Italy Books - Page 4

Under the Tuscan Sun

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 432 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I was so looking forward to reading, "Under The Tuscan Sun". An avid traveler, I love to explore various places through books since having 3 kids doesn't allow me to travel as much as I used to. I assumed the book would be good considering it was a #1 New York Times Bestseller.

Maybe my expectations were too high. I found the book to be monotonous, laborious and rather self-indulgent. The relationships Mayes appears to have developed seem superficial at best and imagery of the old, deep south conjured in my mind as I read about her cook "Wille Bell" and her seamstress as a child in Georgia. I thought I would relate to this part of Mayes' life as I too grew up in Georgia, but, again, the absence of any emotional impact left me wanting just to finish the book and be done with it.

Aside from the rehabilitation of her home in Tuscany which was written about mostly at the beginning of the book, I found the book to have a lack of continunity and really any depth. The self-proclamed pagan describes churches and locations, but doesn't capture the romance, innocence and intrigue that will keep you flipping pages.

Mayes does appear to be a fabulous cook and I would probably like a cookbook by her. However, if you are looking for a novel with a plot to sink your teeth into, this is definitely NOT it. I much prefered "Eat, Pray and Love" and the first chapter (which I am now reading) of "Almost French" is wildly more clever and intriguing.

Editorial Review:

Frances Mayes--widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer--opens the door to a wondrous new world when she buys and restores an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. In sensuous and evocative language, she brings the reader along as she discovers the beauty and simplicity of life in Italy. An accomplished cook and food writer, Mayes also creates dozens of delicious seasonal recipes from her traditional kitchen and simple garden, all of which are included in this audio. Doing for Tuscany what M.F.K. Fisher and Peter Mayle did for Provence, Mayes writes about the tastes and pleasures of a foreign country with gusto and passion. A celebration of the extraordinary quality of life in Tuscany, Under the Tuscan Sun is a feast for all senses.

Empires of Trust: How Rome Built--and America Is Building--a New World

Thomas F. Madden

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A tale of two superpowers unique in the history of the world, offering a totally original comparison of the United States and ancient Rome: celebrating similarities and delivering urgent insights into America’s current crises.

Does America face the same destiny endured by ancient Rome? Is the U.S. military overextended? Does the separation of church and state strengthen or weaken a geopolitical powerhouse? Is the United States just another Empire of Conquest being corrupted by its own power? Of late, it is not only historians who have been asking these questions. Thomas Madden, an award-winning professor of history, now shows almost everything we thought we knew about Rome to be wrong, and revolutionizes our understanding of what a good world empire can be.

Taking readers on a dramatic tour of the Roman Republic, a golden era before the depravities of the Caesars and late Empire, Madden uncovers a peaceful, retiring people who above all wanted to be left alone to enjoy their own families and communities, maintaining the rural traditions of their forebears. But external threats required them to establish security, which they did by creating superlative military forces and transforming defeated enemies into friends. Trust, not brutality, was the key ingredient. All other empires since have been Empires of Conquest—until now.

Beginning with a Roman story strikingly parallel to the American Abu Ghraib scandal, Madden provides a much needed historical context to our burning contemporary debates. The United States can be an empire of trust, and Madden is on a mission to get pundits, candidates, and other election-year spectators—which means all of us—to recognize this profound duty.

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Tom Holland

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I Claudius - the Prequel 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Before I read this book my knowledge of Roman history was mostly confined to the twelve Caesars, thanks to Suetonius and Robert Graves. The Republic seemed very complicated and I didn't understand why the Romans felt such a sense of loss at its passing. After reading it, I now understand. For this I give it five stars and also for the fact that the book is very well-written and the author has a great narrative gift.
As I'm not a scholar of Roman history I can't vouch for its accuracy, but I can't imagine there is a better introduction to the end of the Roman Republic.

Editorial Review:

In 49 B.C., the seven hundred fifth year since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar crossed a small border river called the Rubicon and plunged Rome into cataclysmic civil war. Tom Holland’s enthralling account tells the story of Caesar’s generation, witness to the twilight of the Republic and its bloody transformation into an empire. From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life. Combining verve and freshness with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a uniquely resonant portrait of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, intrigue, war, and world-shaking ambition.

Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day

Philip Matyszak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"History buffs (or, indeed, anyone with a vivid imagination) will enjoy this witty and erudite—and most unusual—travel guide."—Chicago Tribune

This entertaining guide provides all the information a tourist needs for a journey back in time to ancient Rome in AD 200. You just have to pack your imagination and a toothbrush!

Here is advice on arranging the sea journey to Italy, how to negotiate the road to Rome, and what to see on each of the city's famous seven hills. You'll learn what to take to a fancy dinner party (dining robe, your own napkin, and indoor shoes) and where to find the best markets and public baths.

A series of walks takes in all the sights of the eternal city, from the opulence of the imperial palace on the Palatine hill through the bustle of the Forum to the grandeur of the Pantheon and the Temple of Jupiter. The largest and most populous city in the ancient world has over one hundred spectacles to offer, including chariot races and events at the Colosseum where gladiators fight to the death.

Philip Matyszak's ingenious book will appeal to anyone who has ever wondered what it would have been like to visit the greatest city of ancient times. 43 illustrations, 11 in color.

The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church)

Henry Chadwick

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

Concise, readable overview. 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 18 people found this review helpful.

In very few pages, the author manages to give an excellent recap of the key events and forces which shaped church history in the first 6 centuries. He goes into enough detail, howwever, that I'll bet even avid readers of church history will still find here material previously unknown to them. His organizing the material according to topics rather than by a strict chronological order makes it particularily easy to understand how the church grappled with its' earliest issues and crises. He does not seem to hold any partisan view: he even seems to regret that Arianism did not take hold in the mainstream church!

This book can be recommended for readers at any level who wish to learn about church history.

Understand The Names You Recognize! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

"The Early Church" provides the reader with an excellent history of the first six centuries of Christianity. Author Henry Chadwick covers structural and doctrinal development, along with the rise and fall of heresies and introductions to the leading characters of the period.

This excellent book provides an overview of so many things which casual students of Church history probably heard of but may not have really understood. From my reading of this book I have a better understanding of early heresies including Arianism (Jesus was not co-eternal with the Father), Donatism (no reconciliation with apostates) Manichaeism (a secret, gnostic type sect) and Pelagianism (denial of original sin). The role of councils, such as Nicaea, in combating heresy and guiding the development of orthodoxy is made clearer. A greater understanding of the roles of the Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, Theodore of Mopsuestia, St. Jerome and St. Augustine is gained by the reader of this book.

From a theological or historical perspective this book is a treasure. One test I apply to books is whether they inspire me to study more. This one does. I am confident that it will do the same for you.

Editorial Review:

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centureis AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world.

Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe

William Rosen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

`Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe' 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

It took me a while to get into the rhythm of Mr Rosen's writing, but once I did I couldn't put this book down. I was fascinated by the building of the Hagia Sophia, interested in the presentation of the life, times and achievements of the emperor Justinian during the 6th century and engrossed by the possible impact of the flea on the building of empires.

In this book, Mr Rosen provides a number of interpretations which can (and are) debated. People may argue about the role of Justinian, disagree about the relevance of the detail about the Hagia Sophia and prefer different theories about the birthplace of the bubonic plague. Some theories are contentious, and it is not always clear why certain aspects of the discussion are given a particular focus. However, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and for me the book was well worth reading. Mr Rosen provides plenty of notes for a reader who is seeking more information or who is trying to understand the conclusions Mr Rosen draws.

While it is both true and clever to state that: `Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence', I can understand why some readers find this book dissatisfying. The book is ambitious and may, as others have suggested, have benefitted from more ruthless editing. However, that depends on who Mr Rosen saw as his primary audience. This reader enjoyed the perambulations. If you are interested in this period of history, the life of Justinian, the growth and decline of empires and the relationship between man, rats, fleas and bacteria - you may wish to read this book.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Editorial Review:

The Emperor Justinian reunified Rome's fractured empire by defeating the Goths and Vandals who had separated Italy, Spain, and North Africa from imperial rule. At his capital in Constantinople, he built the world's most beautiful building, married its most powerful empress, and wrote its most enduring legal code, seemingly restoring Rome's fortunes for the next five hundred years. Then, in the summer of 542, he encountered a flea. The ensuing outbreak of bubonic plague killed five thousand people a day in Constantinople and nearly killed Justinian himself.

Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations (Vintage)

Martin Goodman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Comments by Michael Calum Jacques author of '1st Century Radical'. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was my pleasure to be supervised by Prof Martin Goodman whilst I was conducting research into aspects of First Century Palestine at St Cross College Oxford. As a summary reading of the various reviews posted about this book will reveal, it is relatively easy thing to find cavils with another scholar's work, but the task of reconstructing periods of history from the ancient world is an intricate one and can be, at times, a patently thankless exercise.

This chunky tome (even in paperback) spreads some 650 pages and is dense with valuable information and historical observations; it is a referential fund with respect to the areas of interfacing and interaction between the forces of Roman imperialism and the culture of the Jews.

But this is far more than either merely a cultural or an historical study; for example, Prof Goodman expounds an entire thesis regarding the origin and subsequent development and expansion of the messianic movement, amongst other things. In fact, more than one previous reviewer has been somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer density of the historical data contained herein.

As ever, Prof Goodman makes deft use of his sources and his treatment of Flavius Josephus is a model which most writers can only hope to aspire towards. Despite its length and scope, the author knows what to omit as well as what to include; apart from an abundance of pertinent observations, the reader is spared overbearing philosophizing although, inevitably, it is difficult to produce studies on events like the probable mass suicide at Masala without including a degree of comment, be that implicit or explicit.

This book is probably not something to read casually and deserves a notebook by its side. As a single volume reference book which 'does what it says on the cover' this reviewer has absolutely no hesitation in recommending it on the bases of its sound, thorough, scholarship and its general - albeit demanding in parts - readability.

Michael Calum Jacques

Editorial Review:

A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.

Martin Goodman—equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies—examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples and explains how Rome's interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. At the same time, Christians began to distance themselves from their origins, becoming increasingly hostile toward Jews as Christian influence spread within the empire. This is the authoritative work of how these two great civilizations collided and how the reverberations are felt to this day.

The Travels of Marco Polo

Marco Polo, Witold Gordon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

You are going where? 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I believe I got what I paid for. There were much better books of great detail, but they cost much more. I would suggest saving your money until you can buy a much more comprehensive book. The reading and information provided in the book was light and was gone over very fast. I question some of the facts contained there in.

Marco's journey 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Marco Polo purportedly spent 17 years travelling to the courts of Kublai Khan and, as an emissary for Kublai Khan, then throughout the Far East. Whether it actually happened or not is up for debate. I went into this text with an open mindset and have accepted that Marco Polo did indeed go on this trip with his father and uncle, but not to the extent as surmised. Instead he travelled and added stories he collected from traders and others to fill in gaps or points of interest to him. The book is broken into four sections now. Part One is his trip to the Great Khan's courts in Cathay (China). Part Two is his travels throughout the provinces of Cathay. Part Three concerns going to Japan, Southern India, and the Islands of the Indian Sea (Java, etc). Part Four is travelling into the 'northern countries' (Russia, etc).

In general, Polo gives very brief descriptions of most regions, accounting for their religious beliefs, money used, fealty to the Great Khan Kublai. There's some intriguing customs (visitors will be taken into a home and the man of the house leaves until they are gone but the visitor has full access to the household including the wives, daughters, sisters, nieces), talks of cannibalism, dress, unfamiliar animals they encountered, and contributes to the whole messy history of Prestor John. It does get repetitive and dry after a while. Polo's talk of Kublai Khan is almost obsessive and he was obviously completely enamoured of this new culture. Overall, it was fascinating to read although I had to push myself through some parts due to repetitive descriptions. Any history buff should read this story about one of the purported most well-travelled explorers ever, not to mention he was possibly the biggest best-selling authors before the printing press was invented.

Editorial Review:

Chronicling the 13th-century world of Venice, his birthplace, to the far reaches of Asia, Marco Polo tells of the foreign peoples he meets as he travels by foot, horse and boat. This edition is illustrated with 32 woodcut images that were created for the classic 1926 publication.

The Journey of the Italians in America

Vincenza Scarpaci

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Editorial Review:

Italians have influenced American life since the beginning of the new Republic. Thomas Jefferson adapted the classic Italian architecture of Andrea Palladio in designing his home and the University of Virginia; discussed agronomy and political philosophy with his neighbor, the Italian-trained physician and merchant Philip Mazzei; signed the Declaration of Independence along with William Paca of Maryland; and invited Italian musicians to form the first marine band in Washington D.C. Subsequently, millions of Italians have immigrated to the United States, bringing with them a distinct set of beliefs, traditions, and customs, which have been preserved and passed down through the generations.

