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

• DESTINATIONS
  • Polar Regions
  • North America
  • Middle America
  • South America
  • Northern Europe
  • Southern Europe
  • Mediterranean
  • Middle East
  • Africa
  • Central & East Asia
  • South Asia
  • Southeast Asia
  • Australia & The Pacific
• FAVORITES

SMITHSONIAN JOURNEYS

Treasures of the Classical World

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

• E-MAIL
• PRINT

Kids

Books for

A Voyage to Ancient Cities of the Mediterranean

Item EXMED603. Buy these 3 items as a set for $57 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG

The Mediterranean in History

by David Abulafia

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2011
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

A professor at Cambridge, David Abulafia leads a team of eight historians in this engaging, richly illustrated overview of the civilizations, societies and grand themes in the history of this great sea at the heart of Europe. Published in conjunction with the J. Paul Getty Museum, the book features 150 well-integrated color and 150 black-and-white illustrations. (MED79, $29.95)

On the Shores of the Mediterranean

by Eric Newby

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

A sparkling observer and famously entertaining, Newby tackles the Mediterranean in this merry classic account of travels to North Africa, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cairo and Jerusalem. (MED25, $18.95)

Mediterranean Explorer

by Ocean Explorer Maps

• 2006
• MAP
• BEST SELLER

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)

 

Also Recommended

Bradt Guide North Africa, The Roman Coast

by Ethel Davis

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

This practical, informative guide brings to life the ancient Roman heritage of modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. (NAF68, $25.99)

Lonely Planet Mediterranean Europe

by Steve Fallon

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 992 PAGES

The Lonely Planet treatment of Mediterranean Europe, full of travel and background information for the independent traveler. (MED37, $29.99)

Mediterranean by Cruise Ship

by Anne Vipond

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

The best-selling, compact guide, featuring excellent local maps, hundreds of color photographs, concise background information and recommended excursions for ports-of-call throughout the Mediterranean. (MED34, $21.95)

A Book of Mediterranean Food

by Elizabeth David

• FOOD
• 2002
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES

A classic mix of lore, literary asides, recipes and enthusiasm for the food and culture of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and the Middle East. Published in the gloom of post-WWII Britain, David's tribute brims with affection for the strongly flavored food of the Mediterranean. (MED71, $14.95)

A Mediterranean Feast

by Clifford A. Wright

• FOOD
• 1999
• HARD COVER
• 815 PAGES

A culinary classic, this erudite, appetizing book takes in the scope of the food, people and history of the Mediterranean, mixing recipes with scholarship and an appreciation of place. (MED126, $39.99)

The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook

by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

• FOOD
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 496 PAGES

Bursting with good health and great flavors, this revised classic features 250 recipes highlighting the food and culture spanning the Mediterranean from Spain, France and Italy to Greece, Turkey, Morocco and the Middle East. (MED160, $35.00)

Beyond the Edge of the Sea

by Mauricio Obregon

• HISTORY
• 2002
• PAPER
• 132 PAGES

The adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, Ulysses and other explorers of the ancient world are recreated in this personal account of ships, navigation and geographical discovery. (MED50, $15.00)

Casa Mediterranea

by Massimo Listri

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 360 PAGES

Traditional tile-roofed villas, historic gardens, contemporary masterpieces and beautiful houses of all sorts are included in this visual tour of style around the Mediterranean from France, Italy and Spain to Greece and Turkey, Morocco and Egypt. (MED159, $45.00)

Empires of the Sea

by Roger Crowley

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

Crowley vividly reconstructs the epic clash between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom for the control of the Mediterranean -- and the soul of 16th-century Europe -- in this thrilling account of dramatic battles and brutality, rival faiths and larger-than-life personalities. (MED146, $16.00)

Levant, Splendor and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean

by Philip Mansel

• HISTORY
• 2012
• PAPER
• 470 PAGES

The talented Philip Mansel plumbs the histories of three remarkable cities of great wealth, pleasure and freedom -- Smyrna, Alexandria and Beirut -- from their cosmopolitan glory days to their fate in the 20th-centuiry, revealing cultural precedents for the reality of the contemporary Middle East in this absorbing history -- an excellent choice for Father's Day! (MED178, $20.00)

