A sweeping history of the Italian Jewish experience from antiquity to todayJews arrived in ancient Rome before Christianity existed, and they have maintained a continuous and influential presence in Italy for more than twenty centuries—the longest in Western Europe. The Jews of Italy is an engaging history of Jewish life in Italy, from ancient times to the present. Anna Foa’s vivid and authoritative chronological narrative traces this remarkable history th...

**A New York Times BestsellerThe first woman to serve as United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory conveys the spirit of a people through 10 unforgettable stories of resilience and humanity.**Francesca Albanese is the most lucid voice against Israel’s apartheid policies in Gaza and the West Bank, a voice that has been heard around the world when it comes to speaking the truth about the Palestinian genocide. In the wake of October 7, 2...

Gorgeous illustrations enrich this ode to nature and sustainability inspired by St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures”—from the acclaimed botanist and author of The Incredible Journey of Plants.The oldest poetic text in Italian literature, St. Francis’s 13th-century song offers a surprisingly timely message. Taking inspiration from the Laudes creaturarum in his latest book, Stefano Mancuso highlights its revolutionary ecological visio...

A mysterious murder in present-day Milan intertwines with a cold case from the 1940s in this thrilling novel about film, freedom, censorship, and the persistent threat of fascism.An acclaimed director, Manlio Parrini, decides to return behind the camera. Having abandoned cinema at the height of his success because he found the industry to be “a place without truth,” he now, in his 70s, has a special story in mind: a film about Augusto De Angelis, a pioneer of Itali...

In this unconventional and accessible history, Italian best-seller Alberto Angela literally follows the money to map the reach and power of the Roman Empire. To see a map of the Roman Empire at the height of its territorial expansion is to be struck by its size, stretching from Scotland to Kuwait, from the Sahara to the North Sea. What was life like in the Empire, and how were such diverse peoples and places united under one rule? The Reach of Rome explores these questions through an ingen...

Spend a day in ancient Rome with this brilliantly immersive journey into the past.“A wonderful book for lovers of history and novices alike.”—History and other ThoughtsThe wondrous extravagance of banquets where flamingos are roasted whole and wine flows like rivers. The roar of frenzied spectators inside the Colosseum during a battle between gladiators. A crowd of onlookers gathered at a slave auction. The silent baths and the boi...

Barbara Frale gives us an explosive, exhaustively researched history of the medieval world’s most powerful military order, the Templars. At its height, the Order of the Knights Templar rivaled the kingdoms of Europe in military might, economic power, and political influence. For 700 years, the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition-which held the key to the t...

Rediscover the World War I masterpiece—one of the few memoirs about the Italian front—for fans of military history and All Quiet on the Western Front.An infantryman’s “harrowing, moving, [and] occasionally comic” account of trench warfare on the alpine front seen in A Farewell to Arms (Times Literary Supplement).Taking its place alongside works by Ernst JŸnger, Robert Graves, and Erich Maria Remarque, Emilio Lussu...

A renowned plant expert explains how we can make urgent, positive changes to our cities that protect against and reduce global warming.The conquest of new lands has been the greatest occupation of our species: for hundreds of thousands of years, humans have searched for new territories to inhabit, finding in the city the best place to live in the last hundred years. Looking at the parabola of our geographical expansion, it appears that humans have gone from being a...

**Named a Best Book of the Year for the Know-It-All by The Globe and MailIn this richly illustrated volume, a leading neurobiologist presents fascinating stories of plant migration that reveal unexpected connections between nature and culture.**When we talk about migrations, we should study plants to understand that these phenomena are unstoppable. In the many different ways plants move, we can see the incessant action and drive to spread life that has led plants t...

A young Venetian man and woman face hardship and high seas adventure across the Mediterranean in this prize-winning novel set during the Renaissance.Venice of the late sixteenth century is an unforgiving city. The Doge rules with an iron fist and the Holy Office of Inquisition harbors suspicions about everything and everyone. It is a place where even the walls have eyes. So when a recently married stonemason by the name of Michele is accused of a crime he didn't com...

Christ’s nemesis Judas Iscariot remains a shadowy figure in the four canonical gospels, which give contradictory reasons for why this rogue disciple betrays Christ. But how would Judas himself explain his motives?In Glory, Italian modernist Giuseppe Berto’s final novel, Judas finally tells his side of the story. From his perspective, Jesus is the betrayer, a would-be political activist and social reformer who fails to live up to his promises. And by fulfilling his predesti...