Italy Books

Yes a must have book if you follow the Iso Rivolta automobiles. Loads of real info in the years of production of the Iso cars. Covers all models built from the "egg" car to the one off Varedo, and gives a peek at what the Rivolta group is doing with boats,city cars, and the Grifo 90. Just buy it to look at the picutes its full of full color prints and text to make it a can't put down book.

Winston Goodfellow provides a tantilizing, well written story of of a family's quest to build beautiful, fast yet reliable automobiles. More than a dry history of an obscure Italian car manufacturer, this book highlights the great GT cars of the late 1950s and 1960s, in addition to giving a cultural snapshot of Italian design heritage.

This could be one of the best automotive books ever written. Mr. Goodfellow does more than just detail the history of the Iso car company, he tells the stories behind all of the personalities that helped build these amazing machines. This book gives the reader a detailed behind the scenes look at the Italian car industry during some of the most interesting years. Lots of technical information too! Can't wait for his next book on Giotto Bizzarrini.

Mike Clarke

Great book well informed on the Italian food scene. Tony has the cooks edge on Italian fare.

I would call this book "Italian Cooking Beyond Pasta" - it is a wonderful compendium of genuine recipes in all categories from every corner of Italy. A delight to browse and to cook from.

`Italian Cuisine (2nd Edition)' by Restaurateur, Tony May ranks as one of the best books on the general subject of Italian cuisine as a whole.

Good books on Italian cooking come in all different flavors. There are the great recipe collections such as Michele Scicolone's `1000 Italian Recipes' and Mario Batali's `Molto Italiano'. There are the studies of regional cuisines such as Lydia Bastianich's book on Istrian cuisine, `La Cucina di Lydia' and Lynne Rosetto Casper's excellent study of Emilia-Romagna, `The Splendid Table'. There are the surveys of all Italian regions, as in the classic Claudia Roden book, `The Food of Italy' and a book of the same name by Waverley Root, not to mention the classic by Elizabeth David. There are analytic books on Italian ingredients such as Erica De Mane's `The Flavors of Southern Italy'. There are treatises on styles of Italian cooking such as Susan Hermann Loomis' `Italian Farmhouse Cooking', Patricia Wells' `Trattoria', and Joyce Goldstein's `Enoteca'. There are books of Italian vegetable cooking such as the excellent volumes by Jack Bishop and Faith Willinger. There are dictionaries, such as Antonio Carluccio's `Complete Italian Food' and Anna Del Conte's `the Concise Gastronomy of Italy'. And, let us not forget the Italian-American books such as John Mariani's `The Italian-American Cookbook'. Not to be excluded are culinary memoirs, such as Vincent Schiavelli's `Many Beautiful Things' and other volumes on Sicilian cooking.

This litany of book subjects and titles is simply to distinguish Mr. May's book from all these others. His volume is neither complete nor regional nor personal nor vegetarian nor encyclopedic nor American nor analytical. Its primary focus is on classic recipes and cooking methods. It is very important to note very early in the book the statement that this book was written for culinary professionals. Thus, although it is packed with interesting tips and techniques, the presentation of the methods do assume you know your way around a kitchen. For example, unlike excellent illustrated instructions on pasta making in books by Lydia Bastianich and Marcella Hazan; the techniques presented here are all done without `visual aids'. This is entirely fair, as the book has declared itself a manual for professionals who already know the basics of mixing dough.

While the book does not make the mistake of saying it is `complete'; it does describe itself as an `essential reference to the riches of the Italian table'. I am convinced that no book on a subject so rich as Italian cuisine can cover everything. Therefore, the best books limit their focus to a particular part of the beast and one hopes they don't make any mistakes.

