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ITALY: THE TUSCAN COAST & ELBA ISLAND
More Books

The Accidental Connoisseur, An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World • Lawrence Osborne FOOD • 2005 • PAPER • 262 PAGES Oh, what a quest -- and what great fun. Osborne journeys across the world to places like Provence, Tuscany and Sonoma on an animated quest of what makes wine and what makes it good. He stops by New York, San Francisco, Paris, Florence, and Rome to see what people are drinking. He meets plenty of interesting characters along the way (like Robert Mondavi), revealing much about the pleasures of wine (and travel!) We're hoping for a southern hemisphere sequel. (TVL31, $15.00)
After Hannibal • Barry Unsworth LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 250 PAGES Having taken up residence in Umbria, Booker Prize-winning Unsworth writes of his adopted turf in this excellent novel. His vivid tale encompasses the history, landscape, pleasures, and modern invaders (i.e. the other Americans and Europeans who have come to set up shop in this beautiful part of the world). (ITL100, $17.95)
Al Dente, The Adventures of a Gastronome in Italy • William Black FOOD • 2004 • PAPER • 368 PAGES Clearly besotted by food, William Black travels throughout Italy in search of food and experience. (ITL548, $13.95)
Architecture in Italy 1500-1600 • Wolfgang Lotz • Deborah Howard ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1995 • PAPER • 205 PAGES A classic, comprehensive introduction to 16th-century Italian architecture. In this highly readable book, Lotz discusses the work of Renaissance architects including Bramante, Giulio Roman, Michelangelo and Palladio. Originally published in 1974 as part two of "Architecture in Italy, 1400-1600." With hundreds of color photographs and site plans, the book is an excellent companion for visitors to Venice, Florence or Rome. (ITL247, $40.00)
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)
The Art of Florence • John Hunisak • Glen Andres • A. Richard Turner ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2000 • HARD COVER • 1312 PAGES Handsomely packaged in a slipcase, these two magnificent volumes show the history of Florence though its art and architecture. With 1,500 illustrations, 750 in color, three leading art historians provide essays on painting, architecture and sculpture. (ITL474, $185.00)
The Art of the Renaissance • Peter Murray ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1992 • PAPER • 286 PAGES A brief, illustrated survey of the world of the Renaissance and its art, complete with illustrations. This fine book puts the flowering of art and culture that began in Florence in 1420 in its historical context. With 251 well-integrated illustrations, 51 in color. Organized geographically and thematically, it includes chapters on Florence and its artists, the Netherlands, early illustrated books and many individual artists. (ITL14, $18.95)
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini • Benvenuto Cellini • George Bull BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1999 • PAPER • 465 PAGES A fascinating glimpse at a man and an era, this translation of the autobiography of the Renaissance goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini not only documents his fascinating life, but evokes the figures and society of 16th century Italy. (ITL172, $16.00)
Bella Tuscany, The Sweet Life in Italy • Frances Mayes TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2000 • PAPER • 286 PAGES In this sequel to "Under the Tuscan Sun," best-selling author Frances Mayes goes out in search of Italian Life in the small town of Cortona. (ITL224, $15.00)
Birds of Europe • Lars Svensson FIELD GUIDE • 2010 • PAPER • 416 PAGES • FAVORITE This Princeton Field Guide features 3,500 illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom. Color plates depict every species -- and sometimes several different variants -- for 722 birds found from the Urals to the Atlantic, Scandinavia to the Middle East. (FG47, $29.95)
Insight Guide Tuscany • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 304 PAGES An illustrated guide in this popular series, noteworthy for its maps and illuminating short essays on Tuscan food, history and culture. (ITL156, $18.99)
The Birth of Venus, A Novel • Sarah Dunant LITERATURE • 2004 • PAPER • 397 PAGES This tasty tale of art, passion, politics and danger, memorably set in Renaissance Florence in the days after the death of the powerful Lorenzo de Medici in 1492, comes to us from British novelist, broadcaster and critic Sarah Dunant, who brings her experience as the creator of the private investigator Hannah Wolfe to this new era. The malevolent political reformer (and zealot) Girolamo Savonarola figures prominently -- and even Michelangelo makes an appearance. Not surprisingly, Dunant divides her time between London and Florence, which she so vividly depicts. A runaway bestseller. (ITL532, $15.00)
