Italy Books - Page 6

Italian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook

Karina Coates, Pietro Iagnocco, Susie Walker, Lonely Planet Phrasebooks

List Price: $7.99 By: Lonely Planet Publications Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $2.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Potty Mouth Phrases 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 27 people found this review helpful.

I thought this would be a great way for my 10 year old and me to learn a few phrases before our trip to Italy. This would have been fine if I was 20 years younger and traveling with a bunch of free loving hippies. Using this book, I can use pick up someone up at a bar, ask for a condom, let everyone know I brought my own needle and call people derogatory names. Sure, I can learn to order spaghetti for dinner, but this is definitely not what I was expecting. In the future, I will have to read over a phrase book in person before purchasing.

Editorial Review:

I thought I spoke Italian but the only thing I could think of to describe the Sistine Chapel was 'Mama mia!' Then I opened my phrasebook and entered a world beyond the Italy I thought I knew.

• extensive two-way dictionary & easy-to-use sentence builder
• pronunciation for every word
• real language for a truly authentic Italian travel experience - art, soccer, food & wine plus classic pick-ups & put-downs
• special travellers' Latin for decoding historical sights

Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides)

Amanda Claridge

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $12.58

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Invaluable 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I used this book for my second trip to Rome and it was absolutely invaluable. I wish that I had it for my first trip. I am a person who only cares about the Ancient Roman artifacts and this book literally has ever one listed by region that you have access to. If you decide to use this book bring along a highlighter and check off the sections that you complete, by the end of the day you will be amazed at how much you have seen. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Editorial Review:

Capital and showcase of the Roman Empire and the center of Christian Europe, the city of Rome is the largest archaeological site in the world. Here, Amanda Claridge presents an indispensable guide to all significant monuments in Rome dating from 800 BC to 600 AD. Included are such breathtaking structures as the Capitoline Hill, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Mausoleums of Augustus and Hadrian, the Circus Maximus, and the Catacombs. Divided into twelve main archaeological areas in central Rome, and four in Greater Rome, this accessible guide provides a detailed overview of the sites, as well as historical reference tables listing archaeological periods, emperors, and principal surviving buildings. The introduction offers an assessment of Roman achievement along with its status as the capital of the Roman Empire, and explains Rome's survival as the world's most complex archaeological site.

In Tuscany

Frances Mayes

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Broadway Amazon Marketplace: 93 new & used starting at $5.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the bestselling author whose memoirs Under the Sun and Bella Tuscany have captured the voluptuousness of Italian life comes a lavishly illustrated ode to the joys of Tuscany's people, food, landscapes, and art. In Tuscany celebrates the abundant pleasures of life in Italy as it is lived at home, at festivals, feasts, restaurants and markets, in the kitchen and on the piazza, in the vineyards, fields, and olive groves. Combining all-new essays by Frances Mayes and a chapter by her husband, poet Edward Mayes, with more than 200 full-color photos by photographer Bob Krist, each of this book's five sections highlights a signature aspect of Tuscan life:


La Piazza--the locus of Italian village life. With photgraphs of the shop signs, the outdoor markets, medieval streets, people, their pets and their cars, and snippets of conversations overheard, Mayes reveals the life of the Piazza in her town of Cortona as well as out-of-the-way places such as Volterra, Asciano, Monte San Savino, and Castelmuzio.

La Festa--the celebration. Essays and photos of feasts and celebrations, such as the Christmas dinner for twenty-seven at a neighbor's house and a donkey race around the church at Montepulciano Stazione, illustrate how the Tuscans celebrate the seasons--their open ways of friendship, their connection to nature, and most of all, their sense of abundance.

Il Campo--the field. Here Edward Mayes evokes the deep sense of the shift of seasons as he picks olives before he and Frances head off to the olive oil mill and enjoy the first bruscette with new oil.

La Cucina--the kitchen. An intimate view of the all-important role of the kitchen in Tuscan culture, including photographs of her own kitchen and gardens, menus from great local cooks, the elements of the Tuscan table, dishes with cultural and culinary notes on each, and, of course, delectable recipes.

La Bellezza--the beauty. From the quality of the light falling on sublime landscapes in different seasons and Tuscan faces in moments of laughter to a silhouette of cypress trees in the early evening and a wild bird perched on a neigbor's head, In Tuscany features views of beauty that reveal the singular splendor of one of the world's best-loved and most artistic regions.