While I still feel this is an excellent book for serious foodies, I did find several statements that seemed mistaken to me. One was the translation of `antipasto' as `before the meal' rather than `before the pasta course', another was the classification of pine nuts and pistachio nuts as herbs, and another was some misspellings of some really rudimentary words. The most serious mistake may have been his misuse of the term soffrito at least one place (My authority is Marcella Hazan's recent book, `Marcella Says...'. While these mistakes are distracting, none of them lead me to believe that the author's statements about cooking techniques are untrustworthy.

My most satisfying discovery in this book, after reading dozens of books on Italian cooking, is new suggestions on how to make some really basic Italian dishes. My favorite discovery was the recommendation to use an especially wide pan in relation to the number of eggs in a frittata, with the warning that if the frittata is too thick, it will take to long to cook and the center will be too heavy. And, while this is not a book on Italian culinary history, Mr. May does make several interesting and, to my knowledge, correct comments on the history of some major Italian dishes such as when he traces dried pasta to a source much older than the Marco Polo fairy tale about bringing spaghetti back from China. Another interesting comment was to cite a similarity between the origins of paella and risotto, tied together primarily by the use of saffron.

I personally find the book exceptionally well organized for it's purpose, as each chapter is devoted to a basic ingredient, technique, or result. The chapters cover bread, condiments, herbs, spices, antipasto, sauces, cured meats, marinades, flatbreads, savory pies and molds, fried foods, eggs, vegetables and salads, legumes, mushrooms and truffles, soups and broths, pasta and polenta, rice, fish, meat, poultry and game, cheese and desserts. My most interesting discovery here is the general classification of `molds'. While almost everyone has probably seen a timbale either in the movie `First Night' or on an episode of `Mario Eats Italy', no previous discussion of this very elaborate dish lets on to the fact that there is a whole family of Italian dishes based on forming the food in molds.

The most useful quality of this book is that it is an excellent source for most of the most common Italian dishes. Some classics may be missing (I couldn't think of any which were not here), but most, such as saltimbocca alla romana, spaghetti alla puttanesca, pizza Margherita, fettuccine alla carbonara, and carciofi alla Romana are all here.

The bibliography is short, but it is composed almost entirely of original, Italian language sources. There are both English and Italian language indexes, which I welcome, but I find a joint index as you will find in books by Marcella Hazan to be better for the English speaker whose culinary Italian is not up to snuff.

This may not be the best book if you simply want a bunch of good Italian recipes, but if you want a sound grounding in Italian cooking techniques, this book must be in your library!

This is one of my favorite Italian books out there. The photography and writing are beautiful. I lived in Naples for 4 years and while there got the opportunity to do a bit of traveling throughout Italy. This book truly captures the feel of being there. Whenever I miss the time I had over there, I bust out this book and give it a good slow flip through, sometimes reading it, sometimes just daydreaming about the sites and places I have been before and hope to visit again.

What words can be used to describe Rothfield's "Italian Dreams"? All that can be said of his images is that they like Italy is a dream- as boundless, captivating and distinguished. With the use of thoughtful quotes by such famous personels as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and George Elliot, this collection of poetry has the magic to "speak" of Italy in a way that keeps me enchanted until the last photograph....Simple things like bloody oranges and Verona's corners are captured- indescribable.

A crazy beautiful book. Every time I wish I were in Italy, I pick it up for a quick, virtual vacation.

Truly one of the best cook books out there for the home cook or experienced chef. Easy to follow and all receipes are just terrific. (I know, I have made them all) Makes a terrific gift for any level of cook.

This was my first cookbook 18 years ago. I still have it and use it regularly.

The recipes are easy to follow and not overly complex. The dishes range from basic to solid to spectacular. Lots to choose from. The lasagna recipe has become our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and gets used many other times in the year.

Excellent choice for part of a basic cookbook set.

This book offers menus that have the true taste of Italy. The menus are fantastic supplying your family with several meals throughout the week; leaving you more time for other activities and less time in the kitchen. Using this cookbook and some of these delicious meals on the menu, twice a week is all that is needed to keep your family healthy, happy, and well fed!

