1 comments about Time Out Florence & The Best of Tuscany (Time Out Guides).

1. This book had it all. A great map, great eating suggestions, and a great b&b to stay at. Time out guides are the best tour book out there. They give you ideas that are sometimes off of the beaten path, but their suggestions are always right on! You don't need another book for your trip, or a map.

No comments about The Mont Blanc Range: Classic Snow, Ice, and Mixed Climbs.

4 comments about Rome: A Cultural History (Cultural Histories).

1. A witty insider's history of the Eternal City. Throw away your Baedeker and read Boardman.



2. A great little book complete with history, maps, and personal insight. Boardman really opens up to the reader and spills his guts about his love for this city. His complete love for the subject matter really comes out in his writing. The book reads like a history book and a story book which makes for easy reading. A nice little book about a city you really need to visit in order to come away with your own story. Bravo.



3. This very cynical Englishman, Boardman, uses this book to disparage Rome, its people and its culture.



4. I have read dozens of books on Rome over the years, and I am compelled to warn fellow readers that this one is for a very narrow taste. The author's idiosyncratic observations and very verbose writing style beg for better editing. This might have been entertaining as a magazine article. However, as a book purporting to be " a cultural and literary companion", author and editor must share the blame for not working the text into a better product. The acidic point of view almost worked, but in the end fell flat.

5 comments about Rome Is Love Spelled Backward: Enjoying Art and Architecture in the Eternal City.

1. In Rome Is Love Spelled Backward [Roma Amor], Judith Testa (Professor of Art History at Northern Illinois University) takes the reader on a fascinating and informative historical survey of the art, architecture, personalities, and wonders of the Eternal City from it founding down to the present day. The five sections around which her commentaries are organized and presented include: Ancient Rome; Early Christian and Medieval Rome; Late Medieval and Renaissance Rome; Baroque Rome; and Modern Rome. A scholarly, highly accessible work, enthusiastically recommended history, Rome Is Love Spelled Backward is enhanced for the reader with extensive notes, a bibliography, list of illustrations, and an exhaustive, nine page index.



2. In Rome is Love Spelled Backward, by Dr. Judith Testa, an almost insurmountable mountain of enthralling history is condensed, controlled, and lovingly compiled into a volume that is not only very readable, but maintains the excitement, and vitality, of the most awesome city in the world. Clearly, Dr. Testa knows and loves this Eternal City.
   Not until I read Testa's, Rome is Love Spelled Backward, and A Traveler in Rome, by H. V. Morton, did I come to understand and agree with the quote, "The ancient ruins are all around you, . . . . This is the center, and all the rest of the world is the periphery." Judith Testa's book is the only book I carry with me while wandering around Rome, year after year. A pre-Roman holiday must read!



3. In Rome is Love Spelled Backward, by Dr. Judith Testa, an almost insurmountable mountain of enthralling history is condensed, controlled, and lovingly compiled into a volume that is not only very readable, but maintains the excitement, and vitality, of the most awesome city in the world. Clearly, Dr. Testa knows and loves this Eternal City.
   Not until I read Testa's, Rome is Love Spelled Backward, and A Traveler in Rome, by H. V. Morton, did I come to understand and agree with the quote, "The ancient ruins are all around you, . . . . This is the center, and all the rest of the world is the periphery." Judith Testa's book is the only book I carry with me while wandering around Rome, year after year. A pre-Roman holiday must read!



4. This is an excellent book but at 42 smackers, the question is "Is it worth it?"

   Well that depends on the user.

   I spent 8 days in Rome and carried this book with me to many places. It was especially handy when tours were unavailable or inconvenient. Testa blends interesting tidbits into a thorough, yet concise, summary of each subject. If you're not rushed for time and have a relaxing 15 minutes to sit outside of St. Peters, or the Colosseum, or one of the other 35 places/topics included in this book (or even later in the hotel), then I would recommend it. This is indeed where the book proves its value.

   If, however, you are rushed for time or deeply interested in one particular topic, other more general (Eyewitness, Rome's Top 10) or more specific books (for all sites covered there are probably many books to chose from) may better suit you.

   Other travel guides are best used for planning purposes. Leave them in the hotel. They're too heavy to carry. Though not billed as a travel guide, this book works really well as just that. This is true *only* if you are the type of person who will take the time to read it. Otherwise, save your money for the gelato.

   Finally, and this is my only criticism of the book's content... or the lack thereof, I was a little disappointed at the breadth of coverage. It seems (again considering the price) more subjects could have been treated. For instance Santa Maria del Popolo was not among the subjects included.

   But this opinion may be a product of how I used the book. It is apparently intended to be a survey, not a comprehensive guide. My review however, is written with the traveler in mind. (If you're just interested in a general survey of Roman art and architecture, I've only read this one. It seems adequate enough.)




5. This book allows you to take a walking tour of Rome and read the fascinating background of the sights in front of you. This book made me understand Rome's depth.
   
   a day in Rome + this book = unforgettable experience (for me).

No comments about All About Ashland: A Guide to the Oregon Shakespearean Festival and Southern Oregon.

No comments about Scenic Routes in the Tyrol and the Dolomites.

No comments about Thomas Jefferson, American tourist: Being an account of his journeys in the United States of America, England, France, Italy, the Low countries, and Germany (American exploration and travel).

1 comments about Milan & the Italian Lakes Travel Map (Globetrotter Travel Map).

1. What a perfect guide to the beautiful glacier Lakes of Norther Italy, the information is easy to access and well organized. Don't make your trip to this magical part of the world without it.

No comments about Florence.

2 comments about By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy (Marlboro Travel).

1. What possessed George Gissing -- best known for his hardscrabble pictures of poverty in London, such as NEW GRUB STREET -- to travel to Southern Italy and write a classical travel book about his journey? Yet there he is, working his way along the underside of the boot of Italy as a traveller. Even then, the area was known primarily for its rural poverty and has not attracted tourism at any time in its existence since the Greeks settled there over 2,000 years ago.

   And yet this is perhaps Gissing's most charming book. He becomes ill, is taken care of by strangers, does his best to escape the clutches of the local bands of outlaws, and succeeds in his quest to see a corner of Europe known to few outside of Italy.

   I highly recommend this book as the best introduction to a writer who deserves a revaluation of his literary reputation.




2. George Gissing certainly composes his thoughts in beautiful poetic prose. His style of writing is delightful and descriptive; however, it was difficult for me to get past his obvious prejudice for the Calabrese. He comes across as an arrogant and pampered Englishman with no interest in southern Italy whatsoever except for its ancient Greek ruins. If I had not been in Calabria at the time I was reading this book I would not have finished it. His relentless whining of the people and conditions is tiresome and his description of southern Italian food is questionable considering the delectable ancient recipes of the area. He even comments about his constant complaining at one point, yet makes little effort to be more optimistic. By the Ionian Sea was written over a hundred years ago and is considered a literary piece, but I would not recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about southern Italy or the Calabrian people.