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Venice to Istanbul

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Get the featured set of Essential Reading, our top picks of what to read, and get free shipping on anything else you order.

Essential Reading

Item EXAEG31. Buy these 5 items as a set for $78 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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A Traveller's Companion to Venice

A Traveller's Companion to Venice

by John Julius Norwich

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

An illuminating selection, edited and introduced by the great John Julius Norwich. (ITL484, $16.95)

A Short History of Byzantium

A Short History of Byzantium

by John Julius Norwich

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

A richly detailed and evocative history of the tumultuous span of the great empire from the fourth century to the 15th, brimming with intrigue, skullduggery, palace revolution and other treachery. (TKY18, $19.00)

The Colossus of Maroussi

The Colossus of Maroussi

by Henry Miller

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 223 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Miller captures the spirit and warmth of the resilient Greek people in this inspired tale of a wartime journey from Athens to Crete, Corfu and Delphi with his friend Lawrence Durrell. (GRE05, $12.95)

Eyewitness Guide Croatia

Eyewitness Guide Croatia

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

Gorgeously illustrated and filled with excellent maps, this compact book offers a thorough overview of Croatia's history, traditions, cultures and sights. (BLK39, $23.00)

Mediterranean Explorer Map

Mediterranean Explorer Map

by Ocean Explorer Maps

  • 2006
  • MAP

This handy color map of the Mediterranean from Spain to the Black Sea and the Levant puts ancient sites and historic ports into context. With notable people, a timeline and descriptions of dozens of places across the classical world, this map serves equally well for Mediterranean and Black Sea cruises. (MED89, $11.95)

 
Eyewitness Guide Istanbul

Eyewitness Guide Istanbul


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

This superb guide to Istanbul features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (TKY86, $25.00)

Fodor's Venice's 25 Best

Fodor's Venice's 25 Best


by Citypack

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

This shirt-pocket guide includes an excellent map of the city center and essential information. (ITL106, $12.99)

1453, The Holy War For Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West

1453, The Holy War For Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West


by Roger Crowley

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

In this well-paced history, Crowley recounts with drama the events surrounding the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. (TKY114, $15.99)

A History of Venice

A History of Venice


by John Julius Norwich

  • HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 673 PAGES

The great historian Norwich marshals myriad personalities, battles, sieges, and facts into a vivid portrait of the Venetian Republic spanning the 1,000 years up to its 1797 defeat at the hands of Napoleon. (ITL177, $26.00)

City of Fortune, How Venice Ruled the Seas

City of Fortune, How Venice Ruled the Seas


by Roger Crowley

  • HISTORY
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

Crowley spins tales of three centuries of plunder and plague, imperial conquest and piracy in this riveting new history, chronicling the transformation of a tiny city of lagoon dwellers into the richest place on earth. City of Fortune is framed by two of the great collisions of world history: the ill-fated Fourth Crusade -- culminating in the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 -- and the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1499-1503. (MED185, $18.00)

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter


by Thomas Cahill

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Cahill brings to life ancient Greek society and civilization through the lives and words of politicians, playwrights, a poet, philosopher and artist in this eloquent and absorbing tribute. (GRE182, $17.00)

The Balkans, A Short History

The Balkans, A Short History


by Mark Mazower

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 188 PAGES

A brief, provocative survey of the complex and often contentious history of the Balkans. With eloquence and insight, Mazower addresses the issues of geography, nationalism and modern nation-building in the region. (BLK28, $15.00)

The Middle Sea

The Middle Sea


by John Julius Norwich

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 720 PAGES

A marvelous writer who has already tackled Byzantium, the Normans in Sicily and Venice, Norwich spins his magic in this story of culture, trade and politics, royalty and rulers, wars and religion in the Mediterranean. (MED98, $21.00)

The Trojan War: A New History

The Trojan War: A New History


by Barry Strauss

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Talented historian Strauss combines information gleaned from Homer's epics with archaeology and ancient texts to weave a masterful and readable account of this legendary conflict. (GRE296, $15.99)

