No comments about World History Biographies: Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World (NG World History Biographies).

1 comments about Venice: Flying over "LA SERENISSIMA" and the Venetian Countryside (Italy from Above).

1. Beautiful book; a very interesting vantage point from which to view Venice. The photos of the surrounding countryside are excellent as well.

No comments about Ismail Merchant's Florence: Filming and Feasting in Tuscany.

1 comments about American Notes and Pictures From Italy (New Oxford Illustrated Dickens).

1. Charles Dickens wrote a detailed log of his trip to America--from the boat in England to his travels on early American trains. His style is very light and entertaining. If you are familiar with his novels about the dark side of London and the social problems that Dickens himself grew up with, this book is quite a contrast. He is writing the book as an Englishman for other Englishmen.

   I was expecting to find a lot of satire against Americans. (His comic piece "Martin Chuzzelwit" had this). However, Dickens was very positive toward the social reforms that he saw in America. He also makes some interesting comments on seeing black slaves for the first time.

   Unfortunately, he wasn't able to travel far, so his impressions of America are limited. Nonetheless, this is a book that I enjoy reading and re-reading.

1 comments about Florence in Detail: A Guide for the Expert Traveler.

1. When it became known that Rizzoli and the International Herald Tribune were collaborating on a series of guidebooks to Rome, Venice, and Florence, I had great hopes. Alas, while this (and the other city offerings) are adequate, they fail to break new ground by providing useful information not already available from other sources, including the Internet.

   The visitor to Italy minimally requires at least three types of information: Sites and Attractions; Lodging; and Food. Addiitionally, rampant consumerism also mandates information on Shopping.

   The In Detail series touches all these bases, but most of the detail falls in that first category-- Tourist Attractions. In the latter two (or three) categories, In Detail provides thumbnail information on lodging choices, restaurants, shops, etc., but there are other books which concentrate primarily on food/lodging, and these cover those important decisions in greater detail.

   What I found particularly disappointing is the graphic design of the maps, which should have been this series strongest point. Instead, too many green numbered sites seem lost in the fold of the pages or disappear into the greenery of the map. Finding a particular location sometimes feels like an all-green version of "Where's Waldo?"-- you know that numbered spot is somewhere on these pages, put where, dammit, where? Suffice it to say that because of poor graphics, the maps are very disappointing and difficult to use. And far below what one expects from Rizzoli, the renowned purveyor of high quality art books!

   Another less critical cavil is that the overall quality of the photographs is noticeably uneven. Some are typical tourist bureau publicity shots, while others seemed to have been taken by your average disposable camera tourist . The composiiton, color quality, lighting, etc., leave much to be desired, and a glance at the photo credits would seem to indicate that in many instances poor snapshots instead of professional photographs were indeed utilized.

   In summary then, as an entry into the "One Guidebook" race, this series competes with Cadogan, Eyewitness, Fodor's, Frommer's, Access, Let's Go, etc., offering much of the same information-- some new, some quite familiar. None are perfect; you pay your money, you make your choice.

   At the same time, if you plan on staying in Florence (or Venice or Rome) for more than a few nights, then you might also want to seek out the more specialized guides, such as Duncan Petersen's "Charming Small Hotels" or Sandra Gustafson's "Cheap Sleeps" and "Cheap Eats," Faith Heller Willinger's "Eating in Italy," or Emily Miller's "Food Lovers Guide to Florence." These specialized guides are definitely worth considering-- and provide much more information to help you decide where to eat and sleep. (And Gustafson's maps are in legible black and white).

2 comments about Walking in Italy.

1. Just back from a trip to southern Italy, and want to caution readers about this book. While the descriptions of trips are adequate, we found the rating system and time estimates for the walks to be very misleading.
   
   My husband and I are reasonably fit walkers - we averaged about 8-10 miles a day while in Italy - but on the island of Capri, this book threw a monkey wrench into our plans because of its underestimation of the difficulty of the proposed walks.
   
   The first walk, pretty much a 3-mile paved uphill grade to the marvelous Villa Jovis they rated "easy, but lots of steps." By the time we got to the top, we raised our eyebrows at the rating of "easy" because people who are minimally fit or have trouble walking would doubtless find this difficult. We were definitely looking forward to an "easy" walk down to the Grotto di Matermania later in the afternoon. What the authors described as "steps" was a one-person-wide staircase nearly 3/4 miles long of straight-downhill steps with no banister or railing. It was not only steep, but pretty problematic for anyone who's not crazy about heights. Halfway down, I turned back because I was becoming dizzy. My husband returned the next day to complete the walk, and confirmed that the flight of "steps" was indeed very long. The authors estimated the two walks would take "at least four hours" to complete; the trip took us at least 6. On an island, where it is necessary to catch a ferry at the end of the day, a better estimate would be helpful.
   
   The book lacks substantive details about what you'll see on the trails, providing little information about the sights. More detail, and a more realistic picture of what's ahead on the trail, is a must for any book focusing on walks.



