No comments about Time Out Shortlist Florence (Time Out Shortlist).

5 comments about 1634: The Galileo Affair (The Assiti Shards).

1. This is the first-published "1634" novel in the "Ring of Fire" epic Alternate History being conducted by young Eric Flint. It follows on the brilliant initial "1632" and sequel "1633" novels. They must be read first or you won't care much for this novel. The "Ring of Fire" and "Grantville Gazette I and II" anthologies in the same series will also contribute your enjoyment of "1634." What is going on is an immense collaborative construction of a saga about the trial and tribulations understandably faced by a mining town from West Virginia that suddenly is whipped back intact to 1632 in southern Germany, into the middle of a war chewing up Europeans. While it was initiated by Flint, it has morphed into the work of many authors who are building all the background elements, like genealogies, for a consistent and constrained (no nuclear weapons in W. Va.!) "history" of how the up-time American cope with, and attempt to democratize, a Europe full of conflicts. This is an astounding endeavor, one unique in my reading experience. It looks like five or six "1634" novels will be produced, each taking up one geographical/topical thread of the overall saga, as Grantville attempts to expand its sphere of security.
   
   "1643: The Galileo Affair" is a further embodiment of Flint's philosophy that history moves in many directions and places simultaneously, that it is made up of many threads of change, and the ones with now-famous people in them were not whole story. After the sprawling "1633" almost lost control of its multiplying story lines, this novel, and the other "1634" novels to come, will divy up the continent and will each be more tightly focused on a comprehensible set of problems, characters, and locales within the same year. Read them all and see the big picture after the fact. (What's going to happen in "1635" and later years as the saga of Grantville's citizens ramifies further? It boggles the mind.)
   
   In this book we travel to Italy, with an American embassy from Grantville to Venice, led by humble religious leaders because only they can be spared from other desperate ventures. We do occasionally hear of other threads taking place elsewhere in the saga, but most of the pressing issues raised in "1633" are left in limbo. "Galileo" is particularly notable for the unusually prominent role played by religion in a fictional history, in an age characterized by fierce competition between Catholics and Protestant sects, and all the principalities and kingdoms flunting them, stirred up by marauding mercenaries. Since the detailed, or even general, nature of the affronts taken between the parties is completely obscure history to most of us, considerable digressions into creeds and legalisms are properly necessary. Nevertheless, they also abet the lack of "action," particularly the absence of battle action that readers would expect from Flint's earlier books, in this series and out. Oh, and the Galileo affair is not about the infamously terrible Inquisition of his beliefs we've all heard about. "Affairs" have other meanings.
   
   It is even clearer that the target audience for this series is teenagers. A main sub-plot in this novel features a passel of addled teenage American brothers and their Venetian girlfriend and her family of revolutionarily inclined Stooges. Venice = Venus = Love, right? They cavort and stumble through an inane and picaresque conspiracy to free Galileo, who thought Earth wasn't the center of the Universe. What an indulgence of these brats. Meanwhile, the serious business of expanding the sphere of American influence so they can access essential trade items, like zinc, and withstand their French and Spanish enemies, is in the hands of a priest and a pastor from Grantville on embassy to Venice, the fading capital of Mediterranean trade (no, it is not "sinking" in this story; stinking, yes). The embassy engages in a great deal of religious discussion and maneuvering, eventually leading to a surprising opening to the Catholic church and the Pope in Rome. Teenagers will not particularly enjoy the disputation, but it will be much better than their sanitized textbooks and might seduce a few into understanding why separation of competing churches from the state actually is a vital principle of beneficial government.
   
   I found the chapter-head quotations more confusing and irrelevant than helpful. The prose reads a bit more like military communiques than literature--but then I do like a better sense of place in novels. Don't confuse the reader with ambiguity: everbody is played mostly to type and is pretty obvious: subtle, gentle, foolish, steady, sneaky, dastardly, or so forth. It's fun to suddenly encounter historical people or the roots of modern words: Newton, ghetto, imbroglio, and so on. Clearly this novel is a side thread in the overarching saga of The Ring of Fire, but it develops one good character (Father Mazzare) and ends with considerable intimation and promise of an amazing development to come.



2. A novel about a section of the alternate history that should be forgotten or covered briefly. The story goes off on a tangent from the main storyline that is boring, it should have been either ignored or covered in a few well written chapters in other books. Save your time and money for better books.



3. This is one of numerous spin-offs from Eric Flint's brilliant 1632 and 1633. What that means is that this book (and the other spin-offs) deviate from the primary storyline of the previous books. While expanding the overall story of the impact Grantville has on the world of the 1630's, this book basically ignores the (more exciting) developments of the war with France and the exploits of the USE ambassadors in London, Scotland, and Amsterdam. That is the reason I think most people are disappointed by this book. After being left with so many open plot lines after 1633, readers are anxious to see what happens with those and don't have too much patience with this apparently unrelated (and seemingly unnecessary) new direction. Why spend time developing this new story when your readers are so excited about finding what happens in the primary plot lines?
   
