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Think of Sardinia and you might think of its Emerald Coast, playground of Italy’s super-rich, most famously Silvio Berlusconi, who entertains guests with a remote-control volcano. But the thong-clad hordes are only the most recent invaders of this beautiful, rugged isle, just a little larger than Wales, that sits like a stepp­ing stone between Europe and Africa. Scratch Sardinia’s arid surface and a rich history of civilisation flows out, one that can be traced back to the Neolithic and encompasses almost every major power of the region in the past 6,000 years.

Over the course of its hist­ory, Sardinia’s guest book (an important feature of every tourist destination in the country) has been signed by Italians, Spaniards, Berbers, Moors, Byzantines, Vandals, Romans, Phœnicians and innumerable permut­ations of the above, many of whom left artefacts and architecture behind when they left.