The Leopard is set in Sicily in the 1860s at the time of the unification of the Italian states and in the midst of sweeping political and social upheaval. The book centres on a Sicilian nobleman, Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, and his family. 

A central theme of the novel is how individuals and societies respond to change and it contains the famous words of the Prince - "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change."

John Roskam and Andrew Bolt discuss the book, the life of Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa and what the message of change means to the world today.