   That being said, The Galileo Affair was enjoyable and informative. The Stone family and Father Mazzare travel to Venice and Rome, establish important diplomatic ties with various groups, and get mixed up in some double-dealing agents that could spoil all of their gains as well as threaten their very lives. This book also chronicles the falling in love of two important Grantville characters, Sharon Nichols and Frank Stone. These two romances couldn't be more different and each is for the most part amusing to see develop. There is very little action in this book (especially compared to the previous books) but lots of diplomacy and intrigue. For some reason this book reads as if it was meant for a somewhat younger audience than the others. This may be the influence of Andrew Dennis, with his attempts at humor sometimes being rather immature seeming. Fighting off muggers and assassins by using your soccer and baseball skills may appeal to some readers, but IMHO it takes away from the otherwise realistic feel of the novels.
   
   Taken as a purely side story, this book is actually rather good. The dynamics within the Catholic church and among the various people of Venice is very interesting. Richeleu and Mike Sterns are still involved here, Mazarini and Mazzare are both developing into very important players, and the overall impact of the Ring of Fire is further developed in this book. Additionally, the same charm that the first two novels have is also present here. The dramatic influence of current day knowledge on life in 17th century Europe is still attractive and fascinating.



4. In this, the third installment to Flint's Assiti Shards series, Grantville's former president, and new prime minister of the United States of Europe (USE), Mike Stearns, sends a delegation to Venice, Italy, to set up firm trade and industrial ties with the city noted for its merchants. While establishing these ties, certain members of the USE delegation simulataneously begin to set up small economic empires of their own, fall in love with the locals, and develop hare-brained schemes to rescue (along with a clan of locals) a certain famous scientist from the shackles of the notorious Inquisition.
   
   The Galileo Affair was certainly not a bad continuation of Flint's series. Indeed, the story continues to provide depth into the world Grantville now finds itself in since the Ring of Fire. However, the story takes much too long to really get going, and even when it does finally start to pick up, there are moments when things just don't feel "realistic". However, I do look forward to further installments in this series; despite the "slower-than-molasses" approach at times to the story, the characters and ideas presented are fundamentally interesting and I most thoroughly look forward to continuing the story of Grantville and its ever-broadening cadre of citizenry.



5. I also am a follower of the series and was dissapointed by the long drawn out pointless plot. I kept reading more each day hoping that the story would pick up or at least become interesting. What I intially liked about the series was when the story slowed it was at least interesting, but this book was torture, and you feel no connection at all with the characters. The well has run dry and Im gone from the series

3 comments about Francesco's Italy: A Personal Journey through Italian Culture - Past and Present.

1. Is this on dvd and why don't you have it for sale. We saw it on the travel channel but would like the dvd. We enjoyed the program.



2. I just discovered this wonderful author & his TV program for BBC was incredible-makes me want to return to Italy today!



3. The best documentary/history of Italy's regions. Very well written and informative while keeping your attention. Wonderful photography. A book to treasure.

No comments about 52 Italian Places: A Pocket Grand Tour.

No comments about Venice (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

No comments about Marco Polo.

No comments about Frommer's Italy's Best Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns.

5 comments about Rome Then and Now (Then & Now).

1. 
   It's difficult to stand in front of an ancient building like the Pantheon or the Coliseum without wondering what these structures and the surrounding areas must have been like in times gone by. Rome: Then and Now helps answer some of the questions that pop into the Roman daydreamer's mind, through the contrast of old and new photographs and well-researched supporting texts.
   
   Obviously, by using only photographs, passionate Roman author and guide Federica D'Orazio can't possibly show us Rome at its peak. But she can show us how much the city has changed over the last century and a half -- complete with goats resting near Trajan's Column, country folk washing their clothes in the Fountain of the Tritons, and a food market filling Circus Maximus -- all of which gives us plenty more ammunition for absent mindedly speculating about the still more ancient past.
   
   The idea for this book is so simple and elegant that it's a wonder nobody thought of it before: the left-hand pages feature grainy sepia prints of important Roman sites; the right side more modern photos of the same areas. And La Dttsa. D'Orazio doesn't just focus on the sites everyone has heard of, but she takes us down the winding alleyways of the Eternal City to show us some sites that many visitors fail to see (there are six pairs of photos from my neighborhood, in fact, a couple of which were very surprising to me even though I've lived there for several years and consider myself a history buff). There are 68 pairs of photos in all, the collection of which must have required an extraordinary amount of research.
   
   I have some relatively minor complaints, though.
   
   Most importantly, I think the book would have been much stronger if the modern photographs had been taken from the exact same angle as their antique counterparts. Sometimes they are, but most of the newer shots are instead taken from the same general area photographers must have used for the older photos, and in a couple of examples they are even taken from a different side all together. Shooting from the exact angle every time would have made the fascinating comparisons this book prompts easier and better.
   
