4 May

NEW - Enrico Caviglia - military general

Capable commander played key role in decisive WW1 victory

The military general Enrico Caviglia, who rose to the rank of Marshal of Italy after his innovative tactics on the World War One battlefield helped defeat the Austro-Hungarians at Vittorio Veneto in 1918, was born on this day in 1862 in Finale Ligure, a resort on the Italian Riviera.  In addition to his role in Italy’s successes in WW1, which included orchestrating a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo and important damage limitation after the disastrous Battle of Caporetto, Caviglia also distinguished himself in colonial campaigns and in the Italo‑Turkish War. He developed a reputation for humane, adaptive leadership, operational flexibility and a refusal to waste lives.  He was scornful of the conduct of other generals, in particular Luigi Cadorna, who was eventually removed as chief of staff following the heavy Italian defeat at Caporetto.  Read more…

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Anthony Martin Sinatra - father of Frank

Sicilian who became a professional boxer in New York

Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, who at various times was a fireman, a professional boxer and the owner of a bar, was born on this day in 1894 in Lercara Friddi, a mining town in Sicily, about 70km (44 miles) south-east of the island’s capital, Palermo.  Usually known as Antonino, after emigrating to the United States he married Natalie Garaventa, a girl from near Genoa who lived in his neighbourhood in New York City.  They set up home in New Jersey and had a son, whom they christened Francis Albert, who would grow up to be better known as Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular entertainers of all time.  Lercara Friddi today is a town of between 7,000 and 8,000 inhabitants, which at the time of Antonino’s birth was an important centre for the mining of sulphur.  His father, Francesco, worked there as a shoemaker and married Rosa Saglimini. Read more…

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Osbert Sitwell – English writer

Baronet’s love for a Tuscan castle

Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell died on this day in 1969 at the Castello di Montegufoni near Florence in Tuscany.  Like his famous elder sister, Edith Sitwell, who was a poet, and his younger brother, Sacheverell, an art and music critic and writer, Osbert devoted his life to art and literature.  His father, Sir George Reresby Sitwell, had purchased the Castle of Montegufoni, 20 km from Florence, in 1909 when it was derelict and restored it beautifully to become his personal residence.  Osbert inherited the castle after his father’s death in 1943 along with the baronetcy and he reigned over Montegufoni for the rest of his life.  Osbert was born in 1892 and grew up at the family homes in Derbyshire and Scarborough. In 1911 he joined the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry but soon transferred to the Grenadier Guards and was based at the Tower of London, enabling him to go to the theatre and art galleries when he was off duty.  Read more…

Bartolomeo Cristofori - inventor of the piano

Instrument maker adapted harpsichord to play soft and loud notes

Bartolomeo Cristofori, the man widely credited with inventing the piano, was born on this day in 1655 in Padua.  He came up with the idea while working for the Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici in Florence, who had hired him to look after his collection of harpsichords and other instruments. It is thought that Cristofori, who was assumed to have been an established maker of musical instruments when Ferdinando invited him to Florence in around 1690, wanted to create a keyboard instrument similar to a harpsichord but capable of playing notes of varying loudness.  An inventory of Medici instruments from 1700 described an "arpi cimbalo", which resembled a harpsichord but which created sounds through hammers and dampers rather than the plucking mechanism employed by the harpsichord. Read more…

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Marella Agnelli - noblewoman and socialite

Married for 50 years to Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli

Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, the noblewoman from an old Neapolitan family who married the jet-setting chairman of car giants Fiat, Gianni Agnelli, was born on this day in 1927 in Florence.  Simply known as Marella Agnelli, she was propelled by marriage into a world in which she became a socialite and style icon, devoting her life to collecting art, decorating the numerous homes she and her husband kept, and attending and hosting lavish, exclusive parties.  The couple would eventually have homes in Rome, Paris, New York,  Corsica and Saint-Moritz, as well as several houses in and around Agnelli’s home city of Turin, including the Agnelli estate in the foothills of the Italian Alps.  As a member of the House of Caracciolo, she was regarded as high Italian nobility. Read more…

