Midnight in Sicily

Book Review:

Pete Robb, Midnight In Sicily, Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney 1996.

Midnight in Sicily, which was first published in Australia in October 1996, is a great novel which dig’s deep into the truth and reveals the possible facts about the Cosa Nostra and it’s operations in Italy, especially in the South, which is referred to as the ‘Mezzo Giorno’. Pete Robb a native Australian, who recently published ‘A death In brazil’, lived in the mezzo giorno for 15 years and who worked as an English teacher, has the time to experience Italy’s Art, Culture, Food, History, Landscape and Travel, in doing so he sometimes relates to the Cosa Nostra.

“Pasta con le sarde is a kind of mosaic in which each little piece finds its reason for being there in the final result”. (pg 89)

Midnight in Sicily also shows the workings of organized crime in daily life and the connections it had with politicians, especially the relationship of the Mafia and the Christian democrats. The book also looks deeply into Giulio Andreotti, Seven times prime minister of Italy, which was convicted and later acquitted of conspiracy to murder. When the narrator (Pete Robb) was asked by Clara, what the book is going to be about, the narrator responded, “I'm trying to make sense of the Andreotti trial”. (pg 242)

Robb mentions events which occurred while he resided in Southern Italy such as a death of a pope a month after his election, Priminister Aldo Moro kidnapped and killed by the Red Brigades, Magistrates and police investigating corruption and the mafia were routinely murdered, Italy’s largest bank suffering a huge financial Collapse, the growing use of heroin on Italy’s streets, A big refinery of heroin was discovered and an Air Italia flight was brought down by what is believed to be a missile, killing all passengers on board. Robb believes that these things are not natural occurrences or just a coincidence but of “ something big and hideous that was working itself out in the dark”. (pg19)

Rule of Law:

“In the rule of law, the law is a regulator of the government. It provides equality to all before the law, and it means procedural and formal justice. The rule of law is the principle, thus every member of a society, even a ruler, must abide by the law.”

In Italy the Rule of Law was empowered after Mussolini’s fall from his fascist government, the allied liberation of Sicily in 1943. The first elections were held in 1948 and through this it renewed confidence in democratic processes. The Christian Democrats were elected into government with the backing of the Vatican and America; this was supposed to ensure the rule of law. In Midnight In Sicily, Pete Robb shows how the misrule in southern Italy gave rise to the mafia and it’s powers. The mafia had a great influence on the Christian democrats because they helped in keeping the communists away from government by backing them, as the Cosa Nostra has a great influence on southern Italy and their votes. Italian and American Mafiosi families strengthened their relationships and the new phenomena of Organised crime came into place. This provided the mafia with a great income trough international drug trade, the money gained from this was also stored in Italian banks and it was the same money, which bribed politicians from top to bottom. Italy was democratic therefore the rule of law was present; the only problem is that it wasn’t being implemented (In other words, there wasn’t any.). The Cosa Nostra always managed to avoid the rule of law and the reason is because it was in control. This is how the mafia operated, it used brutal force to send out a message to everyone that they are in control and no one can come in their way. People could see the after math of the Cosa Nostra in the media and this