blood Washes Blood, A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun, Pocket Books, 2001.