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Book of the Day:  The Italian Army and the First World War (Armies of the Great War), by John Gooch

The Italian Army and the First World War examines the role and performance of the Italian army during the First World War. Drawing from original, archival research, it tells the story of the army's bitter three-year struggle in the mountains of Northern Italy, including the eleven bloody battles of the Isonzo, the near-catastrophic defeat at Caporetto in 1917 and the successful, but still controversial defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army at Vittorio Veneto on the eve of the Armistice. Setting military events within a broader context, the book explores pre-war Italian military culture and the interactions between domestic politics, economics and society. In a unique study of an unjustly neglected facet of the war, John Gooch illustrates how General Luigi Cadorna, a brutal disciplinarian, drove the army to the edge of collapse, and how his successor, general Armando Diaz, rebuilt it and led the Italians to their greatest victory in modern times.

John Gooch is one of the world's leading writers on Italy and the two world wars. His books include Mussolini and His Generals and The Italian Army and the First World War. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds.

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Enrico Caviglia - military general

Capable commander played key role in decisive WW1 victory

Caviglia was a brilliant battlefield
tactician known for humane leadership

The military general Enrico Caviglia, who rose to the rank of Marshal of Italy after his innovative tactics on the World War One battlefield helped defeat the Austro-Hungarians at Vittorio Veneto in 1918, was born on this day in 1862 in Finale Ligure, a resort on the Italian Riviera.

In addition to his role in Italy’s successes in WW1, which included orchestrating a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo and important damage limitation after the disastrous Battle of Caporetto, Caviglia also distinguished himself in colonial campaigns and in the Italo‑Turkish War.

He developed a reputation for humane, adaptive leadership, operational flexibility and a refusal to waste lives.  He was scornful of the conduct of other generals, in particular Luigi Cadorna, who was eventually removed as chief of staff following the heavy Italian defeat at Caporetto. He accused Cadorna in an earlier battle of forcing him to commit his men to an ill-advised attack that cost the lives of 6,500 soldiers.

By contrast with generals who followed traditional battlefield tactics, Caviglia favoured coordinated, intelligence‑driven assaults rather than frontal attrition, which he felt resulted in unnecessary casualties. His methods contributed to breakthroughs on the Isonzo and culminated in the 1918 victory at Vittorio Veneto, which effectively ended the war on the Italian front.

Caviglia also had the political dexterity to remain onside with Benito Mussolini during the interwar years and the build-up to World War Two, despite being opposed to the Fascists.

Born into a family rooted in the maritime community in Liguria, Caviglia set his sights on a career in the Kingdom of Italy's armed forces. He attended the Teulié Military School in Milan in 1877, transferring to the Royal Military Academy in Turin in 1880. He served in Eritrea  and later as a military attaché in Tokyo and Beijing, observing the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1912 he was a key figure in organising the evacuation of Turkish troops and the pacification of Arabs and Berbers at the end of the Italo-Turkish war.

Caviglia's tactics were the key to 
Italy's victory at Vittorio Veneto

When Italy entered World War I in May, 1915, Caviglia was deployed to the front lines as the Italian Royal Army readied itself to fight against Austria-Hungary. In the summer of 1915, he took command of the Bari Infantry Brigade, leading it into the battles of Bosco Lancia and Bosco Cappuccio on the Italian front.

The tactical acumen he displayed paved the way for the Isonzo and Trentino campaigns. His promotion to temporary lieutenant general in August, 1916 reflected his exceptional battlefield performance, in particular on the Isonzo front, where he blocked Austrian advances from Trentino and defended positions on the Asiago plateau.

In June 1917,  Caviglia assumed leadership of the XXIV Corps. Under his command, a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was secured with the crossing of the Soča River and subsequent advance into the Bainsizza plateau.

During the subsequent Austrian counter-offensive and Italian retreat from Bainsizza in the autumn of 1917, preceding the Caporetto disaster, Caviglia made it his mission to organise orderly withdrawals and preserve combat units, keeping vital forces intact for later redeployment.

