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INSIDER'S FLORENCE
More Books
April Blood, Florence and the Plot Against the Medici
• Lauro Martines
HISTORY •
2003 •
PAPER
• 302 PAGES
An absorbing chronicle of corruption and murder in Renaissance Florence, brimming with details on double-dealings, greed and backstabbing among Italy's elite. Martines, a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, chronicles in juicy, historically accurate detail the failed attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de'Medici and his brother in April 1478 along with the bloody, prolonged revenge of the family.
(ITL502, $19.99) |
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The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance
• Peter Murray
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
1997 •
PAPER
• 256 PAGES
A classic, informative guide to Renaissance architecture throughout Italy, with black-and-white photographs and site plans. Beginning with the 14th century, Murray surveys major works and influences through the Italian Renaissance up to the 17th century. Ideal for travelers to Italy with an interest in architecture.
(ITL34, $20.40) |
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Casa Rossa
• Francesca Marciano
LITERATURE •
2003 •
PAPER
• 340 PAGES
This is Italian filmmaker Marciano's second attempt at the pen, her first being a novel of Kenya, titled Rules of the Wild. This second popular novel, set in Southern Italy, Rome and New York City, follows the lives of a mother, daughter, and granddaughter, and their ties to modern Italy. The novel opens as the narrator, Alina Strada, prepares to sell the family farm (Casa Rossa) in Puglia. The author, as you might guess, divides her time between Italy and Kenya.
(ITL534, $14.95) |
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Catherine De Medici, Renaissance Queen of France
• Leonie Frieda
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2006 •
PAPER
• 440 PAGES
Poisoner, despot, necromancer. In this vivid portrait, Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds -- from a troubled childhood in Florence to her marriage to Henry, son of King Francis I of France; from her transformation of French culture to her fight to protect her throne and her sons' birthright.
(FRN875, $15.99) |
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City Secrets Florence, Venice
• Robert Kahn
GUIDEBOOK •
2011 •
HARD COVER
• 150 PAGES
A connoisseur's guide to Italy featuring 200 short recommendations, many by artists, architects and other members of the American Academy in Rome or the organization Save Venice. Each contributor provides a brief profile of a favorite walk, restaurant, garden, market, work of art, building or other attraction. With maps and travel information.
(ITL277, $14.95) |
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The Civilized Shopper's Guide to Florence
• Louise Fili
GUIDEBOOK •
2007 •
PAPER
• 192 PAGES
An insider's guide to the 80 finest shops in Florence for designer clothes, antique jewelry, gourmet foods, and other handcrafted wonders. Loosely organized as a series of walking tours with cafe and restaurant recommendations interspersed throughout.
(ITL880, $12.95) |
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Death in Autumn
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2002 •
PAPER
• 160 PAGES
Number four in the Marshal Guarnaccia series in which the Sicilian inspector digs into the story behind a richly bejeweled body found in the Arno. It's a atmospheric tale involving not only murder but also blackmail, jewel theft, and drug dealing. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia is not entirely at ease, a Sicilian living in Florence, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen).
(ITL637, $11.00) |
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Death in Springtime
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2005 •
PAPER
Two women are kidnapped in Florence's Piazza San Felice in this third Guarnaccia mystery. Guarnaccia's investigation takes him around Florence (the setting for the series) and up into the Tucsan foothills on the trail of suspected Sardinian kidnappers. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia is not entirely at ease, a Sicilian living in Florence, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen).
(ITL635, $12.00) |
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The Enchantress of Florence
• Salman Rushdie
LITERATURE •
2009 •
PAPER
• 368 PAGES
Deeply absorbing and mysterious, this novel conjures life in Renaissance Florence and the Mughal court of emperor Akbar with vivid detail and humor. It begins with a Florentine stranger in Sikra and then proceeds to reveal many secrets and tell many tales. Combine a page-turning plot with Rushdie's masterful prose and philosophical complexity, and you have a thoroughly rewarding read.
(ITL948, $15.00) |
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Eyewitness Top Ten Florence & Tuscany
• Reid Bramblett
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
FLEXI-BOUND
• 160 PAGES
A compact, illustrated guide in the popular series, featuring favorite attractions in Florence and the surrounding area.
