Central Italy: The Collected Traveler : Tuscany and Umbria

Rating:
Summary: A great compilation!
Review: A guidebook without maps? A guidebook you can curl up and read cover-to-cover? Yes, this is it. As one who has vacationed in Tuscany for a total of 13 weeks in the past 6 years, I found this book not only evocative of fond memories but instructive by pointing me to places, eateries, and certain facts of Italian life of which I was unaware. The early sections covering tipping, car rental, trains, etc. are of particular help to the first time traveler. There's even a little Frances Mayes in there for the 1% of the people interested in Italy who have not read her books on Tuscany. But after reading this book, you'll have to get a map or two anyway...because you'll have booked a flight to bella Italia.

Rating:
Summary: A great compilation!
Review: A guidebook without maps? A guidebook you can curl up and read cover-to-cover? Yes, this is it. As one who has vacationed in Tuscany for a total of 13 weeks in the past 6 years, I found this book not only evocative of fond memories but instructive by pointing me to places, eateries, and certain facts of Italian life of which I was unaware. The early sections covering tipping, car rental, trains, etc. are of particular help to the first time traveler. There's even a little Frances Mayes in there for the 1% of the people interested in Italy who have not read her books on Tuscany. But after reading this book, you'll have to get a map or two anyway...because you'll have booked a flight to bella Italia.

Rating:
Summary: A must for the Italian bookshelf
Review: This is a lovely, evocative book that's also extremely useful and is a necessity for anyone who loves Tuscany and Umbria. A collection of little odds and ends about the area, this is a book to dip into or read from cover to cover. Leaning more heavily toward Tuscany than Umbria and omitting Le Marche (the only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me, because Tuscany has been covered so much already), it covers the major sights as well as hidden treasures, and chapters on the food, the people, and the art of Central Italy are especially fine. Many books include bibliographies, referring readers to other books on Italy, but Kerper's is especially comprehensive. The compiler's love for Italy comes shining through on every page. Nice photos, too! Because it's such a pretty book, this is also a pretty neat gift selection.