Italy Books

This book provides a wonderful look at the Campania region. I bought it before a trip to Italy, and hoped to use it as a guide of the region that I would be visiting. We stayed in Positano and visited a number of cities, including Vico Equense, Sorrento, Ravello, Caserta, Salerno, Minori, Vietri sul Mare, and several other small towns in the region. The only thing lacking in this book is detailed directions to find the stores. For example, we tried to visit a wine shop in Caserta that the book highly recommended. Armed with two maps with printed directions from Google Maps and Microsoft Live Local, we still had no luck finding it. It is very difficult to find a good map service of the area, and if this book would provide detailed directions to reaching these stores, a few maps, and maybe photos of the storefronts, it would be absolutely perfect!

I lived in Naples for 3 1/2 years and traveled all over the Campania region, but I didn't find this book until our last month and wish I had it from the start. It is very good and we tried several of the locations before we left . Show the book to the stores or restaurants that you visit , they have their own copies.I reccommend it to anyone planning on taking the trip or those who want to see what it is like.

Still waiting for delivery of the book that I paid for over a month ago. Contrary to popular opinion Cape Town is a first world city with a decent postal service. I want the book to accompany me to the Naples area shortly and will be extremely disappointed if I have to leave without it. If a client has opted for expedited shipping perhaps you should take it upon yourselves to check that this is possible otherwise you should remove the option from your website

Fantastic resource for planning gastronomic adventures in Campania. We are using this guide to help us plan for an upcoming trip to a less-traveled area in southern Campania. This amazing book provides great insight for food and wine lovers who want to know where to go, and what to eat and drink when you get there. There is simply no way I could have compiled this information on my own.

We have lived in the Naples area for the past year, but found more wonderful local sources for food and wine in one weekend using this well-researched guide than we found in the whole previous year! Much of life in Southern Italy is governed by word-of-mouth, and Carla Capalbo has done the hard work for anyone interested in the wonderful array of local food, wine, and olive oil available here. Brava!

As an avid cook/baker and a Sicilian American, I find this book indispensible. It is tattered and worn, having never left my kitchen. Though we enjoy many recipes, the wine and cheese recipe makes the best sausage I have ever tasted.

This book is DIVINE! My Italian mother-in-law, of whom still resides in southern Italy, gave me this book to take home and feed her son. It is a wonderful book that always makes my husband smile! The recipes are just like the ones I was shown in Italy. Everything is very simple to prepare and tastes fabulous! Take heed from a woman married to man who loves his mother's cooking, it is great!

Carlo Middione's THE FOOD OF SOUTHERN ITALY is of that rare category of cookbooks in that you are never sure which you like doing more, cooking from his book, or reading it in a comfortable chair. You can hear his voice as you read his heartwarming stories of his fascinating life and culture. The recipes are fantastic, 'Nfigghiulata Antica, Cozze con le Salsicce and his different ways of doing Baccala are among my favorites from this book. This is a very well researched landmark in Regional Italian Cuisine, that's why it stands out. Mr. Middione is in the same legue as Waverly Root and Elizabeth David.

If I had to buy just one book on southern Italian cooking it would be this one. The book is quite interesting because of his knowledge of the various regions, which he breaks down and expands upon, and ingredients that are used. The recipes are great.

Simply the best cookbook to buy!

Got it years and years ago -- maybe late 80s -- one of my first cookbook purchases when I was still in Middle School as a matter of fact. Excellent book (I highly recommend the Sicilian rosemary chicken). My dust jacket is damaged well beyond repair, and common sense tells me I should have thrown it out long ago, but I don't want to. The recipes are great, the graphic design of the book is unique and easy to read, and the pictures are some of the slickest and most appetizing I've ever seen in an American cookbook.