Blue Guide Tuscany • Alta Macadam GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 400 PAGES A guide to the cultural riches of Tuscany with a focus on history, art and architecture. Serious-minded travelers will not want to be without it. (ITL43, $24.95)
Bonaventure: The Life of St. Francis • Ewart Cousins RELIGION • 2005 • PAPER • 142 PAGES The Church's official life of St Francis, written by the Franciscan monk Bonaventure in the 13th century. It's a simple, direct tale that was an important source of inspiration for Renaissance painters. (ITL602, $11.99)
The Book of the Courtier • Baldasar Castiglione HISTORY • 1976 • PAPER Castiglione's classic book of etiquette, told through a set of examples which portray the ideal Renaissance man and woman. Written between 1513-1518, this provocative treatise was inspired by a series of conversations among a group of aristocrats at the court of Urbino in 1507. Its central theme includes the nature of graceful behaviour, especially the impression of effortlessness, or "sprezzatura." (ITL238, $15.00)
Cadogan Guide Tuscany, Umbria & the Marches • Dana Facaros • Michael Pauls GUIDEBOOK • 2007 • PAPER • 704 PAGES A comprehensive guide in the British series covering the entire region from Florence and Siena to Chianti, the Tuscan Coast, Umbria and the Marches in detail. (ITL493, $22.95)
The Cambridge Companion to Dante • Rachel Jacoff LITERATURE • 1993 • PAPER • 290 PAGES An engaging collection of 15 scholarly essays on Dante's life and work. (ITL436, $24.00)
Carmen and Other Stories • Prosper Merimee • Nicholas Jotcham LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 361 PAGES A sophisticated Parisian, Merimee preferred tales of high drama, banditry, outlaws and outcasts set in exotic locales, preferably in the past. This collection of nine stories includes: Carmen, the source for the opera; Columba, set in Corsica; the Etruscan Vase, one of his Parisian tales; The Storming of the Redoubt, involving Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign; and Lokis, set in the forests of Medieval Lithuania. (FRN201, $13.95)
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)
Central Italy Map • Touring Club Italiano MAP A regional map of Central Italy, including Tuscany, Umbria and Rome, at a scale of 1:400,000. One Side. 37x49 inches. (ITL103, $14.95)
The Tuscan Year, Tuscan Life and Food in an Italian Valley • Elizabeth Romer FOOD • 1996 • PAPER • 182 PAGES • FAVORITE • COMING IN An intimate portrait of life on a Tuscan farm, as seen primarily through the robust food. Romer captures the goings-on in the countryside, and especially in the Cerotti kitchen, where traditional Tuscan rural food is prepared with loving care. Every chapter includes concisely described recipes. The index makes it easy to look up recipes if you're inspired to use this wonderful account as a cookbook. (ITL131, $14.00)
The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings • R.W.B. Lewis CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • PAPER • 350 PAGES • FAVORITE A personal and vivid tour of the city and its riches which interweaves Florence's history with personal observation by the fine biographer of Edith Wharton and Henry James. Lewis has written what he calls "a partial biography of Florence." (ITL47, $21.99)
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy • Jacob Burckhardt • S. G. C. Middlemore • Peter Gay HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 401 PAGES While focusing on the flowering of art and culture in Renaissance Italy, Burckhardt maintains a keen interest in the nature of civilization itself in this Victorian classic -- originally published in this translation in 1878. He covers state, art, society, religion, morality, philosophy and other topics of universal interest. In a new Modern Library edition. (ITL307, $15.95)
Classic Italian Jewish Cooking • Edda Servi Machlin FOOD • 2005 • HARD COVER • 254 PAGES The pioneering work on Jewish-Italian food, this classic cookbook details the food traditions of Pitigliano, Tuscany, which was a thriving Jewish community as recently as 1943. Edda Servi Machlin, who fled the city before the advancing German army (as described in her memoir, "Child of the Ghetto," ITL382), here explains how the Jews of Pitigliano altered traditional Italian food to conform to dietary restrictions. The book is an invaluable record of a largely extinct culture; and the recipes are nothing short of excellent. (ITL383, $29.95)