(ITA19, $14.00) |
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Family Chronicle
• Vasco Pratolini
• Martha King
LITERATURE •
1998 •
PAPER
• 121 PAGES
A portrait of two brothers, set against a backdrop of Florence just after WWII. A champion of Neorealism, Pratolini (1917-1991) was a literary man who embraced his Florentine working class roots. He was an associate of Elio Vittorini, screenwriter, novelist and co-editor of Campo di Marte.
(ITL479, $12.50) |
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Florence
• Luciano Artusi
GUIDEBOOK •
2011 •
PAPER
• 140 PAGES
The unusual WhaiWhai guidebook series takes readers on a historical treasure hunt through the city discovering monuments and hidden corners through fictional scenerios. To play, you need to have a cell phone on hand to receive clues.
(ITA235, $21.95) |
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Florence Inside Out
• Popout Maps
GUIDEBOOK •
2010 •
MAP
A nifty pop-out map of Florence, together with a 64-page guide, a pen, and even a compass.
(ITA243, $10.95) |
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Florence, The City and its Architecture
• Richard Goy
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
2006 •
PAPER
• 320 PAGES
An authoritative and handsomely illustrated overview of the city. Richard Goy, who has also written a book on the architecture of Venice, pays particular attention to the topography and character of the city.
(ITL697, $39.95) |
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Florentine Renaissance Sculpture
• Charles Avery
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
1989 •
PAPER
• 274 PAGES
An overview of the Renaissance sculpture of Florence, well written and handsomely illustrated. Avery, a director of Christies and former curator at Victoria and Albert, has written a number of books on Bernini and other Italian sculptors of the period.
(ITL134, $22.95) |
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Fodor's Florence, Tuscany & Umbria
• Fodors
GUIDEBOOK •
2010 •
PAPER
• 504 PAGES
This comprehensive guide in the Fodor's Gold series features helpful information on sights, excursions, restaurants, hotels and nightlife.
(ITL836, $21.99) |
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Forbidden Friendships, Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence
• Michael Rocke
HISTORY •
1998 •
PAPER
• 352 PAGES
In this vivid, scholarly study of sex roles, gender and the place of homosexuality in Florentine society of the 15th and 16th centuries, Rocke draws heavily on the records of the Office of the Night, a special force put into place to fight male-male sexuality (and who made an impressive number of arrests).
(ITL443, $29.95) |
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Frommer's Florence & the Best of Tuscany Day by Day
• Darwin Porter
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 228 PAGES
A compact shirt pocket guide, ideal for a short visit, featuring remarkably good suggestions for everything from food, hotels and neighborhoods to shopping. With a separate foldout map of the city center.
(ITL737, $13.99) |
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Galileo's Daughter, A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love
• Dava Sobel
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2000 •
PAPER
• 448 PAGES
Dava Sobel evokes the daily life and mindset of 17th-century Italy in this engaging tale, which draws on the surviving letters to Galileo from his illegitimate daughter, a nun in a Franciscan convent in San Matteo near Florence. Sobel, author of the acclaimed "Longitude," is a master storyteller.
(ITL176, $17.00) |
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In the Company of the Courtesan
• Sarah Dunant
LITERATURE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 385 PAGES
A second historical novel by the author of the mesmerizing The Birth of Venus. Dunant paints a vivid, earthy portrait of Renaissance Venice in this absorbing tale of intrigue, ambition and love. It's narrated by the wily dwarf Bucino Teodoldo, loyal companion of the courtesan of the title, Fiammetta Bianchini. Escaping the 1527 sacking of Rome, they connive and claw and cheat to resume a position of their former glory in Venice.
(ITL650, $13.95) |
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The Innocent
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2006 •
PAPER
• 233 PAGES
Lucky number 13 in the Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia series, rich in the flavor of Florence, involving the murder of a woman in Boboli Gardens. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia, a Sicilian living in Florence, is not entirely at ease, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen). Nabb helpfully includes a map of Florence.
(ITL634, $12.00) |
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Insight City Guide Florence
• Insight Guides
GUIDEBOOK •
2008 •
PAPER
• 256 PAGES
This lavishly illustrated Insight guide includes excellent color maps and thoughtful short essays on history, culture and attractions.