My only complaint with the book is that it's a bit too professional -- tools like raviolatrici (a very hard-to-find rolling-pin-like device used for making ravioli) and plaques au four (basically a huge cookie sheet) are not readily available in many places, requiring recourse to restaurant supply houses and large Italian neighborhoods; also, there is a one-size-fits-all approach to certain things such as bread dough that fits perfectly into a catering business such as the author's Vivande Porte Via but short-shrifts the richness of traditional Italian baking. These are minor issues, though, worthy of docking a half-star at most, and all the recipes are still quite usable for the home cook, and even then the professional mentality still leads to a great attention to detail. The book is eminently usable.

Published in 1987, this is now quite an old book, but it's still in my opinion a classic of Italian cooking. Just prepare yourself for the possibility that you might need a second copy in case your main copy gets trashed in the kitchen.

Caroline Lawrence writes incredibly detailed, fascinating stories. This one is no different. The well-paced plot keeps you turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next.

However, this is a very bloodthirsty book mainly because the Roman games were bloodthirsty games. The children explore their feelings about the violence and find that the bloody nature of the sport can be both frightening and addicting.

I really felt that some of the descriptions bordered on too graphic. One of my main problems with this book was the part with the little girls being eaten by hippos and crocodiles. The main character, Flavia, just barely manages to escape death through the intervention of her former slave, Nubia. I found the entire scene with the girls in the water to be disturbing. It was fairly graphic and heartbreaking. I have a fairly vivid imagination and I actually ended up dreaming about this scene the night after I read the book.

The bottom line is, if you have a child who is prone to nightmares or who has an over-active imagination, then this would be one I would have them skip. However, since the plot line is important to the rest of the series, it would be good to read it and summarize the events for your child. This is what I did for my son.

These books are just great for kids who love adventure, excitment and like to learn about history in entertaining way. My kids can't put these books down and now have a real image in their minds of what it was realy like to be a child growing up in this time in history. Kind of scary!!!!!

Flavie, Nubia and Lupus are all mourning the death of their dear friend- Johnthan. But when rumours start spreading of him being alive in Rome, Flavia and Nubia, with Lupus, decided to investigate.

This was once again another great book from Caroline Larence- an amazing author who depicts ancient rome in a truly outstanding way. I enjoyed this book immensely and it is a must-read for any historical fans.

The Roman mystery series is as good as it gets. Three of the children--Flavia, Nubia, and Lupus, go in search of their friend Benjamin who was last seen during the burning of Rome. Rumor through the city says that a dark, curly haired boy set the fire and Emporer Titus is searching for him. Emporer Titus is also opening the Flavian Amphitheater, now known as the Colesseum, with 100 days of celebration that will include gladiator fights and executions. The three friends find mystery and danger as they search for their best friend. Nubia holds the means to save either Benjamin or her brother, a gladiator, which will she choose? This series is exciting and in the process describes the life in Rome of 80 A.D.

If your pre-teen reads this book, she/he may want to run to the nearest bookstore to buy an armful of books on ancient Rome. Not because there's too much in it that's incomprehensible, but because Lawrence makes it a very realistic and compelling world--both the "good" and the "bad." The protagonists--all children--adroitly negotiate a morally difficult world where men, womnen and even children are victims of spectacular (and bloodthirsty) games in the Flavian amphitheater. However, the narration is also quite sensitive to the young reader's possible reactions, and sympathetic views are always heard from at least one character. The subject of personal loss and family tragedy is well explored here. I'm not a a mental health professional, but this books feels like the type that might help a child who has had to cope with the loss of a loved one. I've read every book in the series and as an educator in literature, I highly recommend it, and also the other books in the series.

The Italians Newby depicts in this memoir (and also in his "A Small Place in Italy") are often funny, but never buffoonish. Newby's warm admiration for country folk is always evident, as in this passage where a retired stonemason helps remove an enormous boulder from the hideout the locals are making for him:

"He went over it with his hands, very slowly, almost lovingly. It must have weighed half a ton. Then, when he had finished caressing it, he called for a sledgehammer and hit it deliberately but not particularly hard and it broke into two almost equal halves. It was like magic and I would not have been surprised if a toad had emerged from it and turned into a princess who had been asleep for a million years."