Pirates of Barbary, Corsairs, Conquests, and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean

by Adrian Tinniswood

• HISTORY
• 2010
• HARD COVER
• 336 PAGES

Tinniswood tells the compelling history of piracy at its peak in the 17th century, combining intricate portraits with a broader view of life on the high seas, the turbulence of the era and the lasting influence of Barbary pirates on relations between Christians and Muslims. (NAF78, $26.95)

Sea of Faith

by Stephen O'Shea

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

O'Shea brings a traveler's eye and a poet's touch to this gripping tale of conquest, co-existence and conflict in the medieval Mediterranean. He focuses on seven key battles between Christians and Muslims from Yamuk (AD 636) to the Siege of Malta (1565). (MED95, $17.00)

The Ancient Mediterranean

by Michael Grant

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1990
• PAPER
• 374 PAGES

Grant explores the realms of archaeology, geography, art and economics to sketch this classic portrait of the ancient world, from prehistory through the Roman Imperium, and the influence on western civilization. (MED10, $20.00)

The Great Empires of the Ancient World

by Thomas Harrison

• HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 288 PAGES

This excellent, beautifully illusrtated survey by a team, of scholars explores the major imperial powers of the ancient world, including Egypt, Rome, Babylonia, Persia, India and China -- and their modern legacies. (WLD173, $39.95)

The Great Sea

by David Abulafia

• HISTORY
• 2011
• HARD COVER
• 800 PAGES

With an eye for telling detail and anecdote, Abulafia traces the sweep of Mediterranean history from the time of Troy to the mid 19th century, populating his tale with vivid personalities. He emphasizes the diversity of Mediterranean societies, arguing that the great port cities -- Alexandria, Trieste, Salonika and many others -- prospered in part because of the mix of many different peoples, religions and identities. (MED179, $34.95)

The Landmark Herodotus, The Histories

by Herodotus | Robert B. Strassler | Andrea L. Purvis

• HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 1024 PAGES

This marvelous, extensively annotated, dazzling new translation of Herodotus includes maps, drawings and photographs thoughout, bringing the classical world of the Mediterranean, its people, customs, battles and personalities, to vivid life. (GRE316, $45.00)

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 Templars, The History and the Myth

by Michael Haag

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

Haag investigates the origins and history, the enduring myths and the soaring architecture of this religious order of fighting knights. (MED149, $15.99)

The War That Killed Achilles

by Caroline Alexander

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

Caroline Alexander (The Endurance, The Bounty) turns to Homer in this new reading of the Illiad, its historical roots and heroic Archilles. (GRE392, $16.00)

Panorama of the Classical World

by Nigel Spivey

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

Published by the J. Paul Getty Museum, these richly illustrated and engaging essays cover daily life in Greek, Roman and Etruscan times. (MED180, $29.95)

Roman Mosaics

by Joseph Wilpert

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2007
• PAPER

This Dover reprint features 60 color reproductions of striking mosaics from the 4th to 13th centuries. (MED128, $15.95)

Sites of Antiquity, From Ancient Egypt to the Fall of Rome

by Charles Freeman

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 248 PAGES

Enticing aerial shots, detailed site plans, glorious modern photographs and illustrations illuminate 50 key monuments, cities or sites of the Mediterranean world, from Giza, Luxor and Karnak to the Parthenon, Ephesus, Pergamon, Petra and Constantinople. (MED150, $50.00)

The Greeks Overseas, The Early Colonies and Trade

by John Boardman

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

An authoritative, illustrated survey of Greek civilization throughout the Mediterranean, revised and updated for this fourth edition. (GRE150, $25.95)

A Year in the World, Journeys of a Passionate Traveler

by Frances Mayes

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 420 PAGES

A warm account of mostly Mediterranean travels -- Spain, Portugal, Greece, Sicily, Capri, Sardinia, the Turkish Coast, Naples, Burgundy, Scotland -- arranged by season. (TVL109, $15.00)

Homer's Mediterranean, A Travel Companion

by Wolfgang Geisthovel | Anthea Bell

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• HARD COVER
• 224 PAGES

Geisthovel retraces the voyages of the Odyssey and places that may have inspired Homer, traveling through Greece and Turkey, Tunisia, Malta and Italy on a grand circle from Troy to Ithaca. (MED161, $19.95)

