Italy Books

I thought the book had really good pictures and was easy to understand. I learned alot of stuff. My teacher liked the book too.

The book Renaissance Artists Who Inspired The World as one of the Explore The Ages books was a satisfying and delightful
read. As both a grade school educator and Italianate , the reader found this book to be a treasured experience .

The book was a complete learning experience with text , visuals
and end of book learning activities .

The text was well researched and thourough . It presented a balanced view of artists , accomplishments and of women artists as well.

The visuals are rich with information and color. They continue to be a source or information and enjoyable source for rereading. The timelines are perhaps the best of any .

The learning activities of Readers' Theater , Family Theater , variety of activities and the Test of Knowledge
create a complete reading and learning experience.

The glossary , index and skills index are reader and learner compatible as well .

Reading this book was especially enjoyable after just taking a mini course about the Renaissance Art. The two seemed to be complimentary . The book was very successful in delivering information about what the Renaissance inspired . A follow up trip to Italy proved the reading of this book to be very helpful. The Renaissance spirit easily captured in this book makes it easily discovered again in Italy .

Thank you Gregory Blanch and Roberta Stathis for this true treasure !

As an art lover and architect, who has been reading extensivelly about Italy and spent three weeks exploring the city, I define this book as comprehensive, delicious to read and excellent in contents. Turner explains how the city has achieved such a moment in human civilization, not only by its art, but by its economics, technology, geography, historic context, social behavior. This book is one to fall in love with, and I would put it as a must read together with Kenneth Clark's Civilization.

The book is very well done. The photographs are of high quality; the coverage complete. I purchased the volume as background information for an art history survey course I'm enrolled in (I already hold a post-grad degree), and found it to be an excellent supplement to the cursory review my textbook offered.

Well written and incredibly insightful. It could very well be the best book to date on the subject of facism.

Carsten has written quite possibly the definitive guide to this subject. His eloquence and insight is marvelous, I urge you to read it.

Written from the view of the combat infantryman this book is a griping account of the US 36th. Division's disasterous battle at the Rapido River in the winter of 1944. The author spent two years researching and editing 140 accounts from the soldiers in the line companies to the officers in division headquarters. The result is an epic account of a brave but futile effort "where victory was less likely than death." This book has both the documentation the serious student of World WarII desires combined with the easy style of one of grandad's tales. Best if read in one sitting (Just over 100 pages of text) for maximum effect. This is a verbal "Saving Private Ryan."

The book is based on the stories given by WWII veterans of "Texas" 36th Division who were at the Rapido River. The Rapido River was a slaying of brave Texas National Guard Soldiers. The Nazi's had an advantage over the 36th, killing a large number of the brave Americans who were following the orders of General Mark Clark. Clark's action were investagated by congress, and to this day, the information about the battle is top-secret. The Autor, Lee Carraway Smith started this book as a report in a college history report, but she got so involved in the story, she wanted the people to hear the veterans side of the story. The books contains a special section of Pictures, Goverment Documents, and historical images of this bloody battle. This book will inform the public about this "unknown" but true World War II battle.

In 2003 author Jack Zipes translated Beautiful Angiola, the first half of Laura Gonzenbach's treasury of folk and fairy tales told by Sicilian peasants. Now the newly published second installment, Robber With A Witch's Head: More Stories From The Great Treasury Of Sicilian Folk And Fairy Tales , collected by Laura Gonzenbach provides the conclusion of the two volume series with almost fifty new stories about demons and princes alike. In the late 1800s Gozenbach spoke with Italian peasants to gather their stories - but she died young, and many of her papers were destroyed in the 1909 earthquake. It seemed fitting that Jack Zipes, one of the world's experts on fairy tales and folklore, should undertake the task of translating and publishing her life's work: Robber With The Witch's Head is a fitting tribute indeed.

This is the second and final volume of Sicilian folk and fairy tales collected by Laura Gonzenbach, now translated by Jack Zipes. The first volume is titled, "Beautiful Angiola."

Here's my review of the first volume which can be applied to this second volume, too. After all, Zipes' introduction is only slightly revised from the first to accommodate the second.

Here the inexhaustible Jack Zipes edits and translates a lesser known, but arguably very important, collection of Sicilian folk and fairy tales. Originally collected and recorded by Laura Gonzenbach in mid-19th century Sicily, these tales provide a different perspective on the folklore of the time and ours today. Zipes argues that this collection is perhaps the most important collection from the time period, even more important than the Grimms' collection. The tales are unadulterated, carefully recorded to reflect the voice of the original teller. Since Gonzenbach collected primarily from women tellers and was herself female, the feminine perspective of the tales hearkens back to the French Salons albeit at a different class level. Be warned that these tales have not been softened and at times reflect the violence, cruelty, and unfairness of life with clear language; these stories are not for the nursery. Zipes' comprehensive introduction and endnotes (including Aarne-Thompson classification numbers) enhance the scholarly weight of the text, but the stories can be read strictly for the enjoyment of the armchair folklorist.

This collection is especially recommended for readers interested in 19th century folktale collections, feminist folklore and Sicily.

Highly recommended.