Readers familiar with Newby's travel writing will find all his strengths here: his eye for detail, his warmth of character, his humor (mostly self-deprecating). They will also find a love story -- one made all the more poignant by Newby's craftsmanlike selection of few but telling scenes.

During World War II, the rural citizens of northern Italy vowed to assist Allied soldiers on the run in their mountainous region. They were operating on an informed heart, on the Golden Rule, wanting to give aid to those who opposed the hated Fascists and Nazis as they would hope someone would help their own sons. And while the Allies were protected by the Geneva Convention should they be captured, the citizens were not and they were subject to less humane punishment, sometimes torture and death, if their actions were found out. But they did it anyway. It is these people, who otherwise lived a pastoral, ancient way of life, whom travel writer extraordinaire Eric Newby profiles in his memoir, LOVE AND WAR IN THE APENNINES.

Those familiar with Newby's other books will find his signature wit, self-deprecating humor and descriptive powers at work here, but his curiosity and appreciation of other people and cultures is in highest gear. He comes to meet the peasantry of northern Italy after fleeing a prison during the chaos following the ouster of Mussolini in September 1943. He is helped by a succession of individuals and families, including the woman who would become his wife and companion in later adventures, the estimable Wanda. The book ends with his unfortunate recapture by the Germans and in an epilogue he revisits the people who took him in ten years after.

Newby is a hugely gifted writer, his sentences are knowing and clear as a bell. He orders information rhythmically, always knows when less is more and more is more. He never bows to sentimentality, never sells anyone out. He does a remarkable job of expressing the fear and dispiritedness that politics and war heave on a people, at the same time revealing their resilience. There is much to admire in this book.

Eric Newby knows how to tell a story. This is one of the few books that I started over again immediately after finishing it the first time. The insight into the minds of these extraordinary Italian farmers who hid prisoners of war without thought to their own lives and safety is one of the great adventure reads to come out of World War II. Having passed through this countryside so many times traveling between Milan and Florence, I know first hand how rugged it is. Just to get through these mountains by train is an adventure, as there are dozens of tunnels to pass through after one leaves Bologna. Newby brings the setting to life for the reader, and we walk in his footsteps as he falls upon adverture after another. There is almost an unreal quality to this story, expecially his meeting the wonderful mountain men who live in the most remote parts of these mountains. If you want a really good read, grab a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed.

The Italians Newby depicts in this memoir (and also in his "A Small Place in Italy") are often funny, but never buffoonish. Newby's warm admiration for country folk is always evident, as in this passage where a retired stonemason helps remove an enormous boulder from the hideout the locals are making for him:

"He went over it with his hands, very slowly, almost lovingly. It must have weighed half a ton. Then, when he had finished caressing it, he called for a sledgehammer and hit it deliberately but not particularly hard and it broke into two almost equal halves. It was like magic and I would not have been surprised if a toad had emerged from it and turned into a princess who had been asleep for a million years."

Readers familiar with Newby's travel writing will find all his strengths here: his eye for detail, his warmth of character, his humor (mostly self-deprecating). They will also find a love story -- one made all the more poignant by Newby's craftsmanlike selection of few but telling scenes.

Newby's writing can be rather dry, but in this recounting of his escape from the Germans in WWII Italy, he strikes a fine balance between mawkish sentimentalism and tough-guy posturing. An engrossing narration about the extraordinary measures ordinary people can and will resort to, to stay alive and to do what they think is right. Encouraging, inspiring, and highly recommended.

This book was excellent. Any Italian cookbook with Aglio Olio in it (pasta in garlic oil with cheese) has got to be OK! This was a favorite dish of mine while growing up. The tomato sauce recipes were worth the price of the book alone! The author is a skilled writer in spite of what one reviewer said. I found the stories entertaining and interesting. And the recipes were as authentic as any my Sicilian mother or aunts had ever prepared. I love this book!

