Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

SEE ALL >

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

To the Arctic

Florian Schultz

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

GLOBES

The Pioneer

Replogle

SEE ALL >

France: The Loire Valley

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

  • E-MAIL
  • PRINT

Kids

Books for

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 EXFRN416. Buy these 4 items as a set for $65 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
Eyewitness Guide Loire Valley

Eyewitness Guide Loire Valley

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 264 PAGES

Visually rich, comprehensive, and practical, this guidebook is an excellent introduction to the history, culture and attractions of the Loire Valley. Highly recommended. (FRN43, $23.00)

Catherine De Medici, Renaissance Queen of France

Catherine De Medici, Renaissance Queen of France

by Leonie Frieda

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 440 PAGES

Frieda reclaims the story of this much maligned queen to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds in this vivid, meticulously researched portrait of he woman and Renaissance Europe. (FRN875, $15.99)

The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France

The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France

by Ina Caro

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 339 PAGES
  • 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)

Loire Valley Map 517

Loire Valley Map 517

by Michelin Travel Publications

  • MAP

A map of the Loire region of France in the series published by Michelin series, at a scale of 1:200,000. (FRN302, $12.95)

 
French or Foe?

French or Foe?


by Polly Platt

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 292 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

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

Made in France, A Shopper's Guide


by Laura Morelli

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

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)

The Food of France

The Food of France


by Waverly Root

  • FOOD
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 450 PAGES

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)

A Traveller's History of France

A Traveller's History of France


by Robert Cole

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This fast-moving survey covers the conquests of ancient Gaul through the heady days of revolution to modern times. (FRN08, $14.95)

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age


by William Manchester

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 322 PAGES

Organized into sections on the Renaissance, Reformation and Discovery, Manchester's popular history evokes in vivid detail the great figures and daily life of the 16th century, including Henry VIII, Magellan, Borgia, da Vinci and Martin Luther. (EUR06, $15.99)

The Age of the Cathedrals, Art and Society 980-1420

The Age of the Cathedrals, Art and Society 980-1420


by Georges Duby

  • HISTORY
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

The definitive historical study of the building of the great cathedrals. French scholar Duby, writing very accessibly, describes the cathedrals themselves, and the philosophical, religious, and political climate that enabled them to be built. (EUR01, $28.00)

The Most Beautiful Villages of the Loire

The Most Beautiful Villages of the Loire


by James Bentley | Hugh Palmer

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2001
  • HARD COVER
  • 208 PAGES

An illustrated portrait of the region, its landscape, architecture, and people, featuring 275 color photographs and accompanying lively essays by Francophile James Bentley. (FRN483, $40.00)

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages


by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

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)

Adventures on the Wine Route, A Wine Buyer's Tour of France

Adventures on the Wine Route, A Wine Buyer's Tour of France


by Kermit Lynch

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 271 PAGES

A delightful and warmly anecdotal book, highly recommended for anyone touring the wine regions of France. The book brings the domains and appellations of French wine to full-blown life, and Lynch's portraits of the grand personalities who make the wine are priceless. (FRN72, $19.00)

Leonardo da Vinci, The Mind of the Renaissance

Leonardo da Vinci, The Mind of the Renaissance


by Alessandro Vezzosi

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

A pocket-size encyclopedia, this colorful book illustrates and documents the life and work of Leonardo, including a long section of excerpts from his writings. (ITL77, $12.95)

Chocolat

Chocolat


by Joanne Harris

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

This charming novel set in the Loire Valley pits provincial morals against pleasure. Adapted into a popular movie. (FRN484, $15.00)

France in Mind

France in Mind


by Alice Powers

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES
  • COMING IN FEBRUARY

This wonderful selection of essays, excerpts and stories filters the experience of being in France through the lens of 33 British and American writers. (FRN384, $14.00)

France, A Traveler's Literary Companion

France, A Traveler's Literary Companion


by William Rodarmor

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This collection contains literary gems from all corners of France--not just Paris--by a select group of 20th-century French writers, from Colette to Georges Simenon. (FRN767, $14.95)

In a Dark Wood Wandering, A Novel of the Middle Ages

In a Dark Wood Wandering, A Novel of the Middle Ages


by Hella Haasse

  • LITERATURE
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 594 PAGES

With a cast of thousands including Joan of Arc and the Dukes of Burgundy, this 1949 historical novel renders the political intrigue, people and texture of 15th-century Europe. Haasse captures medieval court life during the Hundred Years War. (FRN86, $21.95)

Birds of Europe

Birds of Europe


by Lars Svensson

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, the second revised edition of this exquisite guide has been brought up to date with revised text and maps. (FG47, $29.95)

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.