Florence   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Books These 5 items are available for $104, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXITL377)		  
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 Florence & Tuscany
Renaissance Florence, The Invention of a New Art  •  A. Richard Turner
ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 176 PAGES
Taking as his cue the great art and famous monuments of Florence, Turner explores the cultural and social history of the city. It's an art and architecture oriented guide with abundant color illustrations. A volume in the Prentice Hall Perspectives series. Second edition. (ITL50, $40.80)		   Renaissance Florence, The Invention of a New Art
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 City of Florence, Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings
The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall  •  Christopher Hibbert
HISTORY •  1982 •  PAPER  • 364 PAGES
This is a great book to read before going to Florence, where the influence of the Medicis and the artists they supported is still very much in evidence. It's a history of the powerful Florentine family by the entertaining and informative Christopher Hibbert. He evokes the Medici and their reign over Florence in the 1500's, and the political intrigue and violence of those times. (ITL135, $16.99)		   The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall
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)		   Florence Map



Also Recommended

Blue Guide Florence  •  Alta Macadam   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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  •  Charles Abbott   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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   • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS  •  A handy palm-size phrasebook for the traveler. (ITL531, $8.99)
 		  
Made in Italy, A Shopper's Guide  •  Laura Morelli   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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  •  Jonathan Buckley   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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  •  Emily Wise Miller   • GUIDEBOOK  •  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 Caggiano   • FOOD  •  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  •  Beppe Severgnini   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  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  •  Dianne Hales   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 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  •  Paul Johnson   • HISTORY  •  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  •  Ross King   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  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  •  John Hunisak  •  Glen Andres  •  A. Richard Turner   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  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  •  Peter Murray   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  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  •  Mary McCarthy   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  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  •  Sherwin B. Nuland   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  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  •  Caroline P. Murphy   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  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  •  E.M. Forster   • LITERATURE  •  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  •  Edward Chaney  •  Harold Acton   • ANTHOLOGY  •  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  •  Magdalen Nabb   • MYSTERY  •  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  •  Irving Stone   • LITERATURE  •  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  •  Sarah Dunant   • LITERATURE  •  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  •  Elizabeth Spencer   • LITERATURE  •  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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