Great book. Great read. Just love the stories and folklore from Sicily. This the food my grandmother made and I never could find the recipes. Well, they are in this book. The sauces, pizzas, fritattas are great. Francesca Romina just won the contest in Newsday for the best Sesame Seed (Regina) biscuits in Mangia Little Itay. They were terrific and easy to make. There are recipes in this book that I have never seen before and great hints and tips along the way. The author seems to go to great lenghts to be specific for her readers. These recipes work and are well tested. I'm buying several copies for my family members.

The recepies in this book remind me of all the wonderful dishes that my Grandma used to make. I have found the pizza dough recepie tastes very close to my Sicilian Great Grandmother's pizza dough. I tend to agree that Italians keep these spicial recepies to themselves which unfortunatly die with the generations. This book brings them all back to life along with the wonderful stories and pictures that go along with them. I'm purchasing another copy for my father, who loved mine so much! I just couldn't part with it!

After so many copies of Italian books that I've thrown out, this one works. It was recommended to me by several professional cooking teachers. I made the Cassata cake, the mother or all Sicilian cakes, and it was fantasik. Romina's 7-Hour Sunday Sauce is the best I've ever made. The family went crazy with the results. I even found pizzas here I have only heard about, such as "Sicilian Christmas Pizzas" stuffed with pork and spinach, and Salted Sardine pizzas. These recipes are impossible to find, and they all worked. I also made her Lemon Cakes which has that homemade taste in the crust topped with cinnamon that I remember Grandma making. This is a book you can read for folktales or cook with. That is rare. I particularly loved the author's tips called "Secrets of Success" on the side of the pages, it helps to make cooking easier. So if you want to make an authentic Lasanga the way it was at the turn of the century or a real Sicilian pizza, the way it's made in Sicily, this is the only book that I've found that is the real thing. Bravo Francesca Romina!

This book brings the Sicilian Kitchen to every home. It's a style of cooking that is rare in my area of the country, but memories of Sausage & Peppers and fried meatballs on Sunday made my childhood complete. Some of the items here I've never even seen in print before. A little slice of Grandma's house teeming with garlic!

I would like to start by saying Snoogy Cat, you do not know what you are talking about. Reg Green is a man who dedicates his life to getting out the message of organ donation. He uses the media attention to spread the word of donating life. Almost weekly he goes to meetings and conferences (at his own expense) to try and convince people to do their part to save lives. This story is one of compassion, love, and breaking barriers. Reg Green is witty and intelligent, and does his job in convincing me to do whatever I need to do for this cause.

I think everyone remembers hearing about little Nicholas, only seven
years old, killed by highway robbers in Italy. His family donated his
organs and started a rash of others doing to in Europe and throughout
the world. This is his story as told by his father. The wonderful
effect of that act made me want to give the book a better review. The
father's attitude made me want to give it a worse one, so it's right
in the middle. Maybe I would feel differently had I not read this
book directly following John Walsh's book. Walsh seemed like an
ordinary man doing his best to cope with extraordinary circumstances.
Green seems like a man who's enjoying all of the attention. His
writing style isn't great either. He flitters around topics in a
disjointed manner and goes about his mind's own ethical ramblings far
to often.