2. As the editorial review says this book covers walks in both the countryside and in major tourist towns & cities.
   Introduction
   The short Introduction covers Grading of the walks ( the walk on the island of Capri refered to by the earlier reviewer Lisa is graded easy but lots of steps),Path waymarking, Where to go in the towns and countryside, When to go where- wildflowers and climate,How to travel, Where to stay, What to take, and Warnings and Tips. There are colour photos right through the book and colour hand drawn maps showing the route.
   
   Town walks
   There are several walks described in each of the "big three" major cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice,with walks also ( north to south) in Turin, Bergamo, Verona, Padua, Genoa, Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna, Lucca, Pisa, Perugia,Naples,Palermo, Siracusa, Taormina and Cagliari.The town maps are generally adequate. The names of the buildings etc on the walks are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps which is good. Each map also has a short list of 3 or 4 "Dont Miss" buildings on the walk.There is even a list of opening hours of the main attractions on the walk( very necessary in Italy). I used the walks in 7 towns other than the "big 3" and found them very good. There is not a lot of detail about each building so if you want more you may want a "Rough Guide Italy" too. Tourist office's street and email addresses are given along with web sites.
   
   Countryside Walks
   The main value of the book for me though was the descriptions of walks in the countryside. Importantly each area has a SUGGESTED BASE and the walks are either circular from the base , or you can get to the begining and/or the end by public transport. This is a big point of difference of this book from other Italy walk books which often assume you have a car. Almost all the walks are day walks, not multiday strenuous Treks.The 11 country areas covered ( listed N to S with base) are: Gran Paradiso ( Valnontey), Lago di Como( Menaggio), Dolomiti(Cortina),Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore- but you can easily use another village on the coast), Tuscany ( San Gimignano), Chianti( Radda), Umbrian Hilltowns(Assisi), The Maiella (Campo de Giove), Amalfi Coast(Sorento),Temples of Sicilia, and Sardegnan Wilds(Dorgali). There are generally 3 walks described in each area with maps that show the route, a total of 32 walks. Most countryside walk chapters also give a short description of "Other walks in the Region" without maps.The walks are almost all 4 to 7 hours in length. There are no 1-2 hour walks.
   
   I have completed 15 of the mapped or other suggested countryside walks and so feel qualified to comment on the book. Names of "waypoints" along the trail are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps (as for the town walks).The points are generally churches, peaks of hills and sometimes track junctions. But they are a good method of knowing you are on the right trail. Each chapter lists the relevant topographic map(s)for the area and generally I would recommend you buy it as the handdrawn colour maps in the book are really not adequate for safe troublefree walking. There are usually track junctions not described in the text or maps that can therefor be quite confusing. The text could use the simple directives to turn left or right at track junctions a bit more. Some country areas have well waymarked paths eg Gran Paradiso,Tuscany and Amalfi coast.Others like Umbria less so and book directions become more critical.The walking times given should be regarded as a minimum. If you dawdle and look around as I do you should allow longer.
   My picks would be Alpe Money in Gran Paradiso, Tre Cime de Lavaredo in Dolomiti, San Donato loop in Tuscany, Sentiero Azzurro and walk to Hill Sanctuaries in Cinque Terre, Trevi to Campello in Umbria ( but care needed in route finding) and "Above Positano" (Sentiero degli Dei - Pathway of the Gods) on the Amalfi Coast.
   With the described quibbles aside, the book is a fine introduction to the sights in lesser known Italian towns and the delights of the Countryside.Go and explore.

No comments about Frommer's Florence, Tuscany and Umbria.

No comments about Authentic Sardinia (Authentic Italy).

No comments about Florence: Just Add Water.

1 comments about Pocket Menu Reader Italy (Langenscheidt's Pocket Menu Reader).

1. The first 64 pages of this pocket book cover national and regional dishes as well as useful descriptions of cheeses, cold cut meats, pasta, wines, liqueurs, sweets and pastries and other specialties. This part of the book is the most interesting, for you can find useful information, e.g. "Brunello di Montalcino: Tuscany. One of the finest wines. Red, full-bodied, dry, aged for 4 years." or "Speck: Trentino Alto Adige. Smoked raw ham, very lean and surrounded by a layer of fat."
   The rest of the book is normal stuff. You get 18 recipes to try at home - I am Italian and dare say they are not perfect - then you get some useful phrases and at the end of the book there are two gastronomic glossaries, Italian/English and English/Italian. It says "dictionary" but there aren't any IPA transcriptions, just the genders explained by means of the letters m, f, or pl. for the plural form, and for the Italian pronunciation you get an imitation of it, a spaghetti-English and not a perfect one, e.g. intossicazione alimentare: eentos-seekats-yohnay alee-mayn-tahray, which makes me wonder why travelling people shouldn't be aware of the phonetics rule which makes a language alive.
   If compared to the Collins "Italy: A Visual Phrasebook and Dictionary", this pocket menu reader could be improved, and that's why I gave this product only three stars.