This book presents a concise and readable overview of the history of Venice from the fifth century AD to the present day. The main theme is the unique place that Venice has occupied in the history of Europe in general and in Italy in particular. While Venice has been politically part of united Italy since 1866, its development tied it as much to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant as to the Italian peninsula. It is this rich cultural mix which has made Venice such a fascinating, magical ...

Imagining Europe: Essays on the Past, Present and Future of the European Union examines the EU from a variety of perspectives. The collection begins with the expectation that, despite its challenges, the European Union is here to say, but it also proceeds from the premise that imaginative thinking is necessary to guide the 27 member organization into the future. The book offers nine chapters and a substantive introduction to examine the EU from the point-of-view of a commercial enterprise,...

“A murder mystery, a model of investigative reporting, a celebration of the fierce bonds that hold families together through tragedies…Murder in Matera is a gem.” — San Francisco Chronicle"Tantalizing" — NPR“A thrilling detective story… Stapinski pursues the study of her family’s criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results.” — Library ...

The first book in a much loved Italian travel memoir trilogy which also includes the delightful See Naples and Die and Girl by Sea.Winner of the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.We've all dreamed of a new exotic life in a European city, but who actually goes? When in Rome shows what can happen when you are courageous - and perhaps crazy - enough to chase this dream.

Tourists, armchair travelers, and historians will all delight in this fluid narrative that can be read straight through, dipped into over time, or used as a reference guide to each period in Sicily’s fascinating tale. Emigration of people from Sicily often overshadows the importance of the people who immigrated to the island through the centuries. These have included several who became Sicily’s rulers, along with Jews, Ligurians, and Albanians. Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Goths, Byzantines, M...

The Pictures from Italy are excellent in themselves and excellent as a foil to the American Notes. Here we have none of that air of giving a decision like a judge or sending in a report like an inspector; here we have only glimpses, light and even fantastic glimpses, of a world that is really alien to Dickens. It is so alien that he can almost entirely enjoy it. For no man can entirely enjoy that which he loves; contentment is always unpatriotic. The difference can indeed be put with appro...

The conclusion to Penelope Green's bestselling trilogy about her life in Italy that includes When in Rome and See Naples and DieFrom her rooftop terrace, Penelope looks out across the sparkling waters of the Bay of Naples, and into a garden of lemon trees and magnolias. Has her Italian dream come true?Imagine catching a ferry home and stepping onto a waterfront lined with multicoloured buildings, busy with fishing boats and couples strolli...

In "Italian Hours," Henry James crafts a nuanced travelogue that marries rich descriptive prose with incisive psychological insight. Composed during the literary zenith of the late 19th century, the narrative unfolds through a series of essays that explore Italy'Äôs landscapes, art, and culture while revealing the intricacies of the human experience. James'Äôs elegant style is marked by perceptive observations and a finely tuned sense of atmosphere, inviting the reader to engage with both ...

Eloquent and assured, Mary McCarthy's The Stones of Florence beckons the reader on a brisk but sweeping tour of the birthplace of the Renaissance and the legendary home of the Medici, Dante, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and other giants of the age. Her keen observations of this famously alluring city speak to Florence's persistent character and magnetism-and the attraction it exerted over the first major wave of American tourists to postwar Europe. These essays, which originally app...

Take a tour through 27 centuries of Roman history as a celebrated Italian writer reveals the historical figures, secrets, and conspiracies that shaped the city.From Italy’s popular author Corrado Augias comes the most intriguing exploration of Rome ever to be published. In the mold of his earlier histories of Paris, New York, and London, Augias moves perceptively through 27 centuries of Roman life, shedding new light on a cast of famous, and infamous, historical fi...

Italian cinema is one of the most glorious and energetic celebrations of the medium that any nation has ever offered. For many years, this astonishing legacy was largely unseen, but the DVD revolution is making virtually everything available, from Steve Reeves' muscle epics to long-unseen Italian art house movies. The one characteristic that most of the great (and not so great) Italian movies have in common is the sheer individualism of the directors. This applies to populist moviemakers a...

An Armchair Traveller's History of Apulia is the story of the heel of Italy - Puglia - as told by past and present day travellers. It has beautiful landscapes, cave towns and frescoed grotto churches, wonderful old cities with Romanesque cathedrals, Gothic castles and a wealth of Baroque architecture. And yet, while far from inaccessible, until quite recently it was seldom visited by tourists. This portrait of Apulia concentrates on the Apulian people down the ages. Conquerors, wh...