One day in late spring, Andrea Marcolongo walks into an outdoor store in Paris to buy a camp bed, a sleeping bag, and a flashlight. Her destination, not a forest or mountain peak, but the deserted halls of one of the most famous museums in the world, the Acropolis of Athens.But it's hard to be truly alone when you're surrounded by the scarred beauty of the Parthenon, lit only by the moon and summoning shadows from the past. Amog them, Lord Elgin, the English diplomat who in the ear...

"It is to the Greeks that we turn when we are sick of the vagueness, of the confusion, of our own age."—Virginia WoolfDiscover a new passion for a very old language, a language that can express what can't be said in any other, and thrillingly relevant to our lives today. A language that rewards desire by giving its own modal verb; bequeaths lovers a special case beyond singular and plural; prioritises mindfulness and dynamic presence through its very own grammar. A language that ca...

In 490 BCE the indefatigable Athenian herald Philippides made his legendary 26 mile run to deliver to the people of Athens news of their city's victory over the Persians. Each year, all over the world, thousands of athletes and millions of enthusiasts replicate Philippides's marathon.Why do we run? To what end all the effort and pain? The Greeks were the first to ask these questions and to wonder why we choose to measure ourselves against others; they were also the first to suspend...

An epic tale of war, revolution, economic crisis, and social transformation told through the story of twelve historic soccer games, with a gallery of unexpected heroes, thwarted tragedies, and stunning, world-changing results . . .Soccer has always intersected with history—sometimes during an anonymous match, sometimes in a major world final—because, from the sport's beginning in 1848, echoes of what's happening off the pitch have reached the global playing field i...

"I greatly admire the work of Tiziana de Rogatis. She is a reader of deep refinement. Often I think that she knows my books better than I. So, I read her with admiration and remain silent." —Elena Ferrante, in the magazine, San Lian Sheng HuoZhou KanFerrante's four-volume novel cycle known in English as the Neapolitan quartet has become a global success, with over ten million readers in close to fifty countries. Her readers recount feeling "addicted" to the novels; they de...

In 490 BCE the indefatigable Athenian herald Philippides made his legendary 26 mile run to deliver to the people of Athens news of their city's victory over the Persians. Each year, all over the world, thousands of athletes and millions of enthusiasts replicate Philippides's marathon.Why do we run? To what end all the effort and pain? The Greeks were the first to ask these questions and to wonder why we choose to measure ourselves against others; they were also the first to suspend...

"Crime writing this good just has to be read." — NB MagazineInternational secret police operations, drug trafficking, prostitution, and identity theft set the stage for the eternal struggle between Good and Evil"A masterpiece."— Mystery Tribune"An engrossing fable in which families and societies unravel and are refashioned." — ForeWord ReviewsAcclaimed as one of to...

On the evening of May 9, 1936, a slim, elegant woman stood in Rome’s Piazza Venezia and – in perfect English – broadcast Mussolini’s famous speech on the conquest of Ethiopia. Her name was Lisa Sergio (1905–1989), her nickname “the golden voice” of Mussolini. A Florentine journalist, with American parents, she was fired from her job at the Propaganda Ministry the following summer, most likely for gossiping about a brief affair with her boss, Mussolini’s son in law, Galeazzo Ciano.A...

Award-winning new translations of a major contemporary Italian poetBrief Homage to Pluto and Other Poems collects forty-five poems by Fabio Pusterla, one of the most distinguished Italian-language poets writing today. Born in Switzerland and resident in Italy, Pusterla engages the pressing moral concerns of his age and excavates the hidden realities of our concrete world. These are poems of disquieting Alpine landscapes and rift zones, filled with curious ...

"For those who love boats, architecture and original enquiring minds, this book is a dream. " -Jeremy IronsWorld-famous architect Renzo Piano and his son Carlo set sail from Genoa one late Summer day, guided by the ancestral desire felt by many explorers before them: to find Atlantis (in Italian, Atlantide). Atlantis is the perfect city, built to harbour a perfect society. This is its true beauty, precious and elusive.Renzo Piano, a man who can not only meas...

Luna loves the sea and the gifts she finds every day on the shore. But one day a wave sends her life adrift, in this touching, funny novel about grief, love, and friendshipThirteen-year-old Luna lives in a small town on the coast of Tuscany. She is smart and funny. And she is albino. When her brother Luca drowns in a surfing accident, Luna's mother retreats into herself. At school, stricken by her loss yet determined to carry on, Luna makes a new friend and ally, t...

An urgent, stirring reflection on violence and morality."Recalcati explores the most fundamental of questions—for Cain, Abel, and every human being: can we believe in love?"— La StampaWhat lies at the foundation of human history and life in a society? According to Massimo Recalcati, it is not the sentiment of love for one's neighbour preached by Jesus in the Gospels but the brutal hatred and violence depicted in the story of Cain a...