Venice, a Maritime Republic

Venice, a Maritime Republic


by Frederic C. Lane

  • HISTORY
  • 1973
  • PAPER
  • 505 PAGES

Lane focuses on the history of trade, taking in not just on La Serenissima but also Dubrovink and the other cities of its once far-flung domain. (ITL24, $32.00)

Art of the Byzantine Era

Art of the Byzantine Era


by David Talbot Rice

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES
  • CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
    • >

Wide-ranging and literate, this thoroughly illustrated introduction to Byzantine art is an indispensable classic. (TKY22, $21.95)

Venice 697-1797: A City, a Republic, an Empire

Venice 697-1797: A City, a Republic, an Empire


by Aluise Zorzi

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2002
  • HARD COVER
  • 303 PAGES

Zorzi reveals the growth of Venice from a small fishing village to a bustling metropolis whose cultural, political and economic dominance extended over the entire Mediterranean world with this sumptuous collection of 340 color paintings, photographs and drawings. (MED186, $75.00)

Istanbul, Memories and the City

Istanbul, Memories and the City


by Orhan Pamuk

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Nobel Prize-winner Pamuk writes with quiet grace of the city of his birth, celebrated in his many novels: a magical place of crumbling mansions and Ottoman riches, mingling Asian, Islamic, secular and European influences. (TKY99, $16.95)

The Venetian Empire, A Sea Voyage

The Venetian Empire, A Sea Voyage


by Jan Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 200 PAGES

Morris reconstructs the whole of the glittering dominion of the Venetian Republic in this evocative account of a journey by sea along historic trade routes to the Adriatic and beyond. (ITL70, $24.95)

The World of Venice

The World of Venice


by Jan Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 315 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Morris displays her talent for research, anecdote and well-wrought prose in this spirited history of a beloved city. (ITL12, $18.95)

Venice Is a Fish

Venice Is a Fish


by Tiziano Scarpa

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

The hugely popular Venetian novelist, poet and playwright makes his English-language debut with these marvelously digressive essays on the many moods and pleasures of La Serenissima. (ITL964, $12.00)

Death at La Fenice

Death at La Fenice


by Donna Leon

  • MYSTERY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 270 PAGES

The first of the tremendously good Guido Brunetti mysteries, all set in the author's beloved Venice, in which a famous conductor is found dead at the celebrated theater of the title. (ITL555, $14.99)

Montenegro, A Novel

Montenegro, A Novel


by Starling Lawrence

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 350 PAGES

Steeped in atmosphere, this compelling tale of intrigue set in turn-of-the-century Montenegro evokes the tangled politics of the region -- Muslim, Turk and British. Lawrence follows the adventures of a reluctant British spy, Harwell Auberon, from the Adriatic to mountain villages, capturing the essence of the people and the land. (BLK08, $14.99)

The Bridge on the Drina

The Bridge on the Drina


by Ivo Andric | Lovette F. Edwards

  • LITERATURE
  • 1977
  • PAPER
  • 318 PAGES

These linked stories by the Nobel-prize winning author capture the history and complexity of Christian and Muslim relations during Ottoman occupation. Hewn of stone, the bridge dividing the town of Visegrad was Andric's inspiration. (BLK59, $15.00)

The Castle of Otranto, A Gothic Story

The Castle of Otranto, A Gothic Story


by Horace Walpole

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

First published in 1764, Walpole's classic Gothic novel takes place in and around the 15th-century castle on the Adriatic. (ITL631, $8.95)

The Songs of the Kings

The Songs of the Kings


by Barry Unsworth

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 342 PAGES

Unsworth's sly novel, set in 1260 B.C. as scheming Odysseus prepares to plunder Troy. A familiar story enhanced by Unsworth's mix of classic cadence, contemporary language, ripe humor and pulled-from-the-headlines satire. (GRE185, $13.95)

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.