This review applies to a host of "Art" books.
Dry academic writing must be the way to getting published.
I am an artist and would love to see some authors writing
their books from an artist's viewpoint. An academic perspective
leaves me somewhat cold in their analysis of painters,
trying to guess what goes on in an artists mind and their place in the Art World. I would like to see more information on the technical
aspects of how artwork was created...what the everyday world was like in which they lived.
After all, everything was created in the context of the times
that artist's worked. Frankly, if the books were large enough with
examples of pristine reproductions, I wouldn't care what language it was written in. I am willing to pay the price of books with large reproductions of the artist's work.

It's said that more cultural history can be found in Italy than the rest of the world combined. Nowhere is that better demonstrated than in the masterpieces on the walls of Italian churches and palazzos, still vibrant and alive after 400+ years -a truly amazing medium that reached it's peak in a 200 year period from 1400 - 1600. From the Alps to Sicily, some of the greatest of all frescoes are shown beautifully in this volume. You will not see better photography of these extraordinary frescoe cycles anywhere, and, although the author is new to this series(Kliemann)there is no drop off of historical and artistic insight and explanation in the editorial portion of the book. The other two volumes in this series (Early Renaissance and High Renaissance) are masterworks worthy of a museum. In exploring the later cycles, this book equals or exceeds the previous two. If you have seen any of these frescoes, you will find this book fascinating. If you long to visit Italia to see them but can't, this is as good a look as you could ever hope to have. Rich, dense, and beautiful beyond words, this is the kind of book you can spend a long long time with and treasure forever. Worth every penny and more.

These people can do nothing wrong so far, what is really interesting about this book, is we start to see how the evolving influence of the acceptance of oil painting in Italy is starting to influence Fresco.

In the prior books, the color tonality revolves around the support of the egg tempera painting paradigm fresco had been bred under, and the glow and influence of that medium, is transcended in fresco.

This volume starts to show, that oil painting is taking off, and fresco is influenced, and the segway between Tempera and oil is captured with all the subtle changes as fresco evolves.

We are in the carry over from the good old Botticelli days, to the "What is this guy Leonardo up to, days". How this influence migrates into fresco is very interesting and well represented.

What this book really highlites well, is how Raphael, was in the middle and tried to sew it all together...as far as synthesis and integration goes. The quality of the images and text reflect this too perfection.

The contrast back and forth is amazing and captured so well.
A darker tonality sets in, but the highlites of still emulating tempera are preserved, so fresco is "keeping up with the times", these books are nothing short of stunning and incredible, if you study fresco, this series is a masterpiece of publishing. I have written reviews before on the other volumes, and the quality never stops coming. IT DOESNT GET BETTER...PERIOD!!!!!!

You would not reget any aspect of your purchase, and the price is more than fair. Once engaged, these are hard books to break away from, you become mesmerized...it is such high quality work.


Here is the best part....the book winds down at the Farnese Palace/Gallery (now the French embassy in Italy)....hopefully this is a bookmark....anticpating the next chapters which would be an early, mid, and late Baroque Fresco book series addition.

These folks are great, and they have to keep going, we left at the Caracci, so hopefully we can look forward to DaCortona at the Pitti and Barberini palace, some Luca Giordono at the Medici,
Carlo Marratta, (Clemency) , Pamphili Palace etc. The continuation to the eventual Baroque vs Roccoco vs Neo-Classical shoot out would be incredible to follow, with the effort to quality and integrity that the publisher, author, and photographer are committed to.

I really think Venice Frescos, should be their own book, there is just too much there, just call it Italian Venice Frescoes.
Keep the Baroque to Roccoco track focused in 3 volumes.
This way lesser known Baroque work can be included in the Baroque volumes and we can pick up the Plethora of Venetian work in its own volume. Tiepolo and Veronese influence would fill its own book too full. What is so great about this effort is it is including great work from lesser known artists. That should keep going.