Gist: An extraordinary boy meets an extraordinary fate, producing extraordinary effects: After Nicholas, a young traveller to Italy, is killed, his parents' gesture of donating his organs ignites the gratitude of the world. Hammock-time: Requires no more than a long week-end to absorb via your hammock or beach chair. The book is fast-paced and relatively slim compared to the encyclopaedic nature of some non-fiction works. Substance: When the tragedy happened, I wept. When I saw the film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, I wept. And I wept again when I read this book. I thought at first it was because I'm Italian-American, but so many non-Italians around the world have been touched by the Greens' story. I had begun to lose faith in this world, especially dismayed by the New Thought/New Age field, with their greedy, plagiarizing (long dead philosophers are robbed boldly) authors, some truly inane ones sanctioned by Oprah, with their ineffectual techniques -- unproductive affirmations, visualizations, rigidity of mind that everything must have a reason, etc. etc. Yet the Greens, even though the father, Reg Green, is most likely an agnostic, restore my faith, refresh my soul. Something beautiful upholds this world, deeper than the surface chaos and craziness, and superficial philosophies that seek to explain life. A subtle chiascuro effect underlines this book: of deep dark pain playing against light-filled love. Reg Green's sense of humor creates a delightful poignancy. I sense many readers like myself will re-read the book. It's difficult to analyze, but I left sensing stronger than ever that an afterlife truly does exist. My heart goes out to the Greens, and to my fellow spiritual seekers who need a book like this to understand and experience the concepts of love, attunement -- concepts freed from the manipulative twists by a good ole guru network of popular authors who claim to know such truths. Complementary book: Can You Drink The Cup? by the late Fr. Henri Nouwen, is Christian-oriented, but it so lyrically and sensitively explores the universal experiences of love and grief, I enjoyed reading it, as what I'd term a sort of Seekers' Survival Guide, concurrently with the Green book.

As a liver transplant recepient almost four years ago, I had heard of the Nicholas effect. Shortly before reading this book, I discovered through a letter from my donor family that my donor had been inspired to sign his donor card based on Nicholas Green. This book is a stunning and true story of a boy's life, a family's grief and the heroic decision to make a difference to many others whom they did not know. Nicholas Green is still making a difference today becuase his story continues to ripple outward as when a pebble is dropped into a pond. I URGE you to read this book for yourself and prepared to be touched.

There is a verse in the bible which reads "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good." Reg and Maggie Green have embraced this creed wholeheartedly. When their beautiful son was senselessly murdered in late 1994, instead of sinking into the depths of grief, they proved how well he had taught them about the power of love during his brief time on earth by using his example to save millions of lives around the world. If such a tragic thing were to happen to me, I hope that my actions would be identical to theirs. I thank Reg and Maggie for sharing little Nicholas with the world and I am sure he would be very proud of them (as we all are). Through their unselfish and life affirming actions, they have proven yet again that the power of good will never be overcome by the power of evil.

British film historian Christopher Frayling comes through with another book about the great, polarizing Italian director Sergio Leone.

This book is medium on actual reading material but heavy on pictures- big, colorful, beautiful reproductions of film posters from the last 40 years. It only covers Leone's five Spaghetti Westerns (or Italian Westerns) that he directed, extensively. It briefly mentions the one he produced. Any true fan of Leone's Man with No Name trilogy will love this book.

If you are a big Sergio Leone fan, please read Frayling's masterful biography of him, "Something to Do with Death," available on Amazon.

Now, the nerd aspect: You may not want to pay for this book unless you actually understand movies. Frayling knows enough to interview people like the Director of Photography, but most Americans don't even know what that means. If you can name Leone's famous Production Designer, this is definitely the book for you.

Also, it is a joy to hear what went into "Once Upon a Time in the West," the finest Italian Western ever made and Leone's only true masterpiece.

Really good purchase for S.Leone estimators.Interesting pages about behind the scene and some funny screenshots from the set.

Highly recommended for fans. DVD owners will recognise Frayling as the man who provides some history & comments on the DVDs. The book contains interviews with actors, crews and later directors who were influenced by Leone. Also lots of posters (those days they were artwork) from different countries, production sketches & photos.

Note that this book concentrates on Leone's spaghetti westerns with only brief mentions of his other movies so it is not an autobiography. FYI, his first few movies were sword and sandals stuff.

In general, this is like the bonus materials of the DVDs but in a gorgeously printed format.

A great book for anyone who loves Sergio Leone, the true master of the spaghetti western and his great characters. I liked learning about my favorite The Man With No Name and Clint Eastwood the actor who portrayed him. Plus the other great characters he created like Tuco, Eli Wallach, and Colonel Morterimer, Lee Van Cleef.
It was very interesting to see how he put his heart and soul into his movies, and how a man from Italy gave us the most realistic view of America's most remarkable time, the old west.

