COUNTRY WALKERS
Italy: Southern Tuscany & Umbria   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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)
  Rough Guide Tuscany and Umbria
The Tuscan Year, Tuscan Life and Food in an Italian Valley  •  Elizabeth Romer
FOOD •  1996 •  PAPER  • 182 PAGES • FAVORITE
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 Tuscan Year, Tuscan Life and Food in an Italian Valley
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)
  Tuscan Country, A Photographer's Journey
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)
  Songbirds, Truffles and Wolves, An American Naturalist in Italy
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, $12.95)
  Central Italy Map
 

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Fodor's Florence's 25 Best  •   Fodor's   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This shirt-pocket guide includes an excellent map and essential information on the city's highlights, including sightseeing, restaurants and shopping. (ITL140, $11.95)
 
 
Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary  •  Rick Steves   • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS  •  This compact phrase book, organized thematically and with a brief dictionary, also includes Steves' insight into how to break the ice and make friends around the world. (ITL424, $8.95)
 
 
Walking  •  Henry David Thoreau   • REFERENCE  •  Slip this pocket edition of Thoreau's meditations on the spiritual benefits of this most civilized form of travel in your daypack for inspiration. (WLK04, $9.99)
 
 
Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria  •  James Ladsun  •  Pia Davis   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A practical guide to walking and eating your way through the region, this book includes 40 suggested itineraries, mostly day hikes, with maps, details on local attractions, and illustrations. (ITL97, $20.00)
 
 
Biba's Italy  •  Biba Caggiano   • FOOD  •  Ms. Caggiano focuses on regional, seasonal food in this omnibus cookbook (featuring 100 recipes), menu planner and travel guide to Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan and Venice. Nicely produced, this handsome sepia-toned book includes recommended restaurants, cafes and markets in each city. (ITL777, $29.95)
 
 
Italy, A Short History  •  Harry Hearder   • HISTORY  •  Elegantly written, generous and informative, this compact book takes in the sweep of Italian history from the Roman Republic through the Renaissance, World War II and up to the present. (ITL56, $26.99)
 
 
La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind  •  Beppe Severgnini   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • BEST SELLER  •  Hugely popular in Italy, this guide to the Italian character addresses the apparently never-ending passion for beauty, disorder and high emotion. Severgnini opens the book with a snapshot of the hubbub at Malpensa Airport, then moves on to Tuscany, Rome, Naples and Sardinia. (ITL718, $12.95)
 
 
La Bella Lingua  •  Dianne Hales   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • NEW  •  Signed Book Plates. Inebriated with the sounds of Italian, Hales, "a sensible woman of sturdy Polish stock," dives into the Italian of the piazze, literature, movies and streets in this charming memoir and cultural primer. Brava, Signora! (ITA26, $24.95)
 
 
Siena, City of the Virgin  •  Titus Burckhardt   • HISTORY  •  Burckhardt's classic portrait includes dozens of illustrations, maps and photographs of architecture and early Renaissance art of Siena. (ITL974, $22.95)
 
 
A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria  •  Lisa St. Aubin de Teran   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  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 customs and landscapes, the book is an excellent introduction to the region (ITL98, $13.00)
 
 
D.H. Lawrence and Italy  •  D.H. Lawrence  •  Tim Parks   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  This omnibus Penguin Classics edition includes three travel tales, each very different in tone and all wonderful: "Sea and Sardinia" is a nostalgic look at traditional ways of life; "Twilight in Italy" an evocation of Lawrence's memorable stay on Lake Garda; and "Etruscan Places" his musings on ancient sites, including the painted tombs of Tarquinia. (ITL62, $21.15)
 
 
On The Road with Francis of Assisi  •  Linda Bird Francke   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Assisi wandered for 20 years, affording Newsweek editor Francke and her patient husband plenty to see and do in the piazzas, sanctuaries and chapels of Assisi, Siena, Bologna, Venice, Gubbio, Rome and other choice spots. (ITL647, $15.95)
 
 
Reluctant Saint, The Life of Francis of Assisi  •  Donald Spoto   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Spoto draws on fascinating new research to explore the travels, spirit and work of the beloved saint. This engaging portrait provides an excellent overview of the life of St. Francis. (ITL849, $15.00)
 
 
Under the Tuscan Sun  •  Frances Mayes   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  In this best-selling memoir of buying, renovating and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Mayes reveals the sensual pleasures found in rural Italy. (ITL85, $15.00)
 
 
Travelers' Tales Tuscany  •  Tara Austen Weaver  •  James O'Reilly   • ANTHOLOGY  •  An anthology of great excerpts from travel essays about Tuscany, with pieces from Saul Bellow, Frances Mayes and Ferenc Mate, among others. (ITL315, $16.95)
 
 
Tuscany in Mind  •  Alice Powers   • ANTHOLOGY  •  A fine literary anthology covering the region's history, geography, culture and (of course) food, featuring contributions by luminaries including D.H. Lawrence and Robert Browning. (ITL607, $14.95)
 
 
Birds of Europe  •  Lars Svensson  •  Dan Zetterstrom  •  Killian Mullarney   • FIELD GUIDE • FAVORITE  •  Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, this second revised edition of this exquisite guide has been brought up to date with revised text and maps. (FG47, $29.95)
 
 
Wildflowers of Britain and Europe, Compact Guide  •  W. Lippert  •  D. Podlech   • FIELD GUIDE  •  A compact photographic guide to British and European wildflowers, covering 350 of the most commonly encountered species. Flowers are organized by color for easy identification. (EUR46, $19.99)
 
 


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