In Sardinia

March 1, 2023
Sardinia through the eyes of Biggers, who has lived part time in Italy since 1989. This book is neither conventional history nor tourist guide. The author wants readers to experience this exploration of the people, terrain, and many-layered civilization of Sardinia as an expansive s'arrogliu, or "storytelling gathering," about the region. Biggers and his family moved to Alghero, a port city in northwest Sardinia, in 2017, then journeyed all over the island in the ensuing five years. His recounting of Sardinia's history as the Mediterranean's "most vigorous place of intersection between societies" includes invasions and colonization over 2,000 years. The author pays special attention to prehistory, as Sardinia's ancient monuments--Neolithic dolmens, menhir stone formations, Bronze Age towers--create an "endless museum" of artifacts and ruins, but he does not ignore the island's traditional arts and culture. Nearly every page of this dense volume is packed with art, literature, and song. Excerpts from oral and written texts set the scene for each chapter, and 35 pages of bibliographic notes further fill out the context. Biggers is especially good at describing the wealth of Sardinian literature and its notable figures, such as novelist Grazia Deledda, the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, in 1926. He also describes the long tradition of political and underground Sardinian literature, a "language of resistance" in the face of Italy's fascist-era prohibitions. Sardinian shares a lexicon with Latin but has its own Indigenous roots, flowering in 75 dialects. Artists still use traditional techniques for contemporary expression, helping shape Sardinian identity and providing its villages "a narrative of viability" in the age of globalization. The inhabitants of this mostly rural, low-density island have had to push back against a centurieslong reputation for banditry, barbarism, and peril. The author's rich, detailed chronicle of his family's yearslong exploration serves as a compelling guide and a new appreciation of an overlooked island. Neither holiday postcard nor dry ancient history, this is a fascinating journey around Sardinia.

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April 1, 2023
What are the stories of Sardinia, and who shall tell them? That question is at the heart of this admiring ode to the Mediterranean Italian island situated to the west of Italy between France and Algeria and Tunisia. When the author and his family stayed there in 2017, and during later visits, they found a vibrant debate swirling over Sardinia's cultural and historical significance. Archaeological discoveries such as thousands of nuraghi (ancient megalithic structures found nowhere else) established the island as a Bronze Age cradle of civilization. Biggers' accounts, which meander between topics including language, famous Sardinians, his tours of various sites and cities, art, and the ways Sardinian culture is expressed today, are presented as a form of storytelling instead of as a tourist guide or extensive history. He captures moments in history from the time of Cicero through the island's role in post-Revolution France's ambitions and all the way to WWII, when the Allies planted a false story about invading the island. A fine mix of geography and history that offers a vigorous riposte to the various misunderstandings heaped upon Sardinia.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.