These books simply cannot stop coming, and cramming the Baroque into one volume would be a mistake.

Yes, this is a long review, so I apologize I am just trying to communicate enthusiam to potential buyers , so the publisher can keep going, you simply cant go wrong...and this is not a solicited nor a planted review...this is real...I have spent time in Italy...these people know exactly what they are doing, and they are doing a job that would exceed anyones expectations.

And finally a very strong thank you to the publisher...a number of frescoes, which I had requested after the first books, were captured in this one, I can only hope that my reviews could contribute to the strategic direction of such great work.

This fine, large hardback is lush, made with thick paper. Inside, it details frescoes from around Italy in more or less chronological order, earliest-created first. Each chapter details one set of frescoes, giving extensive history and corroborating details along with art analysis of style, including reproductions of other art, then shows diagrams of where each piece of fresco it depicts comes from in the building in question. Then it gives the frescoes themselves, some in wide-shot, some in close-up detail.

The frescoes are beautifully reproduced, in vibrant color, some so close up you can see brushstrokes. They depict people from all walks of life in Italy doing just about everything from praying to hunting to giving birth to you name it. Of particular interest to me were the Sienese hospital frescoes depicted therein -- the most complete I've ever seen anywhere.

Personally, me, I got this for the beautiful costumes it depicts, and it hasn't steered me wrong. It really is an inspiration. But I think anybody interested in art history or in Renaissance art would adore having this magnificent work on his or her shelf. It's worth noting that there's another book in this set which looks to be of equally high quality.

This book is one of the most focused introductions to the vast (and often overwhelming) subject of Italian Renaissance frescoes. Ms. Roettgen has written a 2-volume, chronological study of the most famous, extant, complete fresco cycles. Her work starts in 1400, which is after Giotto, and it ends in 1521, before Michelangelo's birth. Neverthelees, she states that this time period was the Golden Age of the Italian fresco. She starts with the earliest cycles and works her way through so that you see the developmemt of realism, and most importantly, perspective in Western art. Perspective is important because it helped pave the way for optics, the camera oscura, and other scientific and technological developments which created the modern world we live in.
She discusses each cycle as to its history and historical context, iconography (I had to look the word up), and technique. One of the best things about the text is Dr. Roettgen's great gossip about the artists. Fra Lippo Lippi's sex scandal with the Buti sisters at the nunnery makes the Renaissance more real and amusing.
If you don't want to read the fascinating text, the photography is so clear and colorful you will feel like you have actually seen these stunning works of art. In truth, one can see the details of these works much better than the originals because these are so much closer.
These 2 volumes will whet your appetite to learn more about this subject, but are good enough for you to have a huge knowledge and understanding of it on their own. I read these books before going on a trip to Italy, where I saw many of the cycles described. It made the whole trip so much more enjoyable to know what I was looking at.

Stunning photography, well-written, comprehensive historical narrative, and a wide range of styles have made the Italian Frescoes series, now at four volumes, a magificent achievement. From the age Giotto to the advent of mannerism, these incredible books cover the great age of fresco in Italy as well as one could ever hope for. The full-page photos are of amazing quality and give close-up views of sections one could only see from dozens of feet below in many of the chapels, duomos, and palazzos where they are located.

Of the four volumes, this is my personal favorite because it focuses on the true 'renaissance' of the fresco form - the decades when masters like Masolino and Masaccio were taking the advances of Giotto into an era of perspective and realism not seen before. "The Early Renaissance" includes works by these two often collarborators in addition to Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Castagno, Gozzoli, and other early masters who, although perhaps not as well known as the painters of the high Renaissance (spectacularly covered in the next volume in this series), were pushing the boundaries of the fresco toward the epic achievements that would appear in the first decades of the 16th century. As I've written in other reviews of these books - this is the best view you will ever have of these magnificent works short of seeing them in person. And actually, given the distances to ceilings, the available light, and the excellent chance and any of these works could be 'en restoro' for a decade or so, these photos might be better than a visit.