This book is like an encyclopedia of Leone's Italian westerns. The detail on each film is exceptionable, and Frayling writes in a style that always keeps your interest. The research that went into this book must have taken years. Thanks for filling us in with all the behind the scenes material. Excellent job!

Excellent book, it gives a good account of one of the British irregular army units in action in Italy and Germany during the later states of WWII.

Peniakoff tells a interesting tale of WWII, but I was struck by his continually contradictory behaviour.

In one sentence he'll say that the purpose of a mission was reconnaissance only, and his unit was not to engage the enemy unless escape was not possible and they were attacked. In the next paragraph, he'll tell how they attacked a convoy of enemy vehicles simply because they felt the need for some action before heading back to base.

He complains about the Italian gentry exploiting the peasantry and the next minute, he's eating a seven course meal with them.
That's just a couple of examples; the book is loaded with similar incidents.

Still, it's a good read, and shows how intelligence is gathered during wartime (sometimes you just get on the phone and call ahead!).

There are books on your shelf you should never loan out if you ever hope to see them again. This is one of those books. The WW2 British unit known as Popski's Private Army (PPA) operated in North Africa and Italy. Written by its founder, Vladimir Peniakoff (Popski), the book covers the units contributuion to the war effort. Using machinegun armed Jeeps like the later fictional TV Rat Patrol, this small united operated behind the German and Italian lines. The PPA did not beat Nazi Germany by itself, but its contribution far exceeded its small size. If the grand sweep of armies leaves you hungering for the individual courage found in small units, then this is the book for you. I also recommend "Fighting with Popski's Private Army" by fellow PPA member Park Yunnie.

This book is hard to find but well worth the effort. Peniakoff led a facinating life and this book is a must for anybody interested in World War II special operations.

On the 6th of May 1945 men in wheeled vehicles crossed the mosaic floor of the Piazza San Marco in Venice for the very first time in history. They drove around the square seven times in the small, heavily armoured vehicles in which they'd fought their way across North Africa, Italy, and were to travel on to Austria. At the head of this curious band was a man who sported a hook for a hand, and a nom de guerre which was similarly incongruous for a 48 year old Major in the British army. Vladimir Peniakoff, or "Popski" as he became known, was the enigmatic Belgian born son of White Russian emigres, who had until recent years "pursued the ordinary activities of industry" as a discontented sugar refiner in Egypt. Having tutored himself, alone in the Sand Sea but for the navigational instruments of antiquity, he emerged from the wilderness to train the men who accompanied him through the years of turmoil to this long dreamt of moment of victory. "Private Army" is one of the finest military memoirs I have read, and ranks alongside Fitzroy McLean's "Eastern Approaches" and TE Lawrence's "The Mint". This is the authoritative work on Popski's Private Army, but is much more than a Regimental history. This is a superb piece of literature which you will not quickly forget. Read also "With Popski's Private Army" by Ben Owen, a superb companion book to the above.

I love this book. I got it as a Christmas gift and I use it all the time. The photographs are gorgeous and each recipe is illustrated. I like that the recipes are relatively simple and require few ingredients. I also enjoy the descriptions and definitions of terms and regions in Italy.

I have a lot of Italian-Cooking-Books but this is by far the BEST ! The recipe are easy to follow, no fency ingredients (the most I have in my Pantry) and the fotos make you cook them all at once ! When I still lived in Germany I traveled a lot to Italy, this are all very authentic Recipes. A good Glas of Wine with this Dishes and you feel like in Italy ! ENJOY !!!

`Savoring Italy' is a title written by Michele Scicolone and published in the Williams-Sonoma series of oversized, lavishly photographed culinary tours of important foodie centers around the world. I bought this book before I was very familiar with Ms. Scicolone's abilities and track record as an Italian recipe writer, so I tended to dismiss it as bargain table fodder. But now, in looking back at my unreviewed backlist, I find this volume is something of a buried treasure.

