Combat fascism, boycott Mondadori.

We have left the cold and rain of Scotland to spend a few days enjoying the ancient sites of Sicily. Day 1 sees us in Palermo and confronted by a bit of contemporary history.

Mondadori are a large publishing house and seem to have whipped up a bit of a furore between the left and right. Back in February 2011 the Mondadori Multicenter in Palermo and members of the extreme right-wing Casapound organization, organised a presentation of No Pain, a novel written by the same organization. The left wing regarded this as a shabby attempt, to advertise and to renew the public image of the fascists of the third millennium. The result, yet more graffiti adorning the fine buildings of Palermo.

Well, at least I think that is what it was all about! You can see some of the action here.

Tomorrow some rather more ancient history.