'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.