The photography is museum quality and the introductory history and analysis of each of the 21 works covered here by Steffi Roettgen is informative and insightful without becoming laboriously dense in the way some art history books can. The sections on each fresco are accompanied by annotated illustrationa of their location within the structure containing them...a very useful tool to determine exactly which section of the painting each photo represents as well as the challenges the architecture imposed on the artist and his workshop.

If you are interested in the few hundred years during which the fresco was a dominate form in Italy, this book, and the others in the Abbeville series, are ones that you will treasure forever. "The Early Renaissance" just happens to be my favorite of the four. It is worth every penny you will spend to purchase it.

This book (and it's predecessor -"The Early Renaissance")provides a comprehensive and easily approachable - not to mention magisterial - review of the art of fresco painting. The text is authoritative and should satisfy both expert and neophyte alike - but the glory of the book is the colour photographs by Antonio Quattrone. I've been collecting art books for nearly 50 years and have never seen colour photographs to match his magnificent work.For those who are unable to see these frescoes in situ, their beauty - and brilliant colour - will come as a revelation.

These books deserve a 1000 rating, never have these frescoes been covered this well by anyone. The people who have seen these books would agree they are beyond superb. I have seen some of these frescoes and you cant even get behind the altars to get a dead head on shot and most churches wont let you use a flash for photography.

Even if you could use a flash you would never get the brightness of diffuse illumination these books have captured so well, crisp but all the subtle color blends are captured.

These books allow you to see some details you would not see standing in the churches unless you had binoculars,even then the angle would cause distortion.

The color accuracy is great, it is too bad it is not cost effective to print on a satin surface paper as this would provided some of the glow effect real frescoes have, the sheen surface is unique to fresco alone and hard to reproduce.

Credit not only goes to the author and photgrapher but to Abbeville press for stepping up to the plate, this would have been a publishing risk,and for Abbeville to back such a venture with such outstanding quality puts them at the top of the stack in the world of Art book publishing.

These periods of art will never be re-captured, nor will patrons or artists ever tackle projects of the scope found here. This art represents one of the outstanding moments in human evolution. The treatment of fresco at this level is long overdue as most art books cover oil painting, drawing, pastel, printmaking, and sculpture.

I should also mention the great job they did in selecting artists, with all due respect to the "BIG M" , (Mr.Michaelangelo, the vaticans most abused poster boy ),it is great that other outstanding artists from this period finally are allowed to get out of The Big M's shadow in the publishing world. (For every one book about Fillipino Lippi, there are 50 about Marble Mikey, I love the guy,...TOP CHISEL...TOP BRUSH but his fame has left a lot of other good artists ignored by publishers when it comes to fresco,Raphael gets covered a lot, but never the Hall of Constantine, like Romano did a hack job...)

TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE FRESCOES AND THESE BOOKS, PLEASE WRITE TO ABBEVILLE PUBLISHING AND DR. STEFFI ROTTGEN AND SUGGEST THEY CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY, MID, AND LATE BAROQUE AND EARLY NEO-CLASSICAL STYLE FRESOES IN ITALY. MANY OF THESE PALACES ARE NOW CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC SO THE WONDERFUL FRESCOES WILL NEVER BE SEEN, THE ONLY HOPE WOULD BE THAT ABBEVILLE OR SOMEONE LIKE THEM WOULD TAKE UP THE CAUSE.

We need
1) Pitti Palace -Pietro Da Cortona rooms and The Hercules room
NO PHOTO TAKING IS ALLOWED
2) The Altieri Palace - Carlo Maratti,and freinds
3) Barberini Palace - Pietro Da Cortona (Details)
4) The Borghese Palace
5) The Pamphilli Palace and Dore
6) Maybe Luca Girodano at Medici in Florence
7) Farnese Palace
8) Some Conca, Chiari, etc.
there are a whole truckload of fresco's from Baroque Rome
9) some --- Venice, Balogna, and Naples(Tiepolo, Veronese, and Tintoretto are covered in a lot of other books).

