The Leopard

'A perfect evocation of a lost world' New York Times 'I earnestly plead with you to read this book . . . so lavish and ornate that you feast rather than merely read' India Knight, The Times A new translation of one of Italy's best-selling classic novels of all time, a sumptuous portrait of the Sicilian aristocracy in their twilight days on the eve of unification. In the dark heart of Sicily, Prince Fabrizio, known as 'The Leopard', presides over an immense but fast-dwindling fortune. His power extends across the opulent drawing rooms of his palazzo to vast lands, and some say even to the stars themselves. But as Garibaldi's red shirts march closer to Palermo, and Fabrizio's shrewdly calculating nephew defects to their cause, Fabrizio faces a choice: cling to the crumbling institutions of old or welcome in a new Italy. Winner of the 1959 Strega Prize and told in a masterly new translation, The Leopard memorializes the faded splendour of the Sicilian aristocracy on the eve of revolution. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe. Translated by Ralph Nisbet From Classics and Italian at New College, Oxford, Ralph Nisbet moved to Italy in 1970. After co-founding a school of English as a Foreign Language, he went freelance and became a professional translator. He completed his first draft translation of Il Gattopardo in 1997-8, entirely for love. Ralph divides his time between Bologna and the local Apennines.

About the Author :
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957) was an Italian author, Duke of Palma, and last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, Il gattopardo, which was first published posthumously in 1958 and topped the bestseller lists internationally. Born to the Sicilian aristocracy at a time when his family's fortunes were in sharp decline, Lampedusa served as an artillery officer during World War I. A taciturn and solitary aristocrat, he devoted much of his time to books and was a prolific reader in several languages. From Classics and Italian at New College, Oxford, Ralph Nisbet moved to Italy in 1970. After co-founding a school of English as a Foreign Language, he went freelance and became a professional translator. He completed his first draft translation of Il Gattopardo in 1997-8, entirely for love. Ralph divides his time between Bologna and the local Apennines.

Review :
Every once in a while, like certain golden moments of happiness, infinitely memorable, one stumbles on a book or writer, and the impact is like an indelible mark. Lampedusa's The Leopard, his only novel, and a masterpiece, is such a work It possesses the descriptive and analytical power not simply of one of the most beguiling 20th-century novels but one of the modern world's definitive political fictions You know how sometimes you love something so much that you are overwhelmed and can only stand there pointing at the loved thing with a desperately earnest and pleading look on your face? That's where we are today. I earnestly plead with you to read this book . . . magnificent sentences, which are so full, so rounded, so lavish and ornate that you feast rather than merely read . . . It is sumptuous Perhaps the greatest novel of the century A perfect evocation of a lost world Extraordinarily evocative . . . distils timeless truths about revolutions and the rise and fall of elites The poetry of Lampedusa's novel flows into the Sicilian countryside . . . a work of great artistry A good metaphor for writing is gold prospecting. You move through the world hoping to stumble upon something valuable, you look and you look, and you never know when or where or who is going to find it. Maclean and Lampedusa were older, but they found it, and it was pure gold. Frequently cited as not just one of the best Italian novels of all time, but one of the best novels ever, The Leopard is now the subject of a glossy Netflix mini-series. The source material is absolutely worth your time: set in mid-19th-century Sicily on the brink of Italian unification, it follows an old, wily aristocrat whose world is being upended around him. The biggest of themes - love, power, national identity and the rest - are all dealt with stunningly. You'll never think of Sicily, or Italy, in the same way again