   Also, the texts are written in a way that in some cases reveals the sort of halting style of translated text. I have worked as a translator myself, and I know the work isn't easy -- perhaps my background means my eyes are more sensitive to these shortcomings (they are minor things, such as writing "Column of Trajan" rather than "Trajan's Column"). The problem is nothing that prevents the enjoyment of the book, but the test doesn't quite flow like something written by a good native language writer (though it is better than many other books produced under similar circumstances).
   
   Lastly, I would have liked to have had a table of contents listing the photographs in order, and perhaps a text at the beginning describing how the project came about and the process of tracking down some of these old gems of photographs. But I suppose if my complaint is that I wish I knew more about the book, then in the grand scheme of things it is sort of a compliment as well.



2. When you visit Rome, the buildings lend the impression that in many respects the city has not changed to any large degree in centuries. This book makes clear that while Rome may be "eternal" the architecture of the city is not!
   
   This book has a simple lay out. On the left hand side of the book are full page 19th and early 20th century images of Rome (the latest being in the 1940s) - on the right hand side is a modern image of the same location. The older images vary in quality, but all are clear, my only complaint with the newer images is that they aren't always taken from the same angle as the older one for a true comparison.
   
   If you have ever travelled to Rome this book is fascinating to browse through. Its amazing how much some of the sights of the city have changed in only 150 years. Mussolini made a lot more changes to the city than I realised before I read the descriptions next to the images in this book by demolishing buildings all over the place to make roads and restore some of the ruins.



3. A beautiful book of photos, and a must-have for everyone who loves Rome.



4. As a lover and long-time inhabitant of Rome, I grabbed at this book when I found it on the remainder table of a major bookstore. The "then" part of the book--antique photographs, many of which date to the 19th century--constitutes a marvelous record of Rome's not-too-distant past. The "now' part of the book, however, leaves much to be desired. First, many of the color-photos are washed-out, apparently over-exposed. Buildings are white, skies are even whiter, and much detail of Rome's magnificent architecture has been lost. Next, many of the modern photos have been taken with a wider angle of lens, and from a different perspective than the original photos. In some cases, as when the ground has been excavated some twenty feet (e.g., the Campo Vaccino--now the Forum), accuracy of angle may not be possible; but in others (such as Piazza Colonna with the Antonine column) the same relative perspective is achievable. An egregious example may be found in the pair of photos, one of Piazza Cesarini, taken from one corner [The Via delle Botteghe Oscure? Apparently, since the author mentions the nearby marble-burning kilns.], and the companion picture of the Largo Argentina, taken from the opposite direction, looking from the back of the Republican temples towards the Torre Argentina and the Botteghe Oscure. Since the perspectives are different, the effect of the contrast is diluted.
   
   Much of the value of a book such as this is to be able to view the same area from exactly the same viewpoint so that the changes in architecture and landscape become immediately apparent. And it is the changes in architecture and topography that are important, not the fact that men are wearing bowlers and driving carriages in the old photos, and wearing baseball caps and driving SUVs in the new.
   
   One of the pairs of pictures that does work is that of the little Bramante tempietto of St. John Boiled-In-Oil. In the 1911 photograph on the left, the entrance to the Porta Latina is filled with rubble; in the modern photo on the right--taken from approximately the same angle--the rubble has been cleared, and cars are driving through the travertine-revetted entrance. Here, the differences are unequivocal.
   
   Much of the enchantment of Rome derives from its juxtaposition of warm honeyed light and deep velvet shadow--an aspect totally absent from this book. As I said in my title, I recommend the book--the old photographs are of especial interest to anyone who has ever lived in this charmed city. Because of the largely washed-out modern photographs, however, I have recommended it with reservations--reservations on your favorite airline, that is.
   
   Fly away and recapture the magic of Rome for yourself.



5. This book juxtaposes photos of Rome from the past with modern photos. You can see the rise and fall of Rome through the changes in skyline and landscape. It is especially amazing to see not just what has changed, but the particulars that have stayed the same. This book is great for people who study Rome, those who have fond memories of visiting Rome, and even those who just enjoy history.

No comments about Fleeting Rome: In Search of la Dolce Vita.

2 comments about Your Own Private Tuscany: A Guide to Italian Vacation Rentals.

1. Sensible and well written, Ms. Jennings' "how-to" for renting a vacation villa in Italy is a great investment for hunting, evaluating and enjoying your vacation. As a vacation rental expert, I found every aspect of her book helpful and clearly explained. I am encouraging my clients to purchase this books for many reasons: it lays out the pros/cons of rentals, helps in choosing location and type of rental, explains the owner's perspective and offers advice on how to share a rental. The general travel advice is solid and helpful. The most useful aspects -- you won't find them anyplace -- are the tutorial and check lists on how to evaluate rental properties remotely. I evaluate many properties and assure you she knows all the secret ways that owners use to disguise problems with their rentals. She also lists trustworthy rental agencies and many helpful resources.
   
   Pat Byrne, Excellent Europe - Vacation Rentals in Italy



2. This was a great little book. Easy, quick read - lays out the questions to ask when considering a vacation rental in Italy. Definitely identified things I had not considered, that I will definitely include when narrowing down our rental.