Scicolone has most recently made a big splash in the Italian cookbook world with her 1000 Italian Recipes book, another highly formulaic volume that I still found very worthy alongside the heavyweights of Italian cookbook writing such as Bastianich, Hazan, and Bugialli. I did compare some recipes in this volume to Mario Batali's latest, `Molto Italy' and found the newly crowned (2005 James Beard Awards) best chef in the country to have the advantage on Ms. Scicolone's 1000 recipes in interest and in quality of procedure.

I have done a similar comparison of our volume `Savoring Italy' to the encyclopedic `1000 Italian Recipes' and find a similar result. For starters, I looked for six different recipes from `Savoring Italy' in the larger book and found only two with exactly the same Italian name. Two of the six had similar recipes in the two books. Two of the recipes in `Savoring Italy' had no close counterparts in `1000 Italian Recipes'.

What is more interesting is that where the recipes had the same or a similar name, the ingredients and procedure in `Savoring Italy' were always more elaborate than the corresponding recipe in `1000 Italian Recipes'. For example, `1000 Italian Recipes' has a recipe for stuffed beef rolls in tomato sauce (`Braciole al Pomodoro') with eight ingredients while `Savoring Italy' has a similar English named dish (`Braciole di Manzo') which has twelve ingredients, adding prosciutto, pine nuts, raisins, and parsley, and substituting Provolone cheese for Pecorino Romano. I see similarly more elaborate treatments for all the recipes I check, including such classics as Caponata. Oddly, while `1000 Italian Recipes' salts the eggplant in its caponata recipe, `Savoring Italy' does not. Like Joel Robuchon (actually, because of Joel Robuchon's statements), I prefer avoiding the eggplant salting and prefer to look for younger fruits to avoid the bitterness of older produce.

I take issue with the reviewer who says these are simple recipes. Compared even to Scicolone's major reference book, they are more complicated.

So, on the recipe front, the big picture book is a totally worthy addition for anyone who happens to collect Italian cookbooks, or happens to like big, glossy culinary books in general.

I am not a very good critic of photography, but my gut feeling about the pics in this book is that they are above average, but not of the very highest quality. The only real technical issue I saw was that inside shots seemed a bit grainy compared to those done in full outdoor sunlight. But, for a book retailing at a smidge below $40, they are pretty good. Their selection of subjects was equally good, in that it did not concentrate too much on the very familiar and avoided the `been there, done that' feeling. My biggest issue with the pics is that there are several on the early pages of the book which have no captions. A naïve eye could put some of the pictures anywhere from California to Greece.

The book has the obligatory culinary map of Italy with provinces and major cities identified by name among all the cute little produce icons. The non-recipe text is good, but has little which is revealing to anyone who has read much of Italian cuisine, or spent more than a few months watching `Molto Mario' and `Mario Eats Italy' on the Food Network. If you want a good overview of Italian regional cuisines, see Claudia Roden's `The Food of Italy, Region by Region' or Waverly Root's `The Food of Italy'.

The glossary on stock foods and wines of Italy is good, but typical of short treatments. It is good for the casual reader, but not all there for the foodie or professional. The edge this has over some other books is that it contains thumbnail instructions on how to make and or prepare things such as breadcrumbs, beans, and anchovies.

This book is all about the sum of its parts. The recipes are probably more lavish than you will fine on Nonna's dinner table. These are the more celebratory versions of classic recipes, saved for special occasions or served at upscale restorantes. But this format calls for lavish dishes to match the oversize scale of the pages and the photographs.

Bottom line is that this book is worth its salt. So, if you are looking for a big, expensive Italian cookbook with evocative pictures and good frills, this one will give you your money's worth.

