John Dickie

John Dickie

John Dickie was born in Dundee, Scotland. Dickie attended Pembroke College, Oxford where he received a Bachelor's Degree and University of Sussex where he received a Master's Degree and Doctor of Philosophy.

John Dickie is an author, historian and academic known for his work on modern Italian history and studies on the Mafia. He also works at University College London, where he has taught Italian Studies since 1993.

John Dickie is an expert in all things Italian history and has studied the food culture, national identity and organized crime. Over the years, his books have become so popular that they can now be found in more than twenty languages across the world.

Outside of his writing, he has presented and co-written several television documentaries, such as the six-part history of Italian cuisine titled De Gustibus.

Fluent in both Italian and English, he is frequently invited to comment in global media. He has also consulted at events and for companies, and in 2017 and 2018, he hosted the Pasta World Championships, which were sponsored by Barilla.

For his work in the promotion of Italian culture, he was made Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana by the President of the Italian Republic.

He currently makes his home in London alongside Sarah Penny, his wife, who is also a novelist. He still writes and does research on the complexities of organized crime, culture, and identity.

In 2004, John Dickie published the work Cosa Nostra in which he tells the history of the Mafia from its beginnings in the depths of Italy to when it became a force in the United States.

Dickie asserts that the Mafia is a brutal violence industry rather than a romantic brotherhood which controls policemen and politicians, bribes and kills. He draws from real stories, new research, court records, and stories from bosses such as Toto Riina and prosecutors such as Falcone.

In the work Blood Brotherhoods, John Dickie goes deeper to tell the story of the Calabrian ndrangheta, the Naples Camorra, and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.

Dickie explains how they were founded in their respective regions and came up with techniques for violence and traditions, even as they corrupted the legal and political systems in Italy over the centuries.

He shows how they became influential crime networks that drew their power from chaos following the unification of Italy. They would become so powerful that they would steal money, sometimes equivalent to 3 percent of the country's GDP.

In 2020, John Dickie changed gears when he decided to chronicle the rise of Freemasonry in the work The Craft.

He details how Freemasonry rose in London during the 18th century to become an organization that now has millions of members across the globe. He shows how Freemasonry shaped history, culture, and politics even as it influenced organizations such as the Mormon Church and the Mafia.

Related Authors

Fans of John Dickie also enjoy these authors:

1. Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
2. Ken Follett, author of the Kingsbridge Series.
3. Bernard Cornwell, author of The Warrior Chronicles / Saxon Stories Series.
4. J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings Series.
5. Neil Gaiman, author of the American Gods Series.

John Dickie: F.A.Q