The author takes a photographic approach towards unraveling the history and legacy of Italians and their presence in America. Examining more than four hundred unique photographs of Italian families, settlements, businesses, and celebrities, Scarpaci celebrates the ways in which this ethnic group has influenced many aspects of American life, including arts, agriculture, industry, religion, cuisine, sports, and politics. Beginning in the late 1870s, this work illustrates how the immigrants and their descendants faced the hardships, disappointments, achievements, and successes of this ongoing experience.

With photographs from settings as diverse as a canning factory in Salerno to an Italian family's kitchen garden in Kellogg, Idaho, to Italians living in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, The Journey of the Italians in America traces the evolution of the Italian immigrant of the 1800s into today's statesman, scholar, movie star, Supreme Court justice, or businessman. As much a history of Italian influence on America, this work is also a history of American influence on Italians, as Scarpaci makes plain through evaluating the differences among generations of Italian Americans. An enduring study of ethnicity in America, this chronicle is a timely contribution to the discourse on immigration in the United States and will certainly be appreciated and enjoyed by all Americans.

Selections from the Prison Notebooks

Antonio Gramsci

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

One of the century's most important political works 5 out of 5 stars.
68 of 81 people found this review helpful.

Gramsci's Prison Notebooks marks one of the nodal points of Western Marxism's break with Leninism and the breed of marxism born of the Bolshevik Revolution. Exploratory and incomplete, the insights contained in this volume marked a turning point in marxist thinking, indeed leading many right through the marxist fold and out the other side. Gramsci's insights into philosphy, cultural criticism, political economy, and politics make this a crucial resource for anyone interested in any of these themes today ... marxist or otherwise. And for those interested in the 'fall' of marxism, Gramsci is perhaps the most important starting point. A veritable critical goldmine!!!!

The Lost World 5 out of 5 stars.
60 of 75 people found this review helpful.

Michel Foucault once remarked that Antonio Gramsci is a figure much cited and little read. Once upon a time (in the 90s, when things seemed more dismal, then they really were) neoconservatives were warned that Gramscianism was conducting a "long march through the institutions": leftists of a freethinking and free-wheeling bent threw around "organic intellectual" as denoting indigenous members of collective subjects not quite proletarian, and wondered whether "hegemony" was being orchestrated by hip-hop provocateurs.

But in yet another retrenchment of yet another cruel decade, Gramsci has fallen off the map. The neocons wonder if Hillary Rodham Clinton is "angry" about things other than her man and Whitewater; the bohemian leftists wonder about Empire, or stay silent. Which is probably well enough, when it comes to the Gramscian corpus. For although this is the work of an ill-deserved confinement courtesy of one of the world's more notable totalitarian regimes, its stated aim is to be itself "totalitarian" in conception. Antonio Gramsci was something much more complex than a "freedom fighter", and his pronouncements regarding a multitude of subjects in this selection from his *Quaderni del carcere* deserve to be analyzed critically rather than sympathetically.

"Open Marxism" this is not: Gramsci has three major tasks, all of which are compatible with Leninist-Stalinist orthodoxy. Firstly, to analyze the "passive revolution" which has put forth another alternative to progressive political change yet left the productive forces of the economy modernizing with all due speed; secondly, to celebrate the fact of the Communist party's Russian dominance by studying not-necessarily-democratic "hegemony" as a form of political expression throughout modern history; thirdly, to advocate a form of Marxism thoroughly divorced from the materialist scruples of mechanics and keeping its eyes focused firmly on the historical here and now.

All of which are interesting projects, worthy of the best political science and historical ontology that the bourgeois world has to offer, but all of which compete with more explicitly liberatory ideologies (Trotsky's "permanent revolution", representative democracy, Encylopedic enthusiasm for a truly popular science) and offer nuance rather than redemption. Gramsci's communism is, cliched though it may be, somewhat Jesuitical and overly "disciplined" in the face of historical setbacks and core organizational shibboleths of the Comintern: we are offered only details filling out a party line we should believe in anyway, rather than a stirring defense of people power. This book is brilliant, rather than inspirational, and its theses should be troubling, if enlightening, for a member of the democratic left.

Editorial Review:

This title is being reprinted and will be
shipped on 11/24/08