These books are well worth the price, keep them coming Steffi!!!

If you've ever stood in Florence's Santa Maria Novella,looked up at the walls to either side of the altar, and wanted to know more...this book and it's companion volume are exactly what you would wish for. These books are beyond description, both for the quality of their photography and the background and interpretation of the fresco cycles they present. As another reviewer said, please - produce a few more of these beautiful books covering other Italian fresco work!

This book was inspired by Falcone's column in The Florentine, Italian Voices: A Window on Language and Customs in Italy. Both her column and this book describe the mentality, temperament, and identity of Italians. In Falcone's book, each anecdote is visually portrayed as well with pictures drawn by Leo Cardini that perfectly illustrate the figurative meaning of each expression.

This book makes the otherwise inconvenient communication barriers easily manageable. As "language is one of the most immediate ways to get to know a culture," this book is a useful tool to help ease the stress of culture shock while also proving to be a carefree read even to Italians, who would enjoy a look at themselves through Falcone's eyes.

I recommend reading this book all in one sitting; must-reads include "Dipende" and "Prego." A lighthearted, fun read, this is also a book that you can pick up and put back down. In a world where communication is essential, this book provides a stronger knowledge of the Italian culture while breaking down the barriers that inhibit the very thing this book is all about: communication.

If you are Italian or have ever visited Italy, this is a look into the true beliefs and superstitions of Italians. It guides them in their every day life. Its funny and charming. An enjoyable read

I started reading exerpts from this book in an Italian newspaper and was excited to see that Amazon was selling it. If you've ever lived or visited Italy and wondered about some of those things that just didn't translate too well- then this book finally makes it clear.

Did not read but am interested in a book on Italians arriving in the Port of New Orleans in early 1900 or late 1800. Anything available?

If your looking for a needle in a haystack, these volumes-"Italians to America" are a must for any Italian-American geneaology buff. Fortunately, I had a death certificate that had the place of birth of my grandfather. Using the index with variations of our last name, I recorded the information and proceeded to lookup every entry. On my second trip to the public library I found the entry and all information checked out. His age, city of departure and his place of birth. My only complaint was that the editors didn't have this information on CDs. It would be a marvelous reference tool. Here's hoping that they have second thoughts about updating their next volume and replace with CDs.

I am absolutely interested in the edition that pertains to the years between 1900 and 1925. Please keep me posted or send it to me when available

Doug's book is an informal guide, almost like having a friend giving you the inside line on travel. We took his advice and stayed in the city of Frascati when visiting Rome. It is a charming city and only 30 minutes by train from the hustle and bustle of Rome. We stayed in a hotel recommended in the book and it was lovely, and the town has some delightful restaurants as well. The views of the aquaducts, mountains and vineyards on the train ride are memorable.
Check this book out, and get a copy of the "Streetwise Rome" map to help you around the city.

We are the authors of Eating & Drinking in Italy. The author of this Italy guide, who lived in Italy and seems to visit often, has written a guide that can be used by budget travelers and those looking for luxury. This guide is opinionated and thorough. It's the only guide we used in Italy on our last three trips. Don't want to carry a lot of guide books? Just take this one.

I planned a self guided tour of Italy this past October/November. In addition to the Open Road guide, I purchased Frommer's 2001 Italy guide book. The Open road book is very well organized and written, providing an overview of Italian history, food and culture. A suggested itinerary is provided for each major city and the recomendations contained therein are invaluable. The reviews of hotels and restaurants are accurate and reflect a range of prices and styles, with an emphasis on the off the beaten path local joints. They even have suggested dishs to order and the best rooms to request.

My trip was a smashing success and I used this book for the majority of my planning.