I, too have been looking for nice histories of Calabria in the English languages. Surprisingly one of my cookbooks, Cucina di Calabria, gave a nice overview about the history/culture of the area.
I found a webpage for a town most of my Italian ancestors came from, and it had a version in inglese ...

Nice article. There are several areas left out tho.

I am in an area that had an old Italian neighborhoord. The remnats are a few restraunts. As I walk down the street I sometimes come across old coner groceries, now closed down, with signs such as "Fresh Italian sausages", etc. Near chinatown ...