A Concise History of Italy • Christopher Duggan HISTORY • 1994 • PAPER • 320 PAGES A history of Italy covering the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present day, with particular emphasis on the difficulties it has faced in forging a modern nation state. The book weaves together political, social, economic, and cultural history. (ITL35, $30.99)
Cooking With Fernet Branca • James Hamilton-Paterson LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A glimpse into the quirkily peaceful life of Gerald Samper, an Englishman who spends his days in his Tuscan home inventing eccentric recipes, from the author of Playing With Water. (ITL642, $14.95)
Dante • R.W. Lewis BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • HARD COVER • 224 PAGES An inviting, literate biography of the Florentine poet by the author of "The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings" (ITL61). It's an entry in the "Penguin Lives" series. (ITL313, $19.95)
The Divine Comedy • Dante Alighieri • Charles H. Sisson LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 771 PAGES In this classic -- possibly the most famous and important literary achievement of medieval Western civilization -- Dante molds a universe in which reason and faith shape social order. A clear, blank verse translation of the 14th-century work. (ITL310, $17.95)
Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens • Vivian Russell BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1997 • HARD COVER • 192 PAGES Edith Wharton's essays on the magnificent villa gardens of Lombardy, Veneto, Florence, Siena and Rome are as full of interest today as when they were first published in 1904. With commentary and color photographs of the villas and gardens by Vivian Russell, who retraced Wharton's journeys. She includes literary excerpts by Wharton, Charles Dickens, Henry James and other admirers. (ITL716, $45.00)
Etruscan Art • Nigel Spivey ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1997 • PAPER • 216 PAGES In this illustrated and wide-ranging introduction, Nigel Spivey brings the Etruscan world to life, illuminating the social, political and cultural context of the art objects and artifacts that remain the singular achievement of the Etruscans. A volume in the acclaimed "World of Art" series. (ITL68, $18.95)
The Etruscans • Graeme Barker • Tom Rasmussen HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 379 PAGES An illustrated history of the Etruscans, the inhabitants of west-central Italy in the days before the Roman Republic. Using the most recent archaeological evidence, the authors detail the culture, economics and inscriptions of this ancient people. A volume in the "Peoples of Europe" series. (ITL169, $44.95)
Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 336 PAGES This superb guide features color photography, dozens of excellent maps and a neighborhood-by-neighborhood synopsis of the region's attractions. (ITL46, $25.00)
Eyewitness Guide Italy • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • FLEXI-BOUND • 720 PAGES Another gem in the Eyewitness series, this superb guide is handsome, convenient and up-to-date; it's the guide to carry. Featuring color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of the country's attractions. (ITL32, $30.00)
Eyewitness Guide Sardinia • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A comprehensive guide to the island of Sardinia, featuring color photography, dozens of excellent maps and a synopsis of the island's attractions. (ITL183, $20.00)
Eyewitness Guide Umbria • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • FLEXI-BOUND • 192 PAGES A marvelously illustrated, compact guide to the culture, history and attractions of Umbria, organized geographically and especially helpful for its innovative site plans, building diagrams and local maps. With select, annotated listings of where to eat and sleep and what to buy. (ITL512, $20.00)
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)
Florence Map • Borch Maps 2006 • MAP A detailed, plastic-covered city map of Florence at a scale of 1:7,000. Folds for easy carrying. Two Sides. 20x26 inches. (ITL59, $8.95)
Fodor's Exploring Italy • Fodor's GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 288 PAGES With its many photographs, great introductory chapters and practical travel information, this book is an excellent overview of Italy and its attractions for visitors. Featuring separate sections on suggested places to visit, recommended walks, practical information, descriptions of restaurants and hotels, ratings of sights, and a chronology of historic events. (ITL73, $22.00)