It was the Battle of Vittorio Veneto that defined Caviglia’s career. He commanded the Eighth Army, the main striking force in General Armando Diaz’s plan. Made up of 14 divisions, it formed the spearhead of the offensive aimed at breaking the line between the Austro‑Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies. This sector, centred on the Piave-Vittorio Veneto-Sacile axis, was the decisive point of the entire operation. 

Caviglia massed his divisions to deliver a single, deep penetration rather than a broad, shallow push. This allowed him to rupture the enemy line and force a general withdrawal. 

His right flank was protected by the Tenth Army (British and Italian divisions under Lord Cavan), while his left was supported by the Twelfth Army (French and Italian). This coordination ensured that once the Eighth Army broke through, the Austro‑Hungarian forces could not pivot or counter‑attack effectively.

Dino Grandi, who wanted
Caviglia to lead government

The breakthrough severed the link between the Austro‑Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies. Once divided, the enemy’s positions on the Asiago plateau and Monte Grappa became untenable, forcing a general collapse.

King George V of the United Kingdom was so impressed with Caviglia’s performance he made him a Commander of the Order of the Bath, which gave him the right to be addressed as Sir Enrico Caviglia. 

In the years after World War One, Caviglia further enhanced his reputation by ending the occupation of the city of Fiume - now Rijeka in Croatia - by the poet and military general Gabriele d’Annunzio, using force but in a measured way calculated to minimise casualties and prevent the conflict expanding into a broader national uprising and civil war.

Caviglia then effectively retired from the political scene, having announced that he could no longer support Fascism in the way it had evolved, despite which Mussolini awarded him the rank of Marshal of Italy in 1926. Four years later, Victor Emmanuel III invested him as Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation.

After Mussolini was overthrown in 1943, Dino Grandi, the member of the Fascist Grand Council who drew up the motion calling for the dictator’s removal from power, named Marshal Caviglia as the most suitable person to be the new head of government.  Victor Emmanuel III instead entrusted the position to Marshal Pietro Badoglio.

Caviglia soon retired permanently to Finale Ligure, where he had a villa called Vittorio Veneto. He died in 1945, just weeks after the cessation of hostilities in World War Two.

Initially buried in the basilica of San Giovanni Battista in Finale Ligure Marina, his body was then transferred in 1952 to the tower of Capo San Donato, where his daughter is also buried, in the presence of Luigi Einaudi, President of the Republic.

An ancient gate in the historic
Finalborgo district

Travel tip:

Finale Ligure sits on the Riviera di Ponente in western Liguria, framed by limestone cliffs. It features broad grey‑sand beaches with a palm‑lined promenade and clear, calm water ideal for swimming.  The town is composed of three historic nuclei - Finalmarina, where Enrico Caviglia was born, Finalpia and Finalborgo. Finalmarina is the modern seafront district, full of cafés and beach clubs, while Finalpia offers a quieter, more traditional atmosphere.  Both are overshadowed by Finalborgo, recognised among the borghi più belli d’Italia. Enclosed by medieval walls, it features narrow lanes, stone palaces, and the Baroque Basilica of San Biagio.  Its gates and layout reflect its past as the fortified capital of the Marquisate of Finale, ruled by the Del Carretto family until the early 17th century. Beyond the beaches and historic streets, Finale Ligure is a major hub for outdoor sports, particularly mountain‑biking and climbing. The area is known for simple but delicious cuisine, prepared using the region’s famous extra‑virgin olive oil. Restaurants in the area highlight local cheeses and herbs.

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Pretty Piazza Flaminio is the main square of the
town of Serravalle, now part of Vittorio Veneto

Travel tip:

Vittorio Veneto is a picturesque town in the province of Treviso north of Venice. It was formed in 1866 by the merging of two towns - Ceneda, with Roman and ecclesiastical roots, and Serravalle, known for its medieval architecture and mercantile past. The name honours Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s first king, and the region of Veneto. The town became well known for its proximity to the decisive moment of Italy’s World War One campaign, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October-November 1918, when Italian forces under the command of General Armando Diaz defeated the Austro-Hungarian army. The victory is commemorated in museums and monuments throughout the town. The districts of Ceneda and Serravalle retain distinct identities, linked by the elegant Viale della Vittoria. Visitors are drawn to its cultural heritage, wine traditions, and proximity to Venice and the Dolomites. The 15th century buildings surrounding Serravalle’s Piazza Flaminio were used by the director Franco Zeffirelli to represent the city of Verona in his adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, a film known for its authentic Italian Renaissance atmosphere.

