Best of France and Italy   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Here's a page from Longitude, the specialty bookseller for travelers. To order online, and to see the latest, most comprehensive selection of books and maps, go to http://reading.longitudebooks.com/LN11916. You may also call 800-342-2164 to order or request a catalog.


Essential Books These 3 items are available for $75, including
U.S. shipping, a 20% discount (Item no. EXEUR739)
 
Eyewitness Guide Paris  •  Eyewitness Guides
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER  • 432 PAGES
Gorgeous, well illustrated and filled with excellent maps, this compact book is a thorough overview of the City of Light, its history, traditions, cultures and sights. Featuring well chosen literary excerpts and a detailed synopsis of the city's attractions. (FRN02, $25.00)
  Eyewitness Guide Paris
Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany  •  Eyewitness Guides
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES
This superb guide features color photography, dozens of excellent maps and a neighborhood-by-neighborhood synopsis of the region's attractions. (ITL46, $25.00)
  Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany
Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture, and History  •  Ada Gabucci
ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 144 PAGES
A lively survey of the history of ancient Rome accompanied by color photographs of architecture, sculpture and paintings. The book also includes Pompeii and the art and architecture of the Roman provinces of Europe and North Africa during the height of the empire. The author, who has also written about the Colosseum, includes portraits of (and quotes from) emperor Augustus and other personalities. (ITL419, $19.95)
  Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture, and History



Also Recommended

Florence Map  •  Borch Maps    •  A detailed, plastic-covered city map of Florence at a scale of 1:7,000. (ITL59, $8.95)
 
 
France Map  •  Michelin    •  A colorful, accurate and up-to-date map of France at a scale of 1:1,000,000. (FRN07, $11.95)
 
 
Italy Map  •  Borch Maps    •  A handy, laminated map. (ITL19, $11.95)
 
 
Paris Map  •  Borch Maps    •  A sturdy laminated map of the city center at a scale of 1:12,000 and all of Paris at a scale of 1:15,000. (FRN400, $8.95)
 
 
Rome Map  •  Borch Maps    •  A handy map at a scale of 1:11,000, with a more detailed overview of the city center. (ITL60, $8.95)
 
 
Eyewitness Guide Provence & the Cote D'Azur  •  Roger Williams   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This is an illustrated, colorful guide to the art and architecture, literature, history and attractions of Provence. With photographs and site plans, maps and sections on the Riviera, the Var, Bouches-du-Rhones, Vaucluse and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. (FRN18, $23.00)
 
 
Fodor's Paris' 25 Best  •  Fodor's   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This shirt-pocket map and guide includes essential information on the city's history, highlights and sightseeing, ideal for a short visit to the City of Light. (FRN41, $11.99)
 
 
Fodor's Rome's 25 Best  •  Fodor's   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This shirt-pocket guide includes a map of the city and essential information on its highlights. (ITL112, $11.99)
 
 
French or Foe?  •  Polly Platt   • GUIDEBOOK • COMING IN  •  With humor, directness and great insight, this compact book is an expert and entertaining guide to the French and how to get along with them. The expanded third edition addresses France's romance with cell phones and includes a short chapter of recent vignettes. (FRN54, $16.95)
 
 
Made in France, A Shopper's Guide  •  Laura Morelli   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Both a fascinating history of France's artisanal legacy and an insider's shopping guide, Made in France includes illustrations, maps, a primer on French shopping culture, and craft festivals. (FRN706, $24.95)
 
 
Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide  •  Laura Morelli   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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 of France  •  Waverly Root   • FOOD  •  An evocative and beautifully written survey of French food. First published in 1958 and revised in the mid-1970s, the book covers the important regions of French cuisine by dividing them into domains of Butter (northern France), Fat (Alsace) and Oil (the south). (FRN17, $18.00)
 
 
The Tuscan Year, Tuscan Life and Food in an Italian Valley  •  Elizabeth Romer   • FOOD • FAVORITE • COMING IN  •  An intimate portrait of life on a Tuscan farm as seen primarily through the robust food and a Longitude favorite. Romer captures the goings-on in the countryside, and especially in the Cerotti kitchen, where traditional Tuscan rural food is prepared with loving care. Every chapter includes concisely described recipes. (ITL131, $14.00)
 
