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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXITL479. Buy these 5 items as a set for $77 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Umbria

Eyewitness Guide Umbria

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 192 PAGES

A marvelously illustrated, compact guide to the culture, history and attractions of Umbria, organized geographically and especially helpful for its innovative site plans, building diagrams and local maps. (ITL512, $20.00)

Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves, An American Naturalist in Italy

Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves, An American Naturalist in Italy

by Gary Paul Nabhan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

The author, a poet and naturalist, heads along the Franciscan Way from Florence to Assisi. This most unusual travelogue combines natural history, spirituality and a lively appreciation of local food and food traditions. A print-on-demand paperback. (ITL99, $16.00)

Reluctant Saint, The Life of Francis of Assisi

Reluctant Saint, The Life of Francis of Assisi

by Donald Spoto

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

Spoto draws on fascinating new research to explore the travels, spirit and work of the beloved saint. This engaging portrait provides an excellent overview of the life of St. Francis. (ITL849, $16.00)

Umbria Regional Map

Umbria Regional Map

by Touring Club Italiano

  • MAP

A detailed map at a scale of 1:200,000. (ITL119, $14.95)

Puglia Map

Puglia Map

by Touring Club Italiano

  • MAP

The locals' map of Puglia, at a scale of 1:200,000. (ITL425, $14.95)

 
Blue Guide Southern Italy

Blue Guide Southern Italy


by Paul Blanchard

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 608 PAGES

A comprehensive guide to Southern Italy and especially its archaeology, history and culture. With maps and site plans. Blanchard, a popular tour guide, is also the author of the Blue Guide to Northern Italy. (ITL257, $34.95)

Insight Guide Southern Italy

Insight Guide Southern Italy


by Roger Williams

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 373 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A colorful guide to the culture, history and attractions of Italy south of Rome, featuring hundreds of photographs and excellent local and regional maps. Includes Sicily. (ITL458, $23.95)

Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide

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)

Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary

Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary


by Rick Steves

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 281 PAGES

This compact phrase book, organized thematically and with a brief dictionary, also includes Steves' insight into how to break the ice and make friends around the world. (ITL424, $8.95)

The Food of Italy

The Food of Italy


by Waverly Root

  • FOOD
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 750 PAGES

Evocative of Italy and its diverse cuisine, this classic book, organized geographically, offers a cook's tour of the country. It's a well-informed and wonderful culinary guide. (ITL75, $22.00)

Between Salt Water and Holy Water, A History of Southern Italy

Between Salt Water and Holy Water, A History of Southern Italy


by Tommaso Astarita

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Astarita captures the fanfare, rivalry and changing fortunes of Sicily from antiquity through Norman, Spanish and Bourbon rule to unification and the 20th century. (ITL597, $22.95)

La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind


by Beppe Severgnini

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Italians themselves love this guide to the Italian character, which addresses the apparently 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)

La Bella Lingua

La Bella Lingua


by Dianne Hales

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 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)

Etruscan Art

Etruscan Art


by Nigel Spivey

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

In this illustrated and wide-ranging introduction, Nigel Spivey brings the Etruscan world to life, illuminating the social, political and cultural context of the art objects and artifacts that remain the singular achievement of the Etruscans. (ITL68, $18.95)

A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria

A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria


by Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

This short memoir chronicles a year in the small Umbrian village of San Orsola--especially the delights and frustrations of renovating a decayed villa. Taking in food, wine, local customs and landscapes, the book is an excellent introduction to the region (ITL98, $13.00)

Christ Stopped at Eboli, The Story of a Year

Christ Stopped at Eboli, The Story of a Year


by Carlo Levi | Frances Frenaye

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 268 PAGES

An affecting memoir of southern Italy, originally published in 1947, it stems from the author's forced relocation to the region as punishment for anti-fascist political activity. (ITL09, $15.00)

Italian Days

Italian Days


by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 479 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Grizzuti Harrison writes with warmth and depth of her journey from Milan south to Calabria in this sprightly account of Italy and the Italians. (ITL02, $15.00)

Old Puglia, A Portrait of South Eastern Italy

Old Puglia, A Portrait of South Eastern Italy


by Desmond Seward

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 259 PAGES

Seward weaves history and incident, accounts by past visitors and his own travelers, in this charming portrait of the ancient towns, life and people of Puglia. (ITA80, $19.95)

Venturing in Italy, Travels in Puglia, the Land of Two Seas

Venturing in Italy, Travels in Puglia, the Land of Two Seas


by Barb Euser

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This collection of 30 true tales by contemporary writers and journalists celebrates the people, places and history of Puglia. (ITA14, $14.95)

Italy in Mind

Italy in Mind


by Alice Powers

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 349 PAGES

A terrific collection of some of the best literary writing on Italy, including pieces by Melville, Lawrence, Henry James, Mary McCarthy and many others. (ITL39, $17.95)

Ratking

Ratking


by Michael Dibdin

  • MYSTERY
  • 1997
  • PAPER

Venetian crime investigator Aurelio Zen goes after the kidnappers of a Perugian industrialist in this enjoyable thriller, winner of the Gold Dagger Award (and first book in the series). (ITL622, $13.95)

The Little Flowers of St. Francis

The Little Flowers of St. Francis


by W. Heywood | Ugolino | Madeleine L'Engle

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 120 PAGES

Classic tales attributed to St. Francis, divided into 50 vignettes, including the story of the wolf of Gubbio, set along the Franciscan Way. (ITL132, $13.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.