Pizza is one of the best-known and widely exported Italian foods and yet relatively little is known about its origins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Myths such as the naming of pizza margherita after the Italian queen abound, but little serious scholarly attention has been devoted to the topic. Eschewing exaggerated fables, this book draws a detailed portrait of the difficulties experienced by the then marginalized class of pizza makers, rather than the ultimate success of thei...

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, military-engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination". He is widely considered to be one of the greatest...

Written by outspoken, authoritative experts, Frommer’s Italy 2015 shows travelers how to experience the country the way the locals do. This classic Frommers series includes exact prices; candid reviews of the best restaurants, attractions and hotels in every price range (from hostels to guest-accepting palazzos); and dozens of detailed maps. We also include advice the tourist board wouldn’t approve of: which sites to skip, how to avoid the crowds, and how to stretch your travel budget furt...

Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Lucca, Italy. Lucca is a city of 90,000 in Tuscany. Its long history goes back to Etruscan and Ancient Roman times, and the city retains its ancient architecture. Lucca's great era was in the Gothic times just before the Renaissance, and the city contains much marvelous architecture from that era. Lucca remained an independent city state until the end of the 18th century. Giacomo Puccini, one of Italy’s best-known operatic compose...

Selling for a lower price than any similar guidebook, and deliberately limited to a short 256 pages, this EasyGuide is an exercise in creating easily-absorbed travel information. It emphasizes the authentic experiences in each destination:the most important attractions, the classic method of approaching a particular destination; the best choices for accommodations and meals; the best ways to maximize the enjoyment of your stay. Because it is "quick to read, light to carry", it is called an...

The very heart of Tuscany, centred on Siena, is rich in interest, both for its towns, its art, its landscape and its famous Chianti wine. This short guide (a chapter from Blue Guide Tuscany) visits the area in depth, exploring the culture and the history and providing information on accommodation, eating and transport.

This ebook is an extract from Blue Guide Central Italy, with superb regional maps, town maps and site plans. Includes a comprehensive historical introduction, practical information on where to eat and stay, and information about local food and wine.Umbria is the very heart of Italy, home to the city of Perugia, Orvieto with its splendid cathedral, the monastery of St Francis at Assisi, superb examples of the art of Perugino and Pinturicchio, and some of the finest countrys...

Art introduces readers to 100 of the world's most important artists and their paintings, from the 13th century to the modern era. Works by artists including Caravaggio, Vermeer, van Gogh and Warhol are reproduced in superb high quality, arranged chronologically and set in their historical context by Susie Hodge's concise and readable narrative.Including explanations of key periods in art history - from the Early Renaissance to Dutch Realism, and from Rococo to Pop Art - a ...

Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Naples in Italy, the capital of the Campania region. Naples is the third most populated city in Italy, and the second largest metropolitan area, after Milan. It was founded between the 7th and 6th centuries BC by the Greeks and was named Neapolis, which means new city. The historic centre of Naples has earned the UNESCO World Heritage Site denomination. It has one of the largest historical city centres in the world, and it is famous f...

Whether you like the seashore or the mountains, river valleys or ancient towns, Abruzzo has something pleasing for everyone and is a region rich of history and activities. The purpose of this book is to be a guide into the heart of Italy, Abruzzo, to cities and towns not typically heard of and where life is sometimes as untouched and golden as it was in centuries past.

Jane Tylus's Siena is a compelling and intimate portrait of this most secretive of cities, often overlooked by travelers to Italy. Cultural history, intellectual memoir, travelogue, and guidebook, it takes the reader on a quest of discovery through the well- and not-so-well-traveled roads and alleys of a town both medieval and modern.As Tylus leads us through the city, she shares her passion for Siena in novelistic prose, while never losing sight of the historical complexi...

Bergamo Alta is a gem of medieval architecture that has been preserved to the present day. It is very easily reached from Milan by train. Piazza Vecchia is the symbol of the city of Bergamo. Built in 1300, it reached its actual structure during the Venetian domination. On the southern side of the square faces the Palazzo della Ragione, the Communal Age symbol. On the right side, the Civic Tower (XII-XV) rises, well known as Il Campanone, and here there is also the antique Domus Suardorum (...