In the Steps of St. Paul

by H.V. Morton

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 528 PAGES

Playing both pilgrim and traveler in this book, Morton charmingly mixes history with offhand humor, anecdote and keen observation. Bible in hand, he journeys through Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece and Rhodes, ending fittingly at the Tomb of St. Paul. (MED70, $22.00)

Mediterranean Winter, The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Greece

by Robert D. Kaplan

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2004
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES

The prolific journalist and traveler revisits the Mediterranean of his youth in this extended meditation on the pleasures and freedom of life on the road. (MED78, $16.00)

The Olive Tree, A Personal Journey Through Mediterranean Olive Groves

by Carol Drinkwater

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

In this fifth book Drinkwater journeys from her olive grove in the South of France to Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Italy in search of ideas and inspiration. (MED154, $16.95)

The Way of Herodotus, Travels with the Man Who Invented History

by Justin Marozzi

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES

A Penguin Classics edition of The Histories in hand, Marozzi journeys from Herodotus' home town of Heliacarnassus, now known as Bodrum, to Baghdad, Babylon, Egypt and Athens, weaving tales of his hero with erudite and entertaining modern travel. (MED138, $16.95)

Traveling With Pomegranates

by Ann Kidd Taylor | Sue Monk Kidd

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2010
• PAPER
• 282 PAGES

Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees) opens this sweet mother-and-daughter travelogue with just graduated daughter Ann in the Archaeological museum in Athens, photographing a stature of Demeter and Persephone. This memoir forgoes high drama for lovely descriptions of the many trips the two have taken together, mixing descriptions of Greece and the Islands, Turkey and Paris with meditations on growing old, writing and their time together back home in South Carolina. (MED168, $15.00)

A Loeb Classical Library Reader

by Loeb Classical Library

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 234 PAGES

This pocket companion of lapidary nuggets, spanning 12 centuries and 33 of the world's greatest writers, from Homer to Saint Jerome, includes both original text and facing English translation. (MED148, $9.95)

Afloat

by Guy de Maupassant

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 120 PAGES

A book of dazzling but treacherously shifting currents, a seemingly simple logbook of a sailing cruise along the French Mediterranean coast that opens up to reveal unexpected depths, as Maupassant merges fact and fiction, dream and documentation in a wholly original style. (FRN754, $14.00)

Mediterranean Passages, Readings from Dido to Derrida

by Grant Parker | Miriam Cooke | Erdag Goknar

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 416 PAGES

This compendium highlights 3,000 years of cultural exchange around the Mediterranean. With an assortment of maps, architectural drawings, photographs, paintings and historical and literary texts, it brings antiquity into conversation with the present. (MED139, $27.95)

No Man's Lands, One Man's Odyssey Through the Odyssey

by Scott Huler

• LITERATURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

Middle-aged everyman and NPR commentator Scott Huler draws lessons from the twists and turns of the life of Odysseus in this hilarious account of a whirlwind, six-month Mediterranean journey from Troy to Ithaca. (MED127, $14.00)

The Iliad/The Odyssey

by Robert Fagles

• LITERATURE
• 1999
• PAPER

A combined edition of the celebrated Fagles translation of Homer. (GRE197, $34.00)

The Iliad/The Odyssey

by Homer | Robert Fagles | Bernard Knox

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• HARD COVER

This deluxe edition of the Fagles translation of Homer, celebrated for its clarity and expressiveness, comes in two hardcover volumes with a handsome slipcase. (GRE282, $75.00)

The Ionian Mission

by Patrick O'Brian

• LITERATURE
• 1991
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

The eighth volume in the rousing Aubrey and Maturin series takes the commander and his naturalist sidekick into the eponymous Ionian Isles, getting them mixed up not only with the French navy but also in Ottoman af-fairs. (MED26, $14.95)

Birds of the Mediterranean, A Photographic Guide

by Paul Sterry

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2003
• PAPER
• 192 PAGES

A slim, concise and clearly organized guide to 440 species of birds from the Mediterranean. Range maps and descriptions are opposite good, clear color photographs, digitally enhanced to aid in identification. (MED82, $29.00)

• JOIN OUR PARTNERS
• Why us?
• Make a Reading Guide

• ABOUT US
• The People
• The Business

• SMALL PRINT
• Customer Service
• Ordering
• Shipping
• Visiting

• CONNECT
• E-mail News
• Get a Catalog
• Longitude Blog
• Contact Us