 
A Propos De Paris  •  Henri Cartier-Bresson   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  This handsomely produced coffee table book features 131 duotone images of Paris selected by Cartier-Bresson in honor of his 90th birthday. It's a splendid tribute to the people and life of the City of Light. (FRN132, $40.00)
 
 
La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind  •  Beppe Severgnini   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  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)
 
 
One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in France: Food & Wine  •  Simonetta Greggio   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  Each charming village gets an appreciative essay and evocative color photographs in this handsome tribute (and excellent guide to choosing where to visit). (FRN611, $50.00)
 
 
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome  •  Christopher Scarre   • HISTORY  •  A vivid overview of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and its expansion throughout North Africa and the Mediterranean, illustrated with ingenious color maps on many topics (political borders, trade, defense, religion) and 80 color photographs. (ITL29, $18.00)
 
 
The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings  •  R.W.B. Lewis   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 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)
 
 
The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France  •  Ina Caro   • HISTORY • BEST SELLER  •  Time travel through France by way of its finest castles, chateaux, cathedrals and monasteries. This unusual travelogue is an invaluable companion for traveling in Paris, southern France, the Dordogne and the Loire Valley, combining personal observation with large doses of well-presented history. (FRN03, $17.00)
 
 
Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages  •  Alain Erlande-Brandenburg   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a brief chronology. (MED07, $15.95)
 
 
Vincent Van Gogh, The Passionate Eye  •  Pascal Bonafoux   • ART & ARCHITECTURE • FAVORITE  •  From Paris to Asnieres, Amsterdam and Provence, this jewel of a book traces the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh, the spirited, self-destructive painter who celebrated the south of France. Engaging, compact and illustrated with hundreds of photographs. (FRN29, $12.95)
 
 
A Year in Provence  •  Peter Mayle   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  The original best-selling tale of settling down in Provence, told with warmth and a great deal of humor. It offers a wonderful inside look at the charms and quirks of the people and the countryside in the south of France. (FRN19, $14.95)
 
 
Between Meals, An Appetite for Paris  •  A.J. Liebling   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • FAVORITE  •  Liebling captures with stylish prose his coming-of-age in Paris in this elegant memoir, which is also a tribute to French cuisine. (FRN32, $15.00)
 
 
Into a Paris Quartier, Reine Margot's Chapel and other Haunts of St. Germain  •  Diane Johnson   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Novelist Diane Johnson (Le Divorce) writes with insight, verve and wit in this affectionate, personal portrait of St Germain-des-Pres, her neighborhood on the Left Bank. (FRN491, $10.95)
 
 
Italian Days  •  Barbara Grizzuti Harrison   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 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)
 
 
Paris to the Moon  •  Adam Gopnik   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Gopnik writes with candor and humor about Paris and Parisian ways in these charming reflections on adapting to life abroad. (FRN208, $16.00)
 
 
Cabal  •  Michael Dibdin   • MYSTERY  •  Zen is called to the Vatican to investigate the death of Prince Ludovico Ruspanti, who plunged from the roof of St. Peter's Basilica. (ITL620, $13.95)
 
 
Italy in Mind  •  Alice Powers   • LITERATURE  •  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)
 
 
Timeline  •  Michael Crichton   • LITERATURE  •  Crichton's blockbuster fantasy combines time travel and adventures in Medieval France. A fast-paced, remarkably well-researched introduction to 14th-century Dordogne and Perigord. (FRN135, $7.99)
 
 
Travelers' Tales France  •  James O'Reilly  •  Larry Habegger   • ANTHOLOGY • COMING IN  •  A wonderful collection of mostly contemporary tales, including such marvelous authors as Peter Mayle, M.F.K. Fisher, Mort Rosenblum, Ina Caro and Jan Morris. Organized thematically, it's a good introduction to the history, culture and character of France. (FRN05, $18.95)
 
 
 
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