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More reading:

Armando Diaz, the general who commanded the Battle of Vittorio Veneto

Dino Grandi, the Fascist politician who sparked the ousting of Mussolini

The Villa Giusti Armistice and the end of World War One in Italy

Also on this day:

1655: The birth of Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano

1894: The birth of Anthony Martin Sinatra, father of Frank

1927: The birth of noblewoman and socialite Marella Agnelli

1969: The death in Tuscany of English writer Osbert Sitwell

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3 May

Francesco Algarotti - writer and art collector

Philosopher and polymath with a playboy lifestyle

The multi-talented writer, philosopher and art connoisseur Francesco Algarotti, one of the most prominent and colourful individuals in 18th century intellectual society, died on this day in 1764 in Pisa.  Algarotti, who wrote many essays and a number of books, was something of a polymath in his breadth of knowledge on a wide number of subjects, including architecture and music as well as art. He was also a charismatic figure who became friends with most of the leading authors of his day, including Voltaire, Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens and Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis.  His urbane manner and suave good looks, combined with his considerable intellect, led him to acquire admirers of both sexes. Indeed, at one time he is said to have found himself at the centre of a colourful bisexual love triangle involving John Hervey, the English peer and politician, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the aristocratic travel writer. Read more…

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Raffaele Riario – Cardinal

Patron of arts linked with murder conspiracies

Renaissance Cardinal Raffaele Riario was born Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario on this day in 1461 in Savona.  A patron of the arts, he is remembered for inviting Michelangelo to Rome and commissioning Palazzo della Cancelleria to be built. He was also embroiled in murder conspiracies which nearly cost him his life.  Although Riario was born in poverty, his mother was a niece of Francesco della Rovere, who became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471.  As a relative of the Pope he was created a Cardinal in 1477 and was named administrator of several dioceses, which gave him a good income at the age of 16, while he was studying canon law at the University of Pisa.  On his way to Rome in 1478, Riario stopped off in Florence, where he became a witness to the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici. The Pazzi family wanted to replace the Medici as rulers of Florence. Read more…

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Niccolò Machiavelli – writer and diplomat

Political scientist fathered belief that ‘the ends justify the means’ 

Statesman and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, whose name has become synonymous with the idea of political cunning, was born on this day in 1469 in Florence.  The ideas he put forward in his writing were to make the word ‘machiavellian’ a regularly used pejorative adjective and the phrase ‘Old Nick’ a term to denote the devil in English.  The son of an attorney, Machiavelli was educated in grammar, rhetoric and Latin. After Florence expelled the Medici family in 1494 he went to work for the new republic in the office that produced official Florentine documents.  Machiavelli also carried out diplomatic missions to Rome on behalf of the republic where he witnessed the brutality of Cesare Borgia and his father, Pope Alexander VI, as they tried to acquire large parts of central Italy.  He later became responsible for the Florentine militia.  Read more…

Battle of Tolentino

Murat is defeated but ignites desire for Risorgimento

Neapolitan troops were defeated by Austrian forces on this day in 1815 near Tolentino in what is now the Marche region of Italy.  It was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples, Joachim Murat, in a bid to keep the throne after the Congress of Vienna had ruled that the Bourbon Ferdinand IV, King of Sicily, should be restored.  The conflict was similar to the Battle of Waterloo, in that it occurred during the 100 days following Napoleon’s return from exile.  Murat had declared war on Austria in March 1815 after learning about Napoleon’s return to France and he advanced north with about 50,000 troops, establishing his headquarters at Ancona.  By the end of March, Murat’s army had arrived in Rimini, where he incited all Italian nationalists to go to war with him against the Austrians.  Read more…

