The Italian Way
Jul. 19th, 2025 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
There’s something about Italy
Food, fashion, art, architecture: there’s no denying Italy has captured the world’s imagination. And we’re here to celebrate it. The Italian Way invites you to explore the country’s countless wonders, from ancient Roman relics to innovative modern art and beyond. By the end, you’ll be more in love with Italy than ever before.
If you’re planning a holiday in Italy and want to get more of a sense of its history, geography, food, social life, design and culture then this book is a handy introduction. Broad in scope, it’s full of photographic illustrations and nuggets of information that extend to locations outside the normal tourist zones but it is slightly spoilt by some typographical errors within the text, which is not acceptable for a book with a £20 cover price.
I picked this up because Italy is one of my favourite countries to visit so I’m always open to learning more about it.
This book is divided into 6 sections covering:
- history and heritage;
- natural beauty;
- food and drink;
- social life;
- fashion and design; and
- art and culture.
Each section that delves into specific sub-topics, like contemporary art, festivals and events, Italian cinema etc. There’s a mix of information, interviews with people who have expertise or experience in specific areas. It is impossible for this book - or indeed any book - to tell you absolutely everything about the country and its people, but this does give you a good sense of it. What I particularly liked about it is that it’s not restricted to the known tourist areas - Venice, Florence, Rome, Sardinia, Milan, Tuscany (although they do get a mention) so you learn about places and customs that are a bit off the beaten track.
There is some repetition across the sections, although I only noticed because I read the book cover to cover rather than dipping in and out. More concerning was the fact that there were some typographical errors within the text - spelling mistakes and in one place the repetition of words within a sentence. I’m aware that mistakes sometimes sneak into books but this has an expensive cover price, which makes me less forgiving in this instance.
That said, if you want to get into the holiday spirit ahead of a visit to Italy, I do think you could do a lot worse than this book because there is plenty here to learn and enjoy.
The Verdict:
If you’re planning a holiday in Italy and want to get more of a sense of its history, geography, food, social life, design and culture then this book is a handy introduction. Broad in scope, it’s full of photographic illustrations and nuggets of information that extend to locations outside the normal tourist zones but it is slightly spoilt by some typographical errors within the text, which is not acceptable for a book with a £20 cover price.
THE ITALIAN WAY was released in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Food, fashion, art, architecture: there’s no denying Italy has captured the world’s imagination. And we’re here to celebrate it. The Italian Way invites you to explore the country’s countless wonders, from ancient Roman relics to innovative modern art and beyond. By the end, you’ll be more in love with Italy than ever before.
If you’re planning a holiday in Italy and want to get more of a sense of its history, geography, food, social life, design and culture then this book is a handy introduction. Broad in scope, it’s full of photographic illustrations and nuggets of information that extend to locations outside the normal tourist zones but it is slightly spoilt by some typographical errors within the text, which is not acceptable for a book with a £20 cover price.
I picked this up because Italy is one of my favourite countries to visit so I’m always open to learning more about it.
This book is divided into 6 sections covering:
- history and heritage;
- natural beauty;
- food and drink;
- social life;
- fashion and design; and
- art and culture.
Each section that delves into specific sub-topics, like contemporary art, festivals and events, Italian cinema etc. There’s a mix of information, interviews with people who have expertise or experience in specific areas. It is impossible for this book - or indeed any book - to tell you absolutely everything about the country and its people, but this does give you a good sense of it. What I particularly liked about it is that it’s not restricted to the known tourist areas - Venice, Florence, Rome, Sardinia, Milan, Tuscany (although they do get a mention) so you learn about places and customs that are a bit off the beaten track.
There is some repetition across the sections, although I only noticed because I read the book cover to cover rather than dipping in and out. More concerning was the fact that there were some typographical errors within the text - spelling mistakes and in one place the repetition of words within a sentence. I’m aware that mistakes sometimes sneak into books but this has an expensive cover price, which makes me less forgiving in this instance.
That said, if you want to get into the holiday spirit ahead of a visit to Italy, I do think you could do a lot worse than this book because there is plenty here to learn and enjoy.
The Verdict:
If you’re planning a holiday in Italy and want to get more of a sense of its history, geography, food, social life, design and culture then this book is a handy introduction. Broad in scope, it’s full of photographic illustrations and nuggets of information that extend to locations outside the normal tourist zones but it is slightly spoilt by some typographical errors within the text, which is not acceptable for a book with a £20 cover price.
THE ITALIAN WAY was released in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
