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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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 EXITL773. Buy these 4 items as a set for $76 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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Blue Guide Northern Italy, from the Alps to the Adriatic

Blue Guide Northern Italy, from the Alps to the Adriatic

by Paul Blanchard

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 735 PAGES

This guide by a popular tour leader provides a thorough overview of the history, art and architecture of northern Italy from Trieste across to the Valle d'Aosta, Venice, Verona, Milan, Genoa and Bologna. (ITL48, $32.95)

Iceman: Uncovering the Life and Times of a Prehistoric Man Found in an Alpine Glacier

Iceman: Uncovering the Life and Times of a Prehistoric Man Found in an Alpine Glacier

by Brenda Fowler

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 313 PAGES

The complete story of the discovery of and controversy surrounding the frozen corpse of a prehistoric man found in the Tyrolian Alps. (ALP20, $20.00)

Medusa, An Aurelio Zen Mystery

Medusa, An Aurelio Zen Mystery

by Michael Dibdin

  • MYSTERY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

In this ninth book in the thoroughly enjoyable Aurelio Zen series, our worldly detective investigates a mysterious corpse in a long-abandoned military tunnel in the Dolomites. (ITL576, $13.95)

Trentino Alto-Adige Map

Trentino Alto-Adige Map

by Touring Club Italiano

  • MAP

A colorful regional map of the Italian Dolomites at a scale of 1:200,000. (ITL42, $14.95)

 
Culture Smart! Italy

Culture Smart! Italy


by Charles Abbott

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 168 PAGES

A concise, no-nonsense guide to Italian customs, etiquette and culture along with helpful travel advice. (ITL877, $9.95)

Eyewitness Guide Italy

Eyewitness Guide Italy


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 720 PAGES

This superb guide features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of the country's attractions. (ITL32, $30.00)

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook


by Lonely Planet

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 260 PAGES

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

Italy, A Short History

Italy, A Short History


by Harry Hearder

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 294 PAGES

Elegantly written, generous and informative, this compact book takes in the sweep of Italian history from the Roman Republic through the Renaissance, World War II and up to the present. (ITL56, $29.00)

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)

A Traveller in Italy

A Traveller in Italy


by H.V. Morton | Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 640 PAGES

The much-beloved, enduring account of Morton's ramblings in the temples, tombs and villas of Tuscany, Lombardy, Emilia and the Veneto. (ITL417, $25.00)

D.H. Lawrence and Italy

D.H. Lawrence and Italy


by D.H. Lawrence

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 495 PAGES

This omnibus Penguin Classics edition includes Lawrence's three travel tales, each very different in tone and all wonderful: Sea and Sardinia is a nostalgic look at traditional ways of life; Twilight in Italy, an evocation of Lawrence's memorable stay on Lake Garda; and Etruscan Places his musings on ancient sites, including the painted tombs of Tarquinia. (ITL62, $18.00)

Killing Dragons, The Conquest of the Alps

Killing Dragons, The Conquest of the Alps


by Fergus Fleming

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

Fleming spins lively tales of man against nature in this entertaining history of the eccentrics, adventurers and publicity-hounds who sought to conquer the Alps, including Whymper and his first ascent of the Matterhorn (where four of the seven-man team perished). (ALP16, $14.00)

Scrambles Amongst the Alps: In the Years 1860-69

Scrambles Amongst the Alps: In the Years 1860-69


by Edward Whymper

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Edward Wymper's vivid account of Victorian-era mountaineering, a classic, captures the geography, beauty and allure of the Alps. (ALP02, $16.00)

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere


by Jan Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

A loving celebration of the city and its faded glory. Morris, who first visited the city as a soldier during WWII, is especially good at evoking the varied history and fortunes of Trieste. (ITL347, $15.00)

A Noble Radiance

A Noble Radiance


by Donna Leon

  • MYSTERY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 277 PAGES

Number seven in the Guido Brunetti mysteries, all memorably set in contemporary Venice. For some readers, this installment is the best yet. A body is found on the estate of a local landowner at the foot of the Dolomites. (ITL557, $14.00)

Homestead

Homestead


by Rosini Lippi

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 210 PAGES

Set firmly in a small village in the Austrian Alps, these 12 interlinking stories are almost ethnographic in their rich detail of small town life. The stories range from the turn-of-the-century to the present, accurately charting change in the remote village. (ALP11, $13.95)

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)

The Betrothed

The Betrothed


by Alessandro Manzoni

  • LITERATURE
  • 1984
  • PAPER
  • 720 PAGES

By many accounts the first modern Italian novel, Manzoni's 1827 classic concerns star-crossed lovers in 17th-century Lombardy. Promoted during unification, Italy's best-known novel has been made into films and a musical. (ITL414, $18.00)

A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe

A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe


by Guy Mountfort

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 212 PAGES

A classic field guide in the Peterson series. (EUR15, $25.00)

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)

Wildflowers of Britain and Europe

Wildflowers of Britain and Europe


by Margaret and Roland Spohn

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Over 450 species of wild flower are covered, each beautifully illustrated with detailed paintings and clear photographs. (EUR46, $21.95)

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.