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Francesco Zucco – artist

Versatile painter decorated churches and produced acclaimed portraits

Francesco Zucco, who was a prolific painter in the Baroque style in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in northern Italy, died on this day in 1627 in Bergamo in Lombardy.  Zucco painted both secular and religious subjects after he had trained as an artist and learnt about technique from other Bergamo painters, such as Giovanni Paolo Cavagna and Enea Salmeggia. Art critics have compared the quality and style of his portrait painting with that of Veronese and Giovan Battista Moroni. The artist was born at some time between 1570 and 1575 in Bergamo. He is known to have studied art at the workshop of the Campi brothers in Cremona and afterwards returned to live in his native city, where he associated with other painters working in Bergamo at the time.  Even if he was never a pupil of the Bergamo portrait painter Giovan Battista Moroni, art experts believe Zucco must have studied the artist’s works closely. Read more…

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Gino Cervi - actor

Star best known for Don Camillo and Maigret

The actor Gino Cervi, a star of cinema and television screens in Italy for more than four decades as well as an accomplished stage performer, was born on this day in 1901 in Bologna.  Although his movie credits run to more than 120, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the Communist mayor Peppone in the Don Camillo films of the 1950s and ‘60s, and for playing Chief Inspector Maigret in the Italian TV series of the ‘60s and ‘70s based on the crime novels of Georges Simenon.  Cervi was the father of Italian film producer Tonino Cervi and the grandfather of actress Valentina Cervi.  Born Luigi Cervi in the historic Santo Stefano district of Bologna, Gino’s interest in acting had its roots in his journalist father Antonio’s appointment as theatre critic for Il Resto del Carlino, the city’s daily newspaper.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment, by Isobel Grundy

This book is the first to look at Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's achievement as a vital figure in the women's literary tradition. Robert Halsband's book on her life, the sixth this century and published in 1956, was the first to apply scholarly techniques to establishing the facts. The inaccurate accounts given before Halsband testify to Lady Mary's compelling interest as a woman who wrote, travelled, campaigned publicly for medical advance, gossiped, and was involved in high-profile literary quarrels. Knowledge of her life has made considerable gains since Halsband, as understanding of the issues involved in trying to move between the roles of proper lady and woman writer has increased enormously. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment fruitfully exploits the tension between literary history and feminist reading. Isobel Grundy highlights Montagu's adolescent longing for literary fame, her growing understanding of the implications of this for gender and class imperatives, the frustrations and concessions involved in her collaborations with male writers, the punitive responses of society, the gaps at every stage of her life between her ascertainable circumstances and her construction of herself in letters and other writings. 

Isobel Grundy is a British-Canadian literary scholar, feminist author and educator known for her work on early women's writing, notably co-editing The Feminist Companion to Literature in English (1990). As a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, she has contributed extensively to reclaiming neglected women's voices in 18th-century literature.

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2 May

Michele Busiri Vici - architect

Key designer in Costa Smeralda project

The architect Michele Busiri Vici, whose distinctive work featured heavily in the development of the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia as an exclusive holiday playground in the 1960s, was born on this day in 1894 in Rome.  Along with the French architect Jacques Couelle and his fellow Italian, Luigi Vietti, Vici was commissioned by the Aga Khan, Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini, to develop the area at the northeastern tip of the island and build a new resort, Porto Cervo.  The prince, himself said to be worth $13.3 billion as one of the world’s richest royals, assembled a consortium of investors to finance the project, which began in 1961 and remains a destination popular with celebrities, business and political leaders and other wealthy individuals.  Vici’s contributions included the highly distinctive church of Stella Maris in Porto Cervo, the Hotel Romazzino and Hotel Lucia della Muntagna and numerous villas.   Read more…

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Alessandro Scarlatti - composer