"Rocks" is both a travel guidebook and a life-attitude guidebook. I wish I had known about Claudia Crosetti's travelogue before my bookclub had read "Eat, Pray, Love". Both books explore the flavors of Italy amidst personal journeys. Comparing the two, I found that I could relate more easily to Claudia's "Rocks In My Pockets". Crosetti's writing is more down-to-earth: she's a regular person experiencing what she's been dealt in a straightforward manner. Claudia seems a familiar friend: after finishing her book, you feel as if you've laughed and cried and learned all about the best way to experience a foreign country over a bottle of vino (or due capuccini or due birre)!

A charming and frank storyline. A helpful exploration of how to avoid tourist traps, and experience, "the real Italy."

This is a welcome addition to the literature on Rodin, but what really distinguishes this book is the quality of reproductions. Particularly noteworthy are the small Michelangelo studies (drawings and especially a great wax figure and a woodcarved Crucifixion) and the Rodin gouache drawings, and his small plaster maquettes. Lastly you can truly see the patinas on the Rodin bronzes. I highly recommend this-- its production values are high.

I have read a few books about Rodin and Michelangelo ( like James S. Ackerman's book )and I really enjoyed this book. It is a solid book, it has full-color images, and I recommend it to any art lover.

The targeted audience for "Roman Amphitheaters" is students ages 9-12. Designed as an information book for a school library, this volume makes a wonderful research tool for reports, projects, and personal reading. With at least one picture, sometimes three and four, per two-page spread, plus sidebars, the book invites older children to come in and spend time learning about Roman amphitheaters. It is also a quick and easy go-to book for adults wanting information they can attain quickly and with pictures.

"Roman Amphitheaters" is one of the best information books for its intended age group I have ever seen. The writing follows good writing practices with proper vocabulary and sentence structure. Not one word is wasted, nor is the book dumbed down. Don Nardo, the author, simply kept his audience in mind as he wrote. The organization is first-rate.

Nardo introduces his subject with a modern description of the Colosseum and a brief history of the founding of Rome and the story of its builders. To be sure, Romans were great builders and "without a doubt the most skilled and successful builders in the whole ancient world" (11). The first stone amphitheater was constructed in Pompeii and later completely preserved by volcanic ash. The epitome of amphitheater, is, of course, the Colisseum, which has outlived the Empire

The Colisseum could hold 140 modern high school gyms and was three stories high, that is stone arches on stone arches on stone arches. The gladiators were considered both crude and esteemed. Whatever people thought, they came for miles to watch the matches.

Another big-time favorite was the wild beast shows. Animals from all over the known world were brought in to display their talents, fight another animal or a human gladiator. The shocking role for animals turned into mass graves for them: about 9000 animals died in the Colisseum in the three months following its opening.

So what happened to the amphitheaters? Christianity brought converts, included emperors and their families and followers, who abandoned blood sports as un-Christian. In the centuries following, local merchants, builders, and homeowners helped themselves to the marble, travertine, marble, and stone. In 1825 the first conservation effort was initiated by stone removal. Efforts are still in process.

Information. Pictures. Quick facts. A great source: "Roman Amphitheaters." Look for the other two in the series: "Pyramids of Egypt (Watts Library)" and "Greek Temples (Watts Library)".

Roman Amphitheaters by Don Nardo is a fascinating and well-researched study for young readers about the history of amazing Roman architectural structures such as the Colosseum, embellished with full-color photographs and illustrations. Touching upon the history of Rome, and showcasing both the splendor of the ampitheaters and the cruelty to which they were sometimes put, Roman Amphitheaters offers children an amazing glimpse into history itself....

This book has the most up-to-date list of entertainment locales in the ancient fun city, Pompeii. The study also has a fascinating study of Roman family and marriage laws, exciting information about the history of women in business.

The fourth title in the scholastically outstanding "Marco Polo Monographs" series, Roman Hospitality: The Professional Women Of Pompeii by John DeFelice, is an informed and informative historical study of the sex trade in ancient Pompeii. From excavated brothels, to the subtle nuances of marriage in the eyes of the law vs. informal marriages among slaves, Roman Hospitality studies sex and sexuality in a very evenhanded manner, thoroughly documenting its hypotheses, and offering a very thorough bibliography. An essential addition to academic reference collections and reading lists, Roman Hospitality is a seminal and extremely important contribution to the study of Roman culture and history.

This book allows for the quick and accurate attribution of Republican and Imperatorial coinage, also referred to as Family and Consular coinage. The illustrations present all major designs and easy-to-follow descriptions aid in identification. Depending on the edition, the values can be somewhat out-of-date and are figured in Pounds Sterling, but a rough conversion can always be made and the differences in values reflect the rarity and desirability of each coin. Anecdotal information about the moneyers is usually provided as well, giving insight into the symbolism behind these coins. This book is still the most user-friendly, for both dealers and collectors, among the works written on Roman Republican and Imperatorial silver coinage.

This is the standard reference book for collecting ancient Roman silver coins. Although it was first published many years ago, it is still THE standard work on the subject. No collector of Roman silver should be without it. Always buy the book first, then the coin.