Italian Survival Guide: The Language and Culture You Need to Travel with Confidence in Italy

Elizabeth Bingham

Amazon Price: $19.55 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: World Prospect Press

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Italian Survival Guide is a down-to-earth, bare-bones introduction to Italian that aims to make a trip abroad as smooth and enjoyable as possible. This information-packed mini-course concentrates on preparing readers to travel in Italy in a limited time by focusing on what is most useful or interesting to travelers and cutting out unnecessary vocabulary and grammar.

This Survival Guide helps readers communicate in the Italian language and culture. It prepares travelers for what to expect and how to deal with it, what to say and when to say it. It's like three books in one--a phrase book (so you know what to say), a grammar book (so you know how to say it), and a culture book (so you understand daily social expectations)--all focused on a traveler's needs.

Learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in Italian, how to line up lodging, order food and pay properly, how to shop and ask for directions in Italian, how to drive a car or take the train in Italy, how to get help in an emergency or talk about your family or discuss the weather, and much, much more!

Get key insights into Italian social conventions: how to talk to people, how to avoid taboo subjects, how not to look like a tourist, how to tip, how to have good table manners, how to be a gracious guest, how to discourage unwanted admirers, how to overcome poor customer service, how to avoid petty crime.

Discover the fine points of city buses, grocery stores, train stations and coffee shops. Read how to achieve la bella figura--the style and classiness Italians prize. Learn gestures and geography and how to pronounce Giorgio.

Italian Survival Guide is packed with culture notes, study tips, travel hints, and reality checks galore. It includes optional exercises for practicing material from the lessons, Italian-English and English-Italian dictionaries, and inside-the-cover Survival Summaries travelers can use on the spot. In addition, Italian pronunciations are written throughout the book, so users always have guidance on how to pronounce new words and phrases. Includes an extensive index to help readers find the topics they want, fast. All this packed into one volume small enough to tuck into a bag and take along.

Stones Of Florence (Illustrated Ed): Illustrated Edition

Mary McCarthy, Evelyn Hofer

List Price: $19.95 By: Harcourt Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $6.65

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent short history, but a little difficult to read 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was actually written back in the sixties and while the information in it is very inciteful and great historical perspectives, reading it is the difference between reading a Dickens novel and a Stephen King book today. Lots of big words and of course describing things most of us who are not familiar with have to look up and see what the author is referring to. Having said that, I highly recommend this book. I myself, enjoy the big words and I looked up much of what the author discussed on the Internet to get a visual. It made it more real and the material sink in. FYI: This is not a quick read for most.

Simply - still the classic for an excellent understanding of the city and its people. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Simply - still the classic for an excellent understanding of the city and its people.

travel in Italy 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

An old book but nothing ever changes in Florence. it was an important town in Italy for many generations. I was there and the statues are stupendous. The town is still like it used to be so you get a real feeling for time past. Her book is filled with memories and since she is a wonderful writer makes the town really come to you.

Editorial Review:

A large-format reissue of the original text accompanied by photographs of the artwork, architecture, and landscape of Florence. Introduction written by the Author specially for this edition. Black-and-white and color photographs by Evelyn Hofer and others.

The Hills of Tuscany

Ferenc Mate

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delta Amazon Marketplace: 87 new & used starting at $1.43

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

As seductive as A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, but with the wit and charm of a 1930s romantic comedy, the true-life adventure of a couple who chucked New York for a new life in Tuscany. The Mates arrived in Tuscany in the late 1980s knowing no Italian and with only four weeks to search for the country house of their dreams. On their last night there, after having been chased by wild boars and befriended by a country realtor who also sells pigs and coffins, they finally concluded the deal on the hood of a rusting tractor with the lawyer speaking Italian and them responding in French, English, and Hungarian, in a Tower of Babel version of "Who's on First?" So begins Ferenc Mat's endearing, in-love-with-life memoir of their first five years in Tuscany, by turns buoyant, reflective, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. His engaging, often poetic prose describes the way of life they were looking for and found-where neighbors, community, home, and, most of all, children, form the focal point of daily life. They live in a small thirteenth-century monastery, surrounded by their vineyards and olive groves, in the spectacular hills near Siena, a few miles from where The English Patient was filmed. The Hills of Tuscany-steeped in mesmerizing scenery and wonderful medieval towns, full of unforgettably delightful characters and spectacular food and wine-nourishes body, mind, and soul. If you're not passionately in love with life at the moment, you'll be hopelessly so by the time you turn the last page.

Rome Antics

By: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $39.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"Rome Antics" for those in love with Rome and otherwise. 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 11 people found this review helpful.