(ITL930, $19.95) |
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Insight Guide Florence & Sienna
• Insight Guides
GUIDEBOOK •
2008 •
PAPER
• 268 PAGES
A colorful guide to Florence that takes you from the markets at Mercuto Centrale to the haute couture boutiques of Gucci and Ferragamo. With 10 maps and vivid color photographs, this guide offers an overview of the city's culture, history and many attractions.
(ITL167, $22.95) |
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The Italian Lover
• Robert Hellenga
LITERATURE •
2008 •
PAPER
• 368 PAGES
A novel of food, romance and Florence, Hellenga's exhilarating sequel to The Sixteen Pleasures finds Margot Harrington overseeing the production of a film based on her experiences in the first installment.
(ITL892, $14.99) |
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Knopf Guide Florence
• Knopf Guides
GUIDEBOOK •
2007 •
PAPER
• 392 PAGES
A compact travel guide awash in vibrant color photographs, architectural cutaways and fascinating excerpts from classic literature.
(ITL138, $25.00) |
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Knopf Mapguide Florence
• Knopf Guides
GUIDEBOOK •
2009 •
PAPER
• 48 PAGES
A practical and handy passport-sized guide to the city, featuring fold-out maps.
(ITL807, $10.95) |
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Leonardo da Vinci
• Kenneth Clark
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
1993 •
PAPER
With 128 well integrated plates and a useful chronology, this authoritative and informative book has become the standard introduction to da Vinci and his work.
(ITL78, $21.95) |
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Lonely Planet Florence Encounter
• Robert Landon
GUIDEBOOK •
2010 •
PAPER
• 192 PAGES
With a section of not-to-missed highlights and a calendar of annual events, this lively pocket guide organized by neighborhood includes suggested side trips, along what to see and where to shop, eat, drink and play. With a double-sided pullout map.
(ITL960, $12.99) |
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M, The Man Who Became Caravaggio
• Peter Robb
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2000 •
PAPER
• 592 PAGES
A masterful biography of the Renaissance painter by the author of "Midnight in Sicily."
(ART47, $24.00) |
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The Marshal and the Madwoman
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2003 •
PAPER
In this sixth book in the series Guarnaccia discovers poor crazed Clementina, found dead in San Frediano district, lead a more intriguing life than anyone would have suspected. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia is not entirely at ease, a Sicilian living in Florence, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen).
(ITL638, $12.00) |
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The Marshal and the Murderer
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2002 •
PAPER
• 204 PAGES
This fifth book in the Marshal Guarnaccia series takes our hero from the streets of Florence, his usual haunt, and into the countryside on the trail of a young Swiss art student who has disappeared. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia is not entirely at ease, a Sicilian living in Florence, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen).
(ITL640, $12.00) |
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The Marshal's Own Case
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2008 •
PAPER
• 240 PAGES
In the seventh book in Nabb's fast-paced, atmospheric series, Inspector Guarnaccia must navigate the underbelly of Florentine society after a transvestite prostitute is found dead.
(ITL971, $14.00) |
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The Monster of Florence
• Douglas Preston
• Mario Spezi
MYSTERY •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 336 PAGES
Bestselling author Preston and Italian crime reporter Spezi present a chilling account of still unsolved serial murders in the lush hills surrounding Florence, an obesession which uncovers old wounds and lands the duo in trouble with the local police and prosecutor.
(ITL981, $25.99) |
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Mysteries of the Middle Ages, And the Beginning of the Modern World
• Thomas Cahill
HISTORY •
2008 •
PAPER
• 343 PAGES
Forgive the unfortunate title of this marvelous book. Cahill deftly evokes the historic glories of the major medieval (and the places they frequented) in this illuminating overview of philosophy, art and literature, the fifth volume in his series "Hinges of History" on the making of the modern world. Taking as its cue illuminated medieval manuscripts, the book is wonderfully decorated, including color reproductions of medieval masterpieces. Opening with the glories of cosmopolitan Alexandria and Rome, he quickly moves to Hildgard's Rhineland, the France and England of Queen Eleanor, Paris as filtered through the lovers Heloise and Abelard, medieval Oxford, the glories of Giotto's Padua, the Florence of Dante and Ravenna. It's an bold examination of the roots of modernity in medieval Roman Catholic thought.