Fodor's See It Italy • Fodor's GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 496 PAGES An inaugural volume in this new line of guides by Fodor's this book is notable for its especially vibrant presentation of the country. Each page displays full-color photos accompanied by much useful information on how to eat, sleep, shop, and sightsee in Italy. With seven sections choc-full of tips to help make your visit memorable. The "Out and About" section features pre-planned walking and touring routes such as "A Lover's Walk in the Cinque Terre," "A Wine Tour from Alba to Cuneo" and "The Salentine Peninsula." (ITL550, $24.99)
The Food of Italy • Waverly Root FOOD • 1992 • PAPER • 750 PAGES Evocative of Italy and its diverse cuisine, this classic book--organized geographically--offers a cook's tour of the country. It's a well-informed and wonderfully literate guide. (ITL75, $22.00)
For the Beauty of the Earth: Birding, Opera, and Other Journeys • Thomas Urquhart BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2006 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Urquhart chronicles a lifelong affair with nature, combined with a passion for music, as he travels-- and bird watches-- through pastoral England, Italy, the Camargue in Provence, and the villages of Mali. (BRD35, $15.00)
Frommer's Flornce, Tuscany & Umbria • Reid Bramblett GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 450 PAGES A practical guide in the popular series, revised annually. (ITL83, $21.99)
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)
The Hill Towns of Italy • Carol Field • Richard Kauffman CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 116 PAGES • COMING IN A delightful illustrated survey of the towns, people and countryside of Tuscany and Umbria by a favorite writer on things Italian. The book devotes a chapter each to 13 towns in the region including Sienna, San Gimignano, Cortona, Perugia, Assisi and Orvieto. With an overview of Tuscany and Umbria, and dozens of full-color photographs. (ITL96, $19.95)
Il Postino • Michael Radford 1995 • DVD The Italian comic actor Massino Troisi stars as a shy Italian postman living in a small fishing village on a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy who learns the ways of poetry and romance while delivering mail to the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. In Italian with subtitles. (ITL541, $19.99)
Images & Shadows: Part of a Life • Iris Origo BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1999 • PAPER • 588 PAGES The marvelously written, engrossing memoirs of a privileged life, including the accomplished author's transformation of a Tuscan estate and her efforts to shelter refugees and others during WWII. (ITL442, $16.95)
The Inferno of Dante, A New Verse Translation • Dante Alighieri • Robert Pinsky LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 355 PAGES The celebrated modern translation of Dante's "Inferno" by former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. An accessible and elegant rendering of the classic text, enhanced by an introduction and notes. (ITL411, $12.00)
Innocence • Penelope Fitzgerald LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 224 PAGES Salvatore is a poor doctor; Chiara is the last progeny of the aristocratic Ridolfi clan; they fall in love, and love makes them miserable. It's a comedy, set in mid-twentieth century Italy, by the inimitable Penelope Fitzgerald. The fantastic first chapter alone would be worth the cover price. (ITL317, $13.95)
Insight Guide Italy • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 432 PAGES In its hallmark style, this glossy guide is a full-color introduction to the land, people and history of Italy written by a team of experts. Brief background essays highlight important topics. With sections on Italian food and wine, cinema, music and opera. Much of the book is devoted to a regional survey of attractions. (ITL108, $23.99)
Inventing Leonardo • A. Richard Turner BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1994 • PAPER • 268 PAGES Turner, a leading art historian of the Renaissance, offers a lively appraisal of the controversial genius. It's an elegant and stimulating book. (ITL79, $28.95)
Iris Origo: Marchesa of Val D'Orcia • Caroline Moorehead BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • PAPER • 368 PAGES An Anglo-Italian, born in America, and raised outside Florence, Iris Origo led a privileged, charmed life. She also transformed a Tuscan estate, provided shelter to refugees during WWII and wrote a series of well-received books, including a classic memoir. Moorehead captures the World War II-era expatriate community in Tuscany, life at D'Orcia -- and the accomplishments, both literary and social of the remarkable Marchesa. (ITL441, $19.95)