This is the finest illustrated gift book for the Romaphiles that you love!! Get it now and make a gift to the one you love. It will be appreciated for years to come.

Great pictures, simple story, must-have for Rome fans 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This book is a trip through Roma from a pigeon's point of view. The pigeon flies around, through, over and past many of Rome's historical landmarks, and a brief section in back describes their history and significance.

I checked this out of the library to read with my 5 year old after I went to Rome last year, and bought a copy for myself, just to enjoy the pictures and the memories they bring! The Chiesa de San Ignazio (Church of St. Ignatius) is an especial favorite, as my choir performed there to a "standing room only" crowd! Quite a feat for an amateur choir on their first overseas tour!

The pen and ink sketches, the snippets of history, and the wonderful way they evoke the charisma of Rome make this a great addition to any child's or adult's library.

Editorial Review:

A pigeon carrying an important message takes the reader on a unique tour through Rome. As we follow the path of this somewhat wayward bird, we discover that Rome is a place where past and present live side by side. It is a city that has been recycling itself for two thousand years, but unlike a museum, Rome displays its remarkable history without respect for chronology. A new electric bus travels over cobblestone streets just ten feet above the floor of an ancient stadium. Inscriptions from tombs and temples share wall space with neon. Every time a corner is turned there is a surprise, just as every turn of the page brings a new perspective. This juxtaposition of ancient and modern, as seen with David Macaulay's ingenious vision, gives the reader an imaginative and informative journey through this wondrous city.

Let's Go 2009 Italy (Let's Go Italy)

Let's Go Inc.

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Editorial Review:

Packed with travel information, including more listings, deals, and insider tips:

• CANDID LISTINGS of hundreds of places to wine and dine like a local
• RELIABLE MAPS and directions to help you navigate all seven Roman hills
• INSIDER TIPS on getting the best bang for your buck in Milan’s boutiques
• THEMED ITINERARIES for big eaters, heavy drinkers, and curious explorers
• The BEST NIGHTLIFE, from the wild clubs of Rimini to the garden bars of Sicily
• BIKING and HIKING from the peeks of the Alps to the forests of Abruzzo

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

Mary Taylor Simeti

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $2.03

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Mary Taylor Simeti arrived in Sicily in 1962 to do volunteer work. Freshly graduated from Radcliffe College after growing up in a distinguished and privileged New York City family, the last thing she expected was to fall in love and marry a Sicilian. On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal is the ambivalent love story of an intelligent, complex, and self-reflective woman. The book recounts the events of 1983, the year Simeti turned 42. Her narrative alternates between Palermo, where her children attend school and her husband Toninno is a professor of agricultural economy, and Bosco, in eastern Sicily, where she shoulders demanding responsibilities on the working farm that has belonged to her husband's family for three generations.

Simeti feels the isolation of being an expatriate and outsider, although she claims to welcome this perspective when faced with frustration and disgust at the pervading political corruption and corrosive effects of the Mafia on everyday life. Despite her natural diffidence, she shares personal insights that makeOn Persephone's Island as compelling as her prose. Simeti intersperses rich helpings of Sicilian history and culture with mundane events and insight into what motivates the peasants essential to the survival of the family farm. And she makes pessimistic observations about the complexity of changing times in a society where the persistent reliance on feudal relationships and agriculture is finally crumbling.

An academic manqué, Simeti researches and ruminates on the mythological underpinnings of the many holidays and festivals that punctuate the rhythm of Sicilian life. She focuses particularly on the Greek goddesses Persephone and Demeter, who held Sicily under their protection. She eventually discovers a correlation between her own situation and the story of Persephone, who alternately inhabited the worlds of light and darkness.

Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria: Revised Edition

James Lasdun, Pia Davis

Amazon Price: $13.60 List Price: $20.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $8.88

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

James Lasdun and Pia Davis offer forty walks through the spectacular countryside of Tuscany and Umbria. Arranged for the utmost flexibility—from half-day outings easily accessible from a city base to day walks that can be linked together in a series—the itineraries combine the pleasures of walking and eating with one of the most enchanting landscapes in the world. Calling at medieval hill towns, secluded Benedictine abbeys, spring-fed pools, and Etruscan ruins, Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria enables travelers to discover Italy’s finest delights in a singularly rewarding way.

Featuring:

• New and revised walks

• Clear, easy-to-follow maps

• Suggestions for local food and wine and the best restaurants, hotels, and family- run accommodations

• Half-day, full-day, or overnight itineraries

• Practical tips, including information on climate, what to take, what to wear, and much more