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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXMED436. Buy these 4 items as a set for $67 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Mediterranean by Cruise Ship

Mediterranean by Cruise Ship

by Anne Vipond

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

The best-selling, compact guide, featuring excellent local maps, hundreds of color photographs, concise background information and recommended excursions for ports-of-call throughout the Mediterranean. (MED34, $21.95)

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece

by Robert Morkot

  • REFERENCE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

This pictorial survey of Greek history, culture and expansion features dozens of full color maps. (GRE125, $18.00)

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter

by Thomas Cahill

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Cahill sketches ancient Greek society and civilization through the lives and words of politicians, playwrights, a poet, philosopher and artist in this eloquent and absorbing tribute. (GRE182, $16.00)

Mediterranean Cruises Map

Mediterranean Cruises Map

by Freytag & Berndt

  • 2010
  • MAP

A double-sided, full-color map of the Mediterranean, including the Iberian Peninsula and Black Sea, North Africa and the Levant, at a scale of 1:2,000,000. (MED36, $14.95)

 
Eyewitness Guide Greek Islands

Eyewitness Guide Greek Islands


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 408 PAGES

Color photography, excellent local maps and an island-by-island synopsis of attractions make this book the one to carry with you. (GRE37, $28.00)

Fodor's Venice's 25 Best

Fodor's Venice's 25 Best


by Citypack

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES
  • COMING IN MARCH

This shirt-pocket guide includes an excellent map of the city center and essential information. (ITL106, $12.99)

Lonely Planet Istanbul Encounter

Lonely Planet Istanbul Encounter


by Verity Campbell

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

With a section of not-to-miss highlights, pull-out map and a calendar of annual events. (TKY151, $12.99)

Visible Cities Dubrovnik

Visible Cities Dubrovnik


by Annabel Barber

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 199 PAGES

An informative, personable guide to exploring the city and surroundings, featuring a good overview of the history of Dubrovnik, suggested walking tours, a map of the city center and practical advice on where to go and what to do. (BLK40, $24.95)

Ancient Turkey, A Traveller's History

Ancient Turkey, A Traveller's History


by Seton Lloyd

  • HISTORY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

Turkey's archaeology and early history for the traveler by the former head of the British Archaeological Institute in Ankara. (TKY43, $28.95)

Corrupting Sea, A Study of Mediterranean History

Corrupting Sea, A Study of Mediterranean History


by Peregrin Horden | Nicholas Purcell

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 776 PAGES

A provocative history of the relationship between people and their environments in the Mediterranean region. (MED115, $49.95)

Empires of the Sea

Empires of the Sea


by Roger Crowley

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

Crowley vividly reconstructs the epic clash between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom for the control of the Mediterranean -- and the soul of 16th-century Europe -- in this thrilling account of dramatic battles and brutality, rival faiths and larger-than-life personalities. (MED146, $16.00)

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire


by Bernard Lewis

  • HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 187 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

In this slim volume the great Islamic scholar describes the invasion of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453, evoking the city at this pivotal moment in its long history. (TKY17, $24.95)

Modern Greece


by Thomas W. Gallant

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 280 PAGES

A concise history of Greece over the last 200 years, incorporating politics, economics, and cultural movements. (GRE227, $49.95)

Osman's Dream, The History of the Ottoman Empire

Osman's Dream, The History of the Ottoman Empire


by Caroline Finkel

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 688 PAGES

An ambitious, scholarly history of an 600-year empire that, at its height, streteched from Central Asia to the Levant, Danube and North Africa. (EUR200, $21.00)

The Ancient Mediterranean

The Ancient Mediterranean


by Michael Grant

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 374 PAGES

Grant explores the realms of archaeology, geography, art and economics to sketch this classic portrait of the ancient world, from prehistory through the Roman Imperium, and the influence on western civilization. (MED10, $20.00)

The Balkans, A Short History

The Balkans, A Short History


by Mark Mazower

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 188 PAGES

A brief, provocative survey of the complex and often contentious history of the Balkans. With eloquence and insight, Mazower addresses the issues of geography, nationalism and modern nation-building in the region. (BLK28, $13.95)

The Byzantines

The Byzantines


by Averil Cameron

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 275 PAGES

A volume in the engaging Peoples of Europe series, this compact, authoritative survey focuses on the Byzantine people, their identity, religion, ethnicity and culture. (TKY197, $26.95)

The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age


by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 452 PAGES

A comprehensive survey of the Greek world c. 3,000-1100 BCE, arranged chronologically and geographically. (GRE390, $36.99)

The Trojan War: A New History

The Trojan War: A New History


by Barry Strauss

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Talented historian Strauss combines information gleaned from Homer's epics with archaeology and ancient texts to weave a masterful and readable account of this legendary conflict. (GRE296, $15.99)

Great Moments in Greek Archaeology

Great Moments in Greek Archaeology


by Vasileios Petrakos

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2007
  • HARD COVER
  • 390 PAGES

The ruins of Knossos, Delphi, Mycenae, Athens and beyond are illustrated and described in this oversize volume. (GRE318, $79.95)

Minoan and Mycenaean Art

Minoan and Mycenaean Art


by Reynold Higgins

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

A survey of the ancient art of Crete, Mycenae and the Cyclades in its cultural context, revised to include recent archaeology. With maps and 241 illustrations. (GRE61, $19.95)

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History


by Robert D. Kaplan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

Kaplan interweaves the history, art and culture of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece with his travels in this portrait of the region. (BLK02, $17.00)

Istanbul, Memories and the City

Istanbul, Memories and the City


by Orhan Pamuk

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Nobel Prize-winner Pamuk writes with quiet grace of the city of his birth, celebrated in his many novels: a magical place of crumbling mansions and Ottoman riches, mingling Asian, Islamic, secular and European influences. (TKY99, $16.95)

The World of Venice

The World of Venice


by Jan Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 315 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Morris displays her talent for research, anecdote and well-wrought prose in this spirited history of a beloved city. (ITL12, $18.95)

The Greek Myths, Complete Edition

The Greek Myths, Complete Edition


by Robert Graves

  • LITERATURE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 782 PAGES

A collection of Greek myths written in a simple, narrative style by Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius (ITL429). (GRE274, $19.95)

The Iliad

The Iliad


by Homer | Robert Fagles

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 704 PAGES

In the excellent Fagles translation -- here presented in a deluxe paper edition -- Homer's Trojan epic hasn't aged a bit in the last 2,700 years. Take it along to Troy and the Aegean. We also carry Fagles's translation of The Odyssey. (Item no. GRE45, $17.00) (GRE173, $17.00)

The King Must Die

The King Must Die


by Mary Renault

  • LITERATURE
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 330 PAGES

A novel of Theseus, slayer of the Minotaur and king of Athens, including his Cretan adventures. The first in Renault's trilogy of well-researched page-turners. (GRE23, $15.00)

The Songs of the Kings

The Songs of the Kings


by Barry Unsworth

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 342 PAGES

Unsworth's sly novel, set in 1260 B.C. as scheming Odysseus prepares to plunder Troy. A familiar story enhanced by Unsworth's mix of classic cadence, contemporary language, ripe humor and pulled-from-the-headlines satire. (GRE185, $13.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.