Education
Born in Dundee, he was brought up in Leicestershire, and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Pembroke College, Oxford (1st in modern languages), and the University of Sussex (Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy).
fiction writer historian journalist university professor
Born in Dundee, he was brought up in Leicestershire, and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Pembroke College, Oxford (1st in modern languages), and the University of Sussex (Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy).
He specialises in Italy and is Professor of Italian Studies at University College London. He has taught at University College London since 1993. Dickie is the author of various books: Darkest Italy.
The Nation and Stereotypes of the Mezzogiorno, 1860-1900 (New York, 1999), Cosa Nostra: A History Of The Sicilian Mafia (2004), Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and their Food (2007), Una catastrofe patriottica.
1908: il terremoto di Messina (A Patriotic Catastrophe 1908: The Earthquake of Messina, Rome, 2008), Blood Brotherhoods: the Rise of the Italian Mafias (2011) and Mafia Republic: Italy"s Criminal Curse. Cosa Nostra, "Ndrangheta and Camorra from 1946 to the Present (2014).
In 2005 President of the Italian Republic awarded him the Commendatore dell"Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity), an Italian knighthood.
He states his research interests as "Representations of the Italian South, Italian nationalism and national identities, cultural history of liberal Italy, cultural and critical theory, organized crime, Italian food.".