Title |
Author |
Subtitle / Blurb / Info Link |
| Ancient Rome |
Robert Payne |
Ancient Rome |
| Baudolino |
Umberto Eco |
. .. the story of an Italian peasant boy, Baudolino, with a talent for
languages and a talent for telling lies. These skills pave the way for his
schooling in Paris, at the court of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and his
presence in Constantinople while it is being sacked and burned during the
Fourth Crusades. It is ultimately a story about truth and history, and the
role people play in either hiding or exposing both of those.
|
| Bella Tuscany |
Frances Mayes |
(should read
“Under the Tuscan Sun” first) Bella Tuscany |
| Between Salt
Water and Holy Water |
Tommaso
Astarita |
…the myriad influences that shaped modern civilization in the
Mediterranean come together in southern Italy and Sicily--the region once
known as the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies." Italian culture as we now know
it in the rest of the world--from opera to pizza--was born in the South. Yet
negative images of its poverty, violence, superstition, and nearness to
Africa fueled stereotypes of what was and was not acceptably "European."
From the Normans and Angevins through Spanish and Bourbon rule to the
unification of Italy, historian Tommaso Astarita explores the intellectual,
religious, economic, and political history of this fascinating region.
|
| Book of the Courtier, The |
Baldazar
Castiglione |
The Book of the Courtier |
| Capri and No
Longer Capri |
Raffaele La
Capria |
Capri and No Longer Capri |
| Ciao, America |
Beppe
Severgnini |
Ciao, America |
| City of Falling Angels, The |
John Berendt |
City of Fallen Angels |
| Coffee With
Nonna |
Vincent Iezzi |
Coffee With Nonna |
| Dances with
Luigi |
Paul
Paolicelli |
…a grandson’s search
for his Italian roots (read before
“Under the Southern Sun”)
Dances With Luigi |
| The Decameron |
Giovanni
Boccaccio |
The Decameron |
| Etruscans,
The
(Those Mysterious Etruscans) |
Agnes Carr
Vaughan |
...stories on the discoveries in Tuscany,
burial customs, Etruscan religion, an account of language and literature,
mythology, dancing and music, legends and historical accounts about the
Etruscan kings of Rome and the downfall of Veii and Perugia.
|
| Italian-American Ways |
edited by Fred
L. Gardaphe |
… Recipes &
Traditions |
| Italian Education, An |
Tim Parks |
… the further
adventures of an expatriate in Verona (should read “Italian Neighbors” first)
An Italian Education |
| Italian
Folktales |
selected and
retold by Italo Calvino |
...a seminal collection
of 200 folk tales, retold by a modern master who never lost his affection
for the folkloric traditions of his childhood. |
| Italian
Neighbors |
Tim Parks |
...offers a delightful expatriate's diary, an irresistibly eloquent and
insightful postcard from abroad to be cherished by active and armchair
travelers alike. (read before
“An Italian Education”)
|
| Italians, The |
Luigi Barzini |
...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.
|
| Lion of St. Mark, The |
Thomas Quinn |
...set in fifteenth century Venice between
1452 and 1472. As the Italian renaissance nears its apogee, Venice reigns
supreme as she controls many of Europe's key trade routes and commodities.
She is rich, powerful and full of pride.
|
| Living La
Dolce Vita |
Raeleen
D’Agostino Mautner |
…bring the passion,
laughter, and serenity of Italy into
your daily life |
| Mapmaker’s Dream, A |
James Cowan |
…the meditations of
Fra Mauro, cartographer to the Court of Venice
A Mapmaker's Dream |
| Mother Tongue |
Wallis Wilde-Menozzi |
… a memoir by a poet and
essayist who followed her husband to live in his native city of Parma in the
1980s. Deeply personal and evocative of life in northern Italy, the author
interweaves much history and observation into her narrative. With
black-and-white photographs.
|
| Mussolini |
Denis Mack
Smith |
Mussolini |
| Pagan Holiday |
Tony Perrottet |
... intrigued by the possibility of
re-creating the Grand Tour (journeying from the lost city of Troy to the
Acropolis, from the Colossus at Rhodes to Egypt, for the obligatory Nile
cruise to the very edge of the empire), Perrottet, accompanied by his
pregnant girlfriend, sets off to discover life as an ancient Roman. The
result is this lively blend of fascinating historical anecdotes and
hilarious personal encounters, interspersed with irreverent and often eerily
prescient quotes from the ancients—a vivid portrait of the Roman Empire in
all its complexity and wonder.
|
| Prince, The |
Niccolo
Machiavelli |
The
Prince |
| Seasons in
Basilicata |
David Yeadon |
… award-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his
wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch
of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns into an
intriguing residency in the ancient hill village of Aliano, where Carlo
Levi, author of the world-renowned memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, was
imprisoned by Mussolini for anti-Fascist activities. As the Yeadons become
immersed in Aliano's rich tapestry of people, traditions, and festivals,
reveling in the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the
culinary delights, and other peculiarities of place, they discover that much
of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and other notable authors revealed
still lurks beneath the beguiling surface of Basilicata.
|
| Stolen Figs
and Other Adventures in Calabria |
Mark Rotella |
... a sparkling tale of a
man's adventures in the land of his forefathers. The grandson of a Calabrian,
Rotella writes warmly of this hardscrabble region that has produced more
immigrants to the Unites States than any other region. He is a refreshingly
candid, companionable guide to landscapes, people, history and (of course)
the food of the region. |
| Thousand Bells at Noon, A |
G. Franco
Romagnoli |
. ..an expatriate Roman vividly brings to life his native city, in this
stunning travel guide that captures all of Rome's charms and
contradictions, from the beautiful churches and palazzos to the small
apartments and crowded streets.
|
| Thousand Days In Tuscany, A |
Marlena De
Blasi |
A
Thousand Days In Tuscany |
| The Twelve
Caesars |
Michael Grant |
... an authoritative synthesis of the bits
and pieces that have come down to us through the ages about the men who
ruled the Roman Empire from 46 B.C. through A.D. 95. |
| Una Storia
Segreta |
edited by
Lawrence DiStasi |
… the secret history
of Italian American evacuation and internment during World War II.
Una Storia Segreta |
| Under the
Southern Sun |
Paul
Paolicelli |
(read “Dances
with Luigi” first) Under The Southern Sun |
| Under the
Tuscan Sun |
Frances Mayes |
(read before
“Bella Tuscany”) ... Frances Mayes entered a
wondrous new world when she began restoring an abandoned villa in the
spectacular Tuscan countryside. There were unexpected treasures at every
turn: faded frescoes beneath the whitewash in her dining room, a vineyard
under wildly overgrown brambles in the garden, and, in the nearby hill
towns, vibrant markets and delightful people. In Under the Tuscan Sun,
she brings the lyrical voice of a poet, the eye of a seasoned traveler, and
the discerning palate of a cook and food writer to celebrate the pleasures
of Italian life.
|
| When in Rome |
Robert J
Hutchinson |
... a journal of
life in Vatican City When In Rome |