(EUR239, $22.00) |
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Rick Steves' Florence & Tuscany
• Rick Steves
GUIDEBOOK •
2012 •
PAPER
• 388 PAGES
A personal and informative practical guide by the well-regarded travel writer and publisher. Includes suggested day plans and information on where to eat and sleep, as well as plenty of background and historical information.
(ITL794, $19.99) |
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Romola
• George Eliot
LITERATURE •
1996 •
PAPER
• 641 PAGES
No light read, this historical novel features Macchiavelli and Savanarola among its pantheon of characters. At its heart are Romola -- the questing daughter of a Florentine atheist -- and her villainous husband Tito. George Eliot was ever a novelist of ideas, and in this farthest-flung of her books she considers matters of religion, politics and science as they played out in Florence after the expulsion of the Medici. It's a convincing portrait of a complicated age.
(ITL318, $15.00) |
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Sixteen Pleasures
• Robert Hellenga
LITERATURE •
1995 •
PAPER
• 369 PAGES
A compelling novel about a young woman who went to Florence to save books after the devastating flood of 1966 -- and the complications surrounding her discovery of volume of 16 erotic drawings by Giulio Romano (hence the title) and 16 accompanying erotic sonnets by Pietro Aretino.
(ITL699, $17.00) |
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Some Bitter Taste
• Magdalen Nabb
MYSTERY •
2003 •
PAPER
• 272 PAGES
Number 12 in the series, a richly atmospheric tale set in Florence. Guarnaccia investiages the murder of Sara Hirsch, a spinster living alone at Villa L'Uliveto. The Columbo of Italy, Nabb's likeable Guarnaccia is not entirely at ease, a Sicilian living in Florence, but he's deceptively clever (and a solid citizen).
(ITL636, $12.00) |
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Tea With Mussolini
• Franco Zeffirelli
LITERATURE •
2001 •
DVD
Zeffirelli's enchanting autobiographical film about a boy in Florence in the years before World War II, with a cast of great English and American actresses.
(ITL700, $14.95) |
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Time Out Florence, and the Best of Tuscany
• Lesley McCave
GUIDEBOOK •
2008 •
PAPER
• 336 PAGES
Compact and up-to-date, this is an outstanding guide for where to go and what to do in Florence and the nearby towns of Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and Lucca. With maps and introductory chapters on culture and history.
(ITL659, $19.95) |
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Timeless Cities, An Architect's Reflections on Renaissance Italy
• David Mayernik
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
2005 •
PAPER
• 274 PAGES
In this thoughtful book, Mayernik shows the philosophical and religious meaning behind the planning and architecture of Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena and Pienza. Not exactly a guide, nor a history, Mayernick's meditation on the buildings and texture of these very different cities is illuminating.
(ITL589, $18.95) |
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Treasures of the Uffizi
• Galleria Degli Uffizi
ART & ARCHITECTURE •
1996 •
PAPER
A brief overview of the collections at the Uffizi.
(ITL685, $11.95) |
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A Tuscan Childhood
• Kinta Beevor
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2000 •
PAPER
• 271 PAGES
A vibrant, rosy-hued memoir of growing up privileged, bohemian and English between the wars at the family compound near the Tuscan village of Aulla and at Poggio, a villa outside Florence. This book will appeal to teenagers as well as adults.
(ITL388, $13.95) |
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Tuscan Country, A Photographer's Journey
• Wes Walker
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2007 •
HARD COVER
• 160 PAGES
Wes Walker captures the allure of the hill towns, vineyards, fields and villages in 100 luminous color photographs. Literary excerpts from the works of both Italian writers and literary visitors accompany the photographs, including Italo Calvino, Henry James, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Frances Mayes.
(ITL848, $29.95) |
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Where Florence Cityguide
• Where Magazine
GUIDEBOOK •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 64 PAGES
A sturdy pocket guide to city neighborhoods, hotels, shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, cultural events and other top sights, helpfully keyed to overview maps and featuring a detailed downtown PopOut map.
(ITL874, $9.95) |
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