Italian Days • Barbara Grizzuti Harrison TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1998 • PAPER • 479 PAGES • FAVORITE A literary celebration, portrait and guide to Italy and the Italians. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison writes with warmth and depth of her journey from Milan south to Calabria in this sprightly account. It's one of our favorite books about place. (ITL02, $15.00)
Italian English Bilingual Visual Dictionary • DK Publishing LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • PAPER • 360 PAGES With thousands of neatly arranged color photographs, this compact book is impressively comprehensive, covering everything from the basics of la casa (house) to the vocabulary of le granaglie e i legumi secchi (grains and legumes). With a handy reference section in the back. (ITL626, $14.95)
Italian Hours • Henry James TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1992 • PAPER • 376 PAGES A classic series of travel essays written between 1872 and 1909 on the art, religion and people of Italy. James is an observant guide to Rome, Naples, Florence and other great destinations in the 19th century. (ITL07, $17.00)
Italian Indispensables Vocabulary Builder • Audio-Forum LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • CASETTE TAPE A short audio program wiith 50 common words and phrases for travelers. (ITL401, $9.95)
The Italians • Luigi Barzini CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • PAPER • 352 PAGES The definitive portrait of the Italian people, noteworthy for its insight, grace and wit. It's a classic, scholarly essay on the Italian character, still worthwhile though first published in 1964. Much historical information is included. Highly recommended. (ITL05, $16.00)
Italy and Its Invaders • Girolamo Arnaldi HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A wide-ranging history of the many empires and world powers that have invaded Italy, with either success or failure, and their lasting influences, both positive and negative, on Italian art, architecture and culture up to the present day. (ITL661, $19.95)
Italy in Mind • 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. Each piece (they tend to run about 5-7 pages) is introduced thoroughly with a description of its historical, geographical, or literary context. Great reading. (ITL39, $17.95)
Italy Map • Borch Maps 2011 • MAP A convenient laminated map of Italy at a scale of 1:800,000 with excellent topographic detail, an index, and large individual maps of Sicily and Sardinia. Two Sides. 27x39 inches. (ITL19, $11.95)
Italy Northeast Map • Michelin Travel Publications MAP An excellent map at a scale of 1:400,000, covering the northeast region of Italy including Bolzano, Verona, Bologna, and Firenze. Two Sides. 40x52 inches. (ITL72, $12.95)
Italy, A Short History • Harry Hearder HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 294 PAGES Elegantly written, generous and enormously informative, this compact book takes in the fell sweep of Italian history from the Roman Republic up to the present, including the Renaissance and World War II. It has a welcome focus on the essential unity of Italian civilizations, as well as maps and a chronology. This revised second edition of the late Harry Hearder's classic book includes a new chapter by Jonathan Morris on recent history. (ITL56, $29.00)
Italy, A Traveler's Literary Companion • Lawrence Venuti ANTHOLOGY • 2003 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This collection of tales by diverse Italian writers, organized geographically, captures the spirit, history and allure of the country. Not just a literary companion, this anthology is also a who's who of contemporary Italian writers. Bravo. (ITL466, $14.95)
Italy, Charming Small Hotels • Fiona Duncan GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • PAPER • 468 PAGES A pocket-size guide to unusual places to stay throughout Italy, this useful book features a color photograph and description of each villa, castle or other small hotel. (ITL92, $19.95)
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)
The Little Flowers of St. Francis • W. Heywood • Ugolino • Madeleine L'Engle LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 120 PAGES Classic tales attributed to St. Francis, divided into 50 vignettes, including the story of the wolf of Gubbio, set along the Franciscan Way. (ITL132, $13.00)
The Lives of the Artists, Vol 1 • Giorgio Vasari • Julia Conway and Peter Bondanella BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1987 • PAPER • 477 PAGES Vasari offers short biographies of the art and lives of his Renaissance contemporaries in this classic and much-discussed book written in the mid-16th century. He focuses on painters both great and lesser-known, including Giotto, Michelangelo, Titian and others. This edition includes parts one, two and three of the huge original work. (ITL17, $14.00)
Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook • Lonely Planet LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2011 • PAPER • 260 PAGES A handy, palm-size guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (ITL531, $8.99)
Lonely Planet Tuscany • Damien Simonis GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 432 PAGES This practical guide to Tuscany is the first edition and it features 30 maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature, and plenty of information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. It also includes 28 pages of color photographs. (ITL233, $22.99)
Love and War in the Apennines • Eric Newby TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2008 • PAPER • 276 PAGES Eric Newby's powerful account of his days as a young Brit during World War II in German occupied Italy. After leaving a POW camp, he takes flight from advancing German forces and finds allies in some Italian families who take him in and help him hide. Newby has gone on to fall in love with Italy, building a house there and marrying an Italian woman. (ITL171, $14.99)
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)
Mammals of Europe • Priscilla Barrett • David W. MacDonald FIELD GUIDE • 2002 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Published by Princeton, this is a field guide to land and marine mammals throughout Europe, both endemic and introduced. With more than 600 color illustrations of over 200 mammals, it's a comprehensive handbook, with detailed descriptions, range maps and commentary on behavior. (FG61, $38.50)
On The Road with Francis of Assisi • Linda Bird Francke TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Weaving tales of the 13th-century saint and her own 21st-century travels, Francke follows in the footsteps of Francis on her own pilgrimage. She lingers in Assisi, Venice and Rome, and takes in Siena, Bologna, Gubbio, and many hill towns, sanctuaries and chapels. The book nicely evokes both the spirit of Francis of Asisi, and the history and pleasures of Italy. (ITL647, $15.95)
On The Road with Francis of Assisi • Linda Bird Francke TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Weaving tales of the 13th-century saint and her own 21st-century travels, Francke follows in the footsteps of Francis on her own pilgrimage. She lingers in Assisi, Venice and Rome, and takes in Siena, Bologna, Gubbio, and many hill towns, sanctuaries and chapels. The book nicely evokes both the spirit of Francis of Asisi, and the history and pleasures of Italy. (ITL647, $15.95)
One-Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in Italy • Paolo Lazzarin GUIDEBOOK • 2004 • HARD COVER • 276 PAGES A handsome book highlighting Italy's charming and scenic villages. Featuring color photographs and an overview of history and attractions, favorite accommodations and restaurants by photographer-journalist Lazzarin. Translated from the Italian (the book was originally published for the Italian market as an introduction to unique and wonderful places throughout the country). (ITL546, $45.00)
The Piero Della Francesca Trail • John Pope-Hennessy • Aldous Huxley ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2002 • HARD COVER • 88 PAGES In this slim guide, Pope-Hennessy traces the major paintings and frescoes of Piero found across Tuscany and Umbria. Origianlly published in 1993, this edition includes 52 color illustrations along with Aldous Huxley's infleuntial essay on Piero's Resurrection of Christ from Borgo San Sepolcro (The Best Picture), which inspired art historian Pope-Hennesy. (ITL409, $24.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Italian • Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Italian, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (ITL630, $19.95)
Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary • Rick Steves LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2008 • PAPER • 281 PAGES A compact phrase book for travelers, organized thematically and with a brief dictionary. This is no dry litany of phrases but is instead peppered with humor and Rick Steves' insider insight into how to break the ice and make friends around the world. (ITL424, $8.95)
The Rise of Christianity • Rodney Stark RELIGION • 1997 • PAPER • 272 PAGES The subtitle to this book says it all: "How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries." More a sociological study than a religious history, the book delves into what compelled so many people to convert to the then infant religion. (MED64, $14.99)
