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Catalog

BELGIUM

A Worldly Art

Mariet Westermann

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PROVENCE & THE COTE D'AZUR

A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France

Georgeanne Brennan

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OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

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PENGUIN CLASSICS

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

John Steinbeck

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Italy From Designs by Michelangelo, Cannes to Venice

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 EXMED629. Buy these 5 items as a set for $85 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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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)

Two Towns in Provence

Two Towns in Provence

by M. F. K. Fisher

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Celebrated food writer M.F.K. Fisher contrasts village life in Aix-en-Provence with bustling Marseilles, evoking both with anecdote and loving description. (FRN27, $16.95)

Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture, and History

Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture, and History

by Ada Gabucci

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

This lively, illustrated survey of Ancient Rome's monuments, history and art is a terrific introduction. (ITL419, $19.95)

Mediterranean by Cruise Ship

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)

Mediterranean Explorer

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)

 
Florence Map

Florence Map


by Borch Maps

  • 2006
  • MAP

A detailed, plastic-covered city map of Florence at a scale of 1:7,000. (ITL59, $8.95)

Blue Guide Sicily

Blue Guide Sicily


by Ellen Grady

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 500 PAGES
  • COMING IN AUGUST

This in-depth guide to Sicily's ancient history and archaeology features detailed maps and site plans. (ITL125, $26.95)

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)

Eyewitness Guide Provence & the Cote D'Azur

Eyewitness Guide Provence & the Cote D'Azur


by Roger Williams

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

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 Rome's 25 Best

Fodor's Rome's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

This shirt-pocket guide includes a map of the city and essential information on its highlights. (ITL112, $12.99)

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)

Rubicon, The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Rubicon, The Last Years of the Roman Republic


by Tom Holland

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 464 PAGES

A riveting popular history of the fall of the Roman empire, written with the flare of a novelist and with a sharp focus on imperial folly. (ITL677, $16.95)

The Ancient Mediterranean

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 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, $13.95)

The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall

The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall


by Christopher Hibbert

  • HISTORY
  • 1982
  • PAPER
  • 364 PAGES

A well-written, entertaining history of the Medicis in Renaissance Florence. Great to read before going to Florence, where the influence of the Medicis and the artists they supported is still very much in evidence. (ITL135, $16.99)

The Sicilian Vespers, A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century

The Sicilian Vespers, A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century


by Steven Runciman

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 355 PAGES

A spellbinding history of the 13th-century Kingdom of Sicily. The massacre of the French at Palermo, known as the Sicilian Vespers, is the springboard for the author's sweeping depiction of the Mediterranean in the late 1200s. (ITL295, $25.00)

Renaissance Florence, The Invention of a New Art

Renaissance Florence, The Invention of a New Art


by A. Richard Turner

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

A cultural and social history of the city focusing on the great art and famous monuments, featuring vivid color pictures and illustrations. (ITL50, $42.20)

The Colosseum

The Colosseum


by Keith Hopkins | Mary Beard

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

This engaging overview of the history of the Colosseum deconstructs Hollywood-perpetrated misconceptions of gladiator-eating lions, Nero fiddling and other myths. (ITL654, $14.95)

The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily

The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily


by Fausto Longo | Lorena Jannelli | Luca Cerchiai

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 288 PAGES

An engaging history of the Western Greek colonies in Sicily and southern Italy in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., featuring 240 magnificent color illustrations, maps and a site-by-site review of major archaeological sites. (ITL751, $45.00)

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History


by Robert D. Kaplan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

Kaplan interweaves the history, art and culture of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece with his travels in this portrait of the region. (BLK02, $17.00)

On Persephone's Island

On Persephone's Island


by Mary Taylor Simeti

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1986
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Strong on the delights of rural life, Simeti's portrait of Sicily takes the form of a yearlong journal, capturing the spirit of the people, daily life, traditions and the land. (ITL03, $14.95)

Prospero's Cell

Prospero's Cell


by Lawrence Durrell

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 150 PAGES

This classic tribute to Corfu, its long history, myths and resilient people, is drawn from the young Durrell's idyllic time as a newlywed on the island in the years before WWII. (GRE48, $12.00)

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)

Ironfire, A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades

Ironfire, A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades


by David Ball

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 688 PAGES

In this rousing historical novel the fates of a young boy, his sister, one of the Knights of Malta and an inquisitor play out against the backdrop of the 16th-century Ottoman assault on Malta, the formidable citadel of the Knights of St. John. (MLT18, $15.00)

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 Ruby in Her Navel, A Novel of Love and Intrigue in the 12th Century

The Ruby in Her Navel, A Novel of Love and Intrigue in the 12th Century


by Barry Unsworth

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Unsworth transports the reader to the 12th century in this richly imagined novel of love and intrigue set in Norman Sicily, where Christian knights, Anatolian belly dancers, Jews and Arabs mix and mingle. (ITL760, $14.95)

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.