Prolific opera composer was ahead of his time

Baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti was born on this day in 1660 in Palermo.  He is considered to be the founder of the Neapolitan School of opera, from which modern opera developed, and his two sons, Domenico and Pietro Filippo, also went on to become composers.  Scarlatti is believed to have been a pupil of Giacomo Carissimi in Rome. When his opera Gli equivoci nel sembiante was produced in the city he gained the support of Queen Christina of Sweden, an enthusiastic patron of the arts who had taken up residence there. He became her maestro di cappella and joined the Arcadian Academy she had founded.  Along with composers Bernardo Pasquini and Arcangelo Corelli, he regularly visited her home to perform music he had dedicated to her.  In 1684 Scarlatti became maestro di cappella to the royal family in Naples and produced a series of operas and music for state occasions for them.  Read more…

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Pietro Frua - car designer

Built business from a bombed-out factory

The car designer and coachbuilder Pietro Frua, who built some of Italy’s most beautiful cars without achieving the fame of the likes of Giovanni Bertone or Battista “Pinin” Farina, was born on this day in 1913 in Turin.  He is particularly remembered for his work with Maserati, for whom he designed the A6G and the Mistral among other models.  The son of a Fiat employee, Carlo Frua, Pietro was an apprentice draughtsman with Fiat and from the age of 17 worked alongside Battista Farina for his brother, Giovanni Farina, who had a coachbuilding business in Turin. He became director of styling for Stabilimenti Farina at the age of just 22.  After being obliged to diversify during the war, when he designed electric ovens and children’s model cars among other things, Frua bought a bombed-out factory building in 1944, restored it to serviceable order and hired 15 workers to help him launch his own business.   Read more…

Giuseppe Morello - gangster

Sicilian established first New York crime ‘family’

The Mafia boss Giuseppe Morello, who is credited with building the first of the New York gangs to be known as a crime ‘family’, was born on this day in 1867 in the notorious Sicilian crime stronghold of Corleone, a small town in a mountainous area 50km (31 miles) inland from the island’s capital, Palermo.  Morello had a deformed right hand with a single finger that was always bent, on account of which he became known as Joe l’artiglio - Joe ‘the claw’.  Along with three half-brothers, Morello established the 107th Street Mob in the East Harlem district of Manhattan in the late 1890s. The gang is recognised as the organisation that would eventually evolve into the Genovese crime family, the oldest of the New York Mafia’s so-called Five Families.  Morello is thought to have been brought up among the criminal underworld in Sicily. Read more…

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Marco Pannella - campaigning politician

Radical voice who helped modernise Italian society

The Radical politician Marco Pannella, whose relentless campaigning on civil rights and other issues helped transform modern Italian society, was born on this day in 1930 in Teramo in Abruzzo.  Pannella’s party won only a 3.4 per cent share of vote in the most successful election he fought yet he forced referendums to be held on divorce, abortion, the abolition of nuclear power, the public funding of political parties and many other issues, many of which led to changes in the law.  He was so passionate about the causes for which he campaigned he regularly staged hunger strikes to demonstrate his commitment and to attract publicity.  In 1970, for example, he went 78 days without food, allowing himself to consume only vitamin pills and three cups of coffee per day, losing 27 kilos (60lb) in weight before parliament agreed to hold a debate over the divorce laws.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Rough Guides Sardinia, edited by Ros Belford and the Rough Guides team

Ideal for independent travellers, Rough Guide Sardinia, written by Italy experts, goes beyond the basics. It blends must-see sights with hidden gems and offers unmatched practical guidance for seamless planning and on-the-go exploration. Packed with in-depth advice often missing from other guides, it helps you navigate with ease. From using public transport to discovering the best dining, accommodations, and local experiences, this guide covers it all. Inside, you'll find in-depth coverage of key areas with curated experiences and honest reviews, itinerary samples, practical information and essential tips, expert recommendations on the best places to eat, drink, stay, enjoy nightlife or outdoor activities, plus advice on when to go to Sardinia and which sights not to miss. There are easy-to-use maps, cultural insights, and language essentials including Italian and Sardu phrases and vocabulary. Coverage includes: Cagliari, Campidano, La Marmilla, Sarrabus, Oristano, Alghero, Sassari, Gallura, Nuoro and Ogliastra. 

Writer and journalist Ros Belford spends her time between Italy and Cambridge and is the author of numerous guidebooks to Italy, Sicily and the Mediterranean. She has written articles on travel and food for many magazines and newspapers.

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