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)
Rough Guide Italy • Ros Belford GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 1096 PAGES A comprehensive guide in the British series with a good overview of culture and history, dozens of sketch maps and extensive listings. (ITL328, $24.99)
Rough Guide Tuscany and Umbria • Jonathan Buckley • Tim Jepson GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 836 PAGES A no-nonsense, comprehensive travel guide with region-by-region descriptions and a good overview of history and culture. With chapters on Florence and surroundings, Lucca, Pisa, Maremma, Siena, Arezzo, Peruguia, Assisi, Spoleto and Orvieto. (ITL292, $22.99)
Salvation, Scenes from the Life of Saint Francis • Valerie Martin BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2002 • PAPER • 268 PAGES A new and glorious life of Saint Francis, told as a sequence of discrete scenes. Martin brings a novelist's eye and tuneful ear to the task of biography, and the result is a book like a fresco cycle: painterly, luminous, and lasting. It's a splendid literary accompaniment to Giotto's frescoes in the basilica of San Francesco, Assisi. (ITL282, $13.00)
Short Stories in Italian, Racconti in Italiano • Nick Roberts LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 174 PAGES This bilingual collection, with the English and Italian alongside, features stories by contemporary and established Italian literary figures, including Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, Leonardo Sciascia, Goffredo Parise and Antonio Tabucchi. (ITL730, $14.00)
Siena Map • Litographia Artistica Cartographica MAP A detailed street map of Siena at a scale 1:7,000 with a more detailed inset of the historic center. Two Sides. 25x35 inches. (ITL299, $12.95)
Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves, An American Naturalist in Italy • Gary Paul Nabhan TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1994 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A poet and naturalist, Nabhan makes his way by foot along the ancient Franciscan Way from Florence to Assisi, talking to farmers and townsfolk en route. This most unusual travelogue combines natural history, spirituality -- and a lively appreciation of local food and food traditions. It's the local scale of Tuscany and Umbria and the accommodation of wild and domestic that intrigues Nabhan. This edition, the only one available, is a print-on-demand paperback. (ITL99, $16.00)
The Stones of Florence • Mary McCarthy ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1989 • PAPER • 230 PAGES The classic history of the art, architecture and culture of Florence. Beginning with meditations on present-day Florence, novelist McCarthy takes us on a quick and vivid tour of the history of the Medicis and the city of Florence, focusing on Renaissance art. Originally published in 1956, partly in the New Yorker. (ITL15, $14.00)
The Surprise of Cremona: One Woman's Adventures in Cremona, Parma, Mantua, Ravenna, Urbino, and Arezzo • Edith Templeton • Anita Brookner TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2001 • PAPER • 256 PAGES • COMING IN A new edition of Templeton's 1954 memoir of romance, travel and adventure in northern Italy. The novelist burnishes her reputation as an entertaining, adventurous Bohemian in this classic. (ITL396, $27.50)
The Talented Mr. Ripley • Anthony Minghella 1999 • DVD A screen adaptation of the first in Patricia Highsmith's popular Mr. Ripley mystery series. Matt Damon stars as the obsessive and murderous Mr. Ripley, whose jealousy of his dashing companion Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) quickly turns sinister. The highlight of this thriller, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett, is its suspenseful portrayal of an exquisite sundrenched Italian town (the film was shot in, among other places, Venice, Tuscany, the Gulf of Naples and Southern Sicily), where life is carefree but a menacing potential for violence lurks behind every corner. (ITL542, $14.99)
That Fine Italian Hand • Paul Hoffman CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1991 • PAPER • 246 PAGES A former newspaperman in Rome, Hoffman spears the Italians in this affectionate portrait of Italian society with all its quirks, contradictions, and energy. (ITL346, $17.99)
Travelers' Tales Italy • Ann Calcagno • Jan Morris ANTHOLOGY • 2001 • PAPER • 437 PAGES From a climb up the dome of St. Peter's to a walk through Milano Centrale train station, this collection of 48 stories on traveling in Italy and Italian life is an insightful introduction to the country. Contributors include Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Frances Mayes, Jonathan Keats, and Stanley Crouch, who writes on "Umbria Jazz" in Rome. (ITL182, $18.95)
