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Florence

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free. We offer a mix of guidebooks, maps, field guides, novels and books on art, architecture, history, nature and culture.

Essential Reading

Item EXITL377. Buy these 5 items as a set for $104 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany

Eyewitness Guide Florence & Tuscany

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

Superbly illustrated, this compact guide shows the neighborhoods, museums, shops and sites of Florence and surroundings in full color. (ITL46, $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, $40.80)

The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings

The City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings

by R.W.B. Lewis

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 350 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

A vivid tour of the city and its riches by the fine biographer of Edith Wharton and Henry James. Lewis has written what he calls "a partial biography of Florence," beautifully interweaving the personal and the historical. (ITL47, $21.99)

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)

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 Florence

Blue Guide Florence


by Alta Macadam

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 408 PAGES

A comprehensive guide to Florence, heavily focused on art and architecture. This edition also includes practical information on hotels, restaurants and shops. Tenth Edition (ITL137, $24.95)

Culture Smart! Italy

Culture Smart! Italy


by Charles Abbott

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 168 PAGES

A concise, no-nonsense guide to Italian customs, etiquette and culture along with helpful travel advice. (ITL877, $9.95)

Fodor's Florence's 25 Best

Fodor's Florence's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

This shirt-pocket guide includes an excellent map and essential information on the city's highlights, including sightseeing, restaurants and shopping. (ITL140, $11.99)

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook


by Lonely Planet

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 260 PAGES

A handy palm-size phrasebook for the traveler. (ITL531, $8.99)

Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide

Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide


by Laura Morelli

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

The second edition of Morelli's expert survey of handcrafted Italian shops and products from Murano glass to ceramics, jewelry and leather. (ITL473, $24.95)

Rough Guide Florence and the Best of Tuscany


by Jonathan Buckley

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 376 PAGES

This comprehensive guide in the British series nicely balances a historical and cultural overview with practical travel information. (ITA36, $21.99)

The Food Lover's Guide to Florence, With Culinary Excursions in Tuscany

The Food Lover's Guide to Florence, With Culinary Excursions in Tuscany


by Emily Wise Miller

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER

Miller polled neighbors, friends, cooks and ordinary folk for this delectable guide to 125 eateries, organized by neighborhood. (ITL841, $14.99)

Biba's Italy

Biba's Italy


by Biba Caggiano

  • FOOD
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 320 PAGES

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)

La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

La Bella Figura, A Field Guide to the Italian Mind


by Beppe Severgnini

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Italians themselves love this guide to the Italian character, which 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, $14.00)

La Bella Lingua

La Bella Lingua


by Dianne Hales

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES
  • NEW

Inebriated with the sounds of Italian, lovesick for its phrases and enamored of its earthy idioms, Hales, "a sensible woman of sturdy Polish stock," dives into the Italian of the piazza, literature, movies and streets in this charming memoir. (ITA26, $15.00)

The Renaissance, A Short History

The Renaissance, A Short History


by Paul Johnson

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 196 PAGES

The history, background, literature, sculpture, paintings and architecture of the Renaissance in just over 200 lively, thought-provoking pages. (ITL774, $15.00)

Brunelleschi's Dome, How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture


by Ross King

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 194 PAGES

The story of the design and construction of the dome in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, a tale rife with politics, cut-throat competition and mighty inspiration. (ITL410, $15.00)

The Art of Florence

The Art of Florence


by John Hunisak | Glen Andres | A. Richard Turner

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2000
  • HARD COVER
  • 1312 PAGES

A magnificent, prize-winning survey of Florentine painting, architecture and sculpture. With 1,500 illustrations and essays by leading historians on painting, architecture and sculpture. (ITL474, $185.00)

The Art of the Renaissance

The Art of the Renaissance


by Peter Murray

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES

A classic, illustrated survey of the world of the Renaissance and its art. With chapters on Florence and its artists, the Netherlands, early illustrated books and many individual artists. (ITL14, $18.95)

The Stones of Florence

The Stones of Florence


by Mary McCarthy

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 230 PAGES

The classic history of the art, architecture and culture of 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. (ITL15, $14.00)

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci


by Sherwin B. Nuland

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 170 PAGES

In this compact book in the excellent Penguin Lives series, Nuland summarizes the achievements and obsessions of the extraordinary Leonardo da Vinci. (ITL684, $14.00)

Murder of a Medici Princess

Murder of a Medici Princess


by Caroline P. Murphy

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Murphy sketches the life and times of Isabella de Medici with authority and drama, bringing to life the intrigue, scandal and privilege of the 16th-century Florentine royal court. Isabella was murdered by her husband in a fit of jealous rage at the age of 33. (ITL929, $18.95)

A Room with a View

A Room with a View


by E.M. Forster

  • LITERATURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 248 PAGES

E.M. Forster's classic tale of love among the middle classes, set largely in Florence. (ITL142, $9.95)

A Traveller's Companion to Florence


by Edward Chaney | Harold Acton

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

This illuminating guide brings Florence to life through the letters, diaries and memoirs of travelers and Florentines from past centuries. The selections, from Boccaccio to D.H. Lawrence, are as rich as the city itself. (ITL485, $16.95)

Death of an Englishman

Death of an Englishman


by Magdalen Nabb

  • MYSTERY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

The debut of Nabb's highly readable, atmospheric Marshal Guarnaccia series, set in Florence on Christmas Eve. (ITL639, $14.00)

The Agony and the Ecstasy, A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

The Agony and the Ecstasy, A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo


by Irving Stone

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 776 PAGES

An overheated, page-turning fictionalized account of the life of master painter and sculptor Michelangelo -- and a good introduction to Renaissance Florence and Rome. (ITL150, $17.00)

The Birth of Venus, A Novel

The Birth of Venus, A Novel


by Sarah Dunant

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 397 PAGES

A rich novel of art, passion and patronage, memorably set in late 15th-century Florence and prominently featuring the famously pious reformer Savonarola. (ITL532, $15.00)

The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales

The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales


by Elizabeth Spencer

  • LITERATURE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

The touching tale of young (and not so young) love, now a Broadway musical. Spencer, a southerner like her characters Margaret and Clara, writes eloquently of the transformation of a mother and daughter by Florence. (ITL628, $22.00)

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