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SMITHSONIAN JOURNEYS

Insider's Florence

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free. We offer a mix of guidebooks, maps, field guides, novels and books on art, architecture, history, nature and culture.

Item EXITL377. Buy these 5 items as a set for $109 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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TO BOOKBAG

The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings

by R.W.B. Lewis

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1996
• PAPER
• 350 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A vivid tour of the city and its riches by the fine biographer of Edith Wharton and Henry James. Lewis has written what he calls "a partial biography of Florence," beautifully interweaving the personal and the historical. (ITL47, $21.99)

Renaissance Florence, The Invention of a New Art

by A. Richard Turner

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 176 PAGES

A cultural and social history of the city focusing on the great art and famous monuments, featuring vivid color pictures and illustrations. (ITL50, $46.80)

The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall

by Christopher Hibbert

• HISTORY
• 1982
• PAPER
• 364 PAGES

A well-written, entertaining history of the Medicis in Renaissance Florence. Great to read before going to Florence, where the influence of the Medicis and the artists they supported is still very much in evidence. (ITL135, $16.99)

Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2013
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

Superbly illustrated, this compact guide shows the neighborhoods, museums, shops and sites of Florence and surroundings in full color. (ITL46, $25.00)

Florence Map

by Borch Maps

• 2006
• MAP

A detailed, plastic-covered city map of Florence at a scale of 1:7,000. (ITL59, $8.95)

 

Also Recommended

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook

by Lonely Planet

• LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
• 2012
• PAPER
• 260 PAGES

A handy palm-size phrasebook for the traveler. (ITL531, $8.99)

Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide

by Laura Morelli

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2008
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES

The second edition of Morelli's expert survey of handcrafted Italian shops and products from Murano glass to ceramics, jewelry and leather. (ITL473, $24.95)

The Food Lover's Guide to Florence, With Culinary Excursions in Tuscany

by Emily Wise Miller

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2007
• PAPER
• 219 PAGES

Miller polled neighbors, friends, cooks and ordinary folk for this delectable guide to 125 eateries, organized by neighborhood. (ITL841, $14.99)

La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

by Beppe Severgnini

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2007
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES
• BEST SELLER

Italians themselves love this guide to the Italian character, which addresses their never-ending passion for beauty, disorder and high emotion. Severgnini opens the book with a snapshot of the hubbub at Malpensa Airport, then moves on to Tuscany, Rome, Naples and Sardinia. (ITL718, $14.00)

The Renaissance, A Short History

by Paul Johnson

• HISTORY
• 2002
• PAPER
• 196 PAGES

The history, background, literature, sculpture, paintings and architecture of the Renaissance in just over 200 lively, thought-provoking pages. (ITL774, $15.00)

Brunelleschi's Dome, How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

by Ross King

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 194 PAGES

The story of the design and construction of the dome in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, a tale rife with politics, cut-throat competition and mighty inspiration. (ITL410, $15.00)

The Art of the Renaissance

by Peter Murray

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1992
• PAPER
• 286 PAGES

A classic, illustrated survey of the world of the Renaissance and its art. With chapters on Florence and its artists, the Netherlands, early illustrated books and many individual artists. (ITL14, $18.95)

The Stones of Florence

by Mary McCarthy

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1989
• PAPER
• 230 PAGES

The classic history of the art, architecture and culture of Florence. Novelist McCarthy takes us on a quick and vivid tour of the history of the Medicis and the city of Florence, focusing on Renaissance art. (ITL15, $14.00)

La Bella Lingua

by Dianne Hales

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES
• NEW

Inebriated with the sounds of Italian, lovesick for its phrases and enamored of its earthy idioms, Hales, "a sensible woman of sturdy Polish stock," dives into the Italian of the piazza, literature, movies and streets in this charming memoir. (ITA26, $15.00)

A Room with a View

by E.M. Forster

• LITERATURE
• 1989
• PAPER
• 248 PAGES

E.M. Forster's classic tale of love among the middle classes, set largely in Florence. (ITL142, $9.95)

A Traveller's Companion to Florence

by Edward Chaney | Harold Acton

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2003
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

This illuminating guide brings Florence to life through the letters, diaries and memoirs of travelers and Florentines from past centuries. The selections, from Boccaccio to D.H. Lawrence, are as rich as the city itself. (ITL485, $16.95)

The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales

by Elizabeth Spencer

• LITERATURE
• 1996
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

Spencer, a southerner like her characters Margaret and Clara, writes eloquently of the transformation of a mother and daughter by Florence. (ITL628, $22.00)

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