A Traveller's History of Italy • Valerio Lintner HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 287 PAGES A brief history of Italy through the 1990s -- wide-ranging, accessible and necessarily condensed. With a useful chronology and historical gazetteer, this book marches confidently through the centuries. (ITL86, $14.95)
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)
Tuscany and Umbria, The Collected Traveler • Barrie Kerper ANTHOLOGY • 2010 • PAPER • 608 PAGES A quirky, literary guide to the history, food, and landscape of Tuscany and Umbria, as presented in travel essays by writers, foreign and local. With an extensive annotated bibliography for each section by the widely read and enthusiastic editor of this collection, Barrie Kerper. She also provides A-Z personal travel tips and an introduction to each excerpt. (ITL389, $19.00)
Tuscany in Mind • Alice Powers ANTHOLOGY • 2005 • PAPER • 400 PAGES These selections, including D.H. Lawrence, Robert Browning, Mary McCarthy, to Eric Newby, Erica Jong and David Leavitt, cover a wide range of subjects, from the region's geography to its history and culture and (of course) the food. Another fine literary anthology from the editor of Italy in Mind. Powers provides an appreciative introduction to each 8-10 page selection, focusing on the transforamtion wrought upon American and British writers. (ITL607, $14.95)
Tuscany Map • Borch Maps 2006 • MAP A handy laminated road map of Tuscany in full color at a scale of 1:400,000, with supplementary maps. Two Sides. 20x26 inches. (ITL281, $10.95)
Two Lives, Reading Turgenev and My House in Umbria • William Trevor LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 375 PAGES These two Booker Prize-nominated novellas demonstrate the Irish writer William Trevor's great gifts. The second, My House in Umbria, is the story of an ex-prostitute who settles in Umbria to write trashy romance novels, but whose life is disturbed by local political events. It's a beautifully rendered story, redolent with local Umbrian color. (ITL122, $15.00)
Umbria Regional Map • Touring Club Italiano MAP A colorful, detailed map of Umbria and surrounding areas, at a scale of 1:200,000. The most detailed map of the area available, imported from Italy One Side. 37x49 inches. (ITL119, $14.95)
Under the Tuscan Sun • Audrey Wells BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2003 • DVD Starring Diane Lane, this film adaptation of the bestseller by Frances Mayes tells the story of a woman and her adventures in Tuscany. (ITL549, $29.95)
A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria • Lisa St. Aubin de Teran BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1995 • PAPER • 224 PAGES This short memoir chronicles a year in the small Umbrian village of San Orsola -- especially the delights and frustrations of renovating a decayed villa. Taking in food, wine, local custom and landscape, the book is an excellent introduction to the region. (ITL98, $14.99)
War in Val D'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944 • Iris Origo • Denis Mack Smith BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1995 • PAPER • 239 PAGES Iris Origo records in diary entries the day-to-day heroism and fortitude of her family and workers at an estate in southern Tuscany during WWII. The family takes in children, escaped prisoners, soldiers, civilians and Jews all fleeing as the German army advances south toward their home, 100 miles north of Rome between Siena and lake Trasimene. Originally published in 1947, it's an engrossing chronicle that captures the immediacy of the war in Italy. (ITL219, $14.95)
Wildflowers of Britain and Europe • Margaret and Roland Spohn FIELD GUIDE • 2008 • PAPER • 320 PAGES This indispensable guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe in Black's Nature Guide series covers 450 species, each beautifully illustrated with detailed paintings and clear photographs. The images not only show you what the plant looks like in its habitat, but also focus in on specific features such as the leaves or flower head, to aid identification. (EUR46, $21.95)
Worldly Goods, A New History of the Renaissance • Lisa Jardine HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 470 PAGES Historian Lisa Jardine presents a new slant on the history of the Renaissance. She views the Renaissance as an age made possible by the economic boom of the time. Her arguments are well founded and compelling, making this nicely illustrated book quite readable. (ITL173, $19.95)

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