This book is simply gorgeous. It's recipes are simple but elegant. I recently purchased it and have made several recipes including the panzella (incredible), and only takes 25 min. to do and the prosuitto wrapped asparagus with mozzerella, (amazing) don't forget to sprinkle with paprikah. Most recipes use fresh ingredients, a mainstay of italian cooking, and they are easy yet impressive. This book is a must for all who enjoy cooking and for those who do not, it has wonderful descriptions of the regional origination of each recipe and beautiful accompanying pictures. You can travel to italy without even leaving your kitchen.

This is one of those priceless, beautiful cookbooks that can easily do double duty as a coffee table book. Speaking as a grandson of Guido and Katherine Agostinelli, I think I can speak with a certain amount of authority with regard to this cookbook when I say "That's Italian." Readers can be inspired by the photographs to try to improve their own culinary abilities. Personally, I have been known to burn a bowl full of Raisin Bran, (don't ask, I can find a way, believe me,) but with this book I'm inspired to try all kinds of great recipes.

It's divided into sections on antipasti, pizzas, breads, pastas, risotti, soups, fish, poultry, meat, frittatas, seasonal vegetables, salads, cakes, cookies, and fruit desserts. Every section is beautiful, inspiring, and ultimately delicious. Two thumbs up.

I enjoyed the book start to finish and the mystery bit at the end was a nice edition to an already funny parody of the typical travel memoir. I think my favorite character in the book was the prince. The accidental confrontation between him and Haverford made me laugh.

this book is fantastic. the masterpiece theatre production was awesome too. i would like to buy a copy of the video if anyone has one. this is definitely worth reading - and watching too!

The book is set in Tuscauny, where an English family is renting a home. Odd things happen, water disappears, and then someone dies. The mother, Molly Partiger, becomes obsesses with getting to the heart of these mysteries, and with meeting her mysterious landlord. It is a particular pleasure to see Mortimer's love of Shakespeare come through in Molly's Falstaff of a father, and the Hamlet-like play-within-a-play which gives Molly the final clue to the murder. Interwoven with the plot is an homage to Piero della Francesca (although it has been written that Mortimer gets everything wrong about Piero's Flagellation). The book ends with typical Mortimer poigniancy. Summer's Lease is light in the way that a Tom Stoppard play is light -- an intelligent guilty pleasure.

This is a quaint and entertaining novel. The characters are interesting and carry the story well. The plot is simple, but not boring and certainly not bad. The introspective thoughts and actions of Molly the forty year old protaganist who looks for love in all the wrong places, Hugh her "successful" attorney husband and Havorford Downs, Molly's rogue father are most captivating.

It's a lighthearted mystery in which the writer allows the reader to participate at any depth the latter prefers.

Descriptions of Tuscany are well done to the point that this reader could almost see lines of slim cypress lining a dirt road and smell the pungent aroma of a bottle of black rooster labeled Chianti. There were times while reading that I couldn't help but laugh out loud. There are some really funny moments in the tale.

Brits who read the novel will, I feel certain, fall right in line with the story. We Yanks, on the other hand, need a little time to acclimate ourselves to British verbal nuances. Surprisingly, though, it didn't hinder the reading enjoyment even a little bit.

This novel is one for a summer's day, with a glass of tea (forgive me, but iced tea) in hand. While the book will not be ranked with the geat ones of western civilization, it is fun. Truly a delightful experience.

I read this book because I saw the Masterpiece Theatre production on TV in the early nineties and fell in love with the characters and the story. This is the type of detective mystery novel where one can truly relate to the detective as she is an average person with a highly developed sense of curiosity. While I shared Molly's intense curiosity about her absent landlord and her outrage at the so called "water racket", I would not have gone as far as she did to satisfy that curiosity. Molly is rather reckless (if not stupid) towards the end and doesn't realize the consequences of her actions until too late - and even then chalks it up to coincidence. All in all the book is a quick and delightful read that will have you longing to travel to those Tuscan hills. I wish Masterpiece Theatre would rerun the film or make it available on video. You've got to see the film. The cast was so well chosen and the locations are beautiful, especially the terrace on La Felicita.