Best Italian History

Now, in The Day of Battle , he follows the strengthening American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and then, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north toward Rome. “In The Day of Battle , Rick Atkinson picks up where he left off in An Army at Dawn , his history of the North African campaign, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. A planned third volume, on the Normandy invasion and the war in Europe, will complete The Liberation Trilogy , which is shaping up as a triumph of narrative history, elegantly written, thick with unforgettable description and rooted in the sights and sounds of battle . Mr. Atkinson, a longtime correspondent and editor for The Washington Post , conveys all of this with sharp-edged immediacy and a keen eye for the monstrous and the absurd.” ― William Grimes, The New York Times. “Monumental … With this book, Rick Atkinson cements his place among America's great popular historians, in the tradition of Bruce Catton and Stephen Ambrose.” ― The Washington Post.

Having miraculously survived the long, bloody march across Europe, Sparks was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria, where he and his men experienced some of the most intense street fighting suffered by Americans in World War II. The Liberator balances evocative prose with attention to detail and is a worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers ….From the desert of Arizona to the moral crypt of Dachau, Mr. Kershaw's book bears witness to the hell that America's innocents came through, and the humanity they struggled to keep in their hearts.” — Wall Street Journal “A revealing portrait of a man who led by example and suffered a deep emotional wound with the loss of each soldier under his command…. [His] portrayal of his subject (based on interviews with Sparks, who died in 2007, and other survivors) makes for a riveting, almost epic tale of a larger-than-life, underappreciated figure.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This engrossing wartime narrative offers a fresh look at the European campaign and an intimate sense of the war’s toll on individual participants.” — Kirkus Reviews “Inspiring….A gripping and superbly told account of men in war.” — Booklist “Alex Kershaw's gripping account of one man's wartime experiences has both the intimacy of a diary and the epic reach of a military history. A must read for anyone who loved Band of Brothers .” —Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London “Alex Kershaw, long acclaimed for his terse, lightning-fast narratives of true wartime action and heroism, reaches his full maturity with this sweeping saga of a legendary infantry unit and the leader who spurred it to glory.” —Ron Powers, co-author of Flags of Our Fathers.

This is the most comprehensive book on the paintings and frescoes of Florence ever undertaken, with nearly 2,000 beautifully reproduced artworks from the city's great museums and churches-produced in the same manner as BD&L's The Louvre and The Vatican . "...an art lover's dream come true--a collection of nearly 2,000 images that includes every painting and fresco on display in the Uffizi, the Galleria Palatina of the Pitti Palace, the Accademia and the Duomo, and works from 28 additional museums and churches....It's fascinating to see these treasures of the Western world collected in one volume, with page after page of magnificence, including the works of Uccello, da Vinci, Correggio, Titian, Michelangelo and more. The paintings and frescoes of the birthplace of the Renaissance get a lavish, full-color treatment in this new book from Canadian historian and novelist Ross King, whose previous work includes "Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence. "The next best thing to a Tuscan sightseeing trip is a tour through the pages of "Florence: The Paintings & Frescoes, 1250-1743"...which opens the doors of the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Duomo and countless Florentine churches to the armchair traveler.

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy. The Italian campaign's outcome was never certain; in fact, Roosevelt, Churchill, and their military advisers engaged in heated debate about whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even a good idea. Amazon Best of the Month, November 2007 : Topping a Pulitzer Prize-winning effort is tough; finding originality in a World War II narrative is even tougher. Atkinson surpasses his Pulitzer-winning An Army at Dawn in this empathetic, perceptive analysis of the second stage in the U.S. Army's grassroots development from well-intentioned amateurs to the most formidable fighting force of World War II. The battles in Sicily and Italy developed the combat effectiveness and the emotional hardness of a U.S. Army increasingly constrained to bear the brunt of the Western allies' war effort, he argues.

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in Budapest. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his partner Trish, son Andy, and daughter Jackie.Connect with Rick:facebook: Rick Stevestwitter: @RickStevesinstagram: ricksteveseurope.

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food, there and throughout Italy. As Mayes rediscovers her taste for la dolce vita, she embarks on a journey of cultural awakening and embraces a newfound romance with the Italian language and people. Mayes is as generous a cook as she is a writer, flavoring her story with tasty descriptions of local gustatory delights--many of which are included in a small recipe book.

Using clear and concise explanations and highly detailed illustrations, this book takes you step by step through the body mechanics of the sword, from foundations to essential elements. The Practice Module provides advice on choosing training equipment as well as a comprehensive array of drills and exercises designed to put everything you learned in the previous module into practice. Finally, the Calibration module gives you all of the information you need to put your skills to the test by cutting targets with a sharp sword, from advice on choosing a sword to how to purchase, prepare and set up tatami and other targets. - Keith Farrell , author of Scottish Broadsword and British Singlestick and the award-winning AHA German Longsword Study Guide. "Edelson's book is singular in its attempts to inform and guide the practitioner through a synthesis of centuries-old knowledge and modern science, to foster realistic sword training, in a clear methodical manner. I'm hard pressed to find a comparable martial arts manual that scans so easily and instructs so clearly. "This book lays out complicated principles and complex body mechanics in a simple, easy to understand way; this is a skill that indicates true knowledge in the subject material." This book is a valuable resource for the historical martial arts community and to anyone wanting to understand in clear terms the proper ways in which to use medieval swords."

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in Budapest. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his partner Trish, son Andy, and daughter Jackie.Connect with Rick:facebook: Rick Stevestwitter: @RickStevesinstagram: ricksteveseurope.

Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso took James Shaw back to the sweet memories of his childhood and the Italian family who operated the hometown theater. But James was convinced there was a reason why the Renaissance was born in Tuscany and Italy has given the world Saint Francis, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Galileo and now Benigni, whose film Life Is Beautiful, showed the world that the Italian zest for living can even make a heaven of a hell. And so, after a lifetime of thinking about Italy James became convinced that the way to find out why Italians are the way they are, would be to eat with them at their kitchen tables. And James began seeing their unique human quality that attracts people to Italy and keeps pulling them back again and again. To discover the heart of Italian life, James had to travel back to World War II Italy. Review appeared in the Summer Issue 2012 of. FARMING Magazine. David Kline - Editor. His trip to Tuscany takes him to carefully selected farms where he helps harvest the olive crop. What begins as a romantic pilgrimage for the author soon evolves into a story of the plight of the independent farmer struggling to sell farm products for a fair price. Farmers are turning to creative ways to generate income, inviting guests to share the farming experience and selling directly to the consumer.

This is the most comprehensive book on the paintings and frescoes of Florence ever undertaken, with nearly 2,000 beautifully reproduced artworks from the city's great museums and churches-produced in the same manner as BD&L's The Louvre and The Vatican . "...an art lover's dream come true--a collection of nearly 2,000 images that includes every painting and fresco on display in the Uffizi, the Galleria Palatina of the Pitti Palace, the Accademia and the Duomo, and works from 28 additional museums and churches....It's fascinating to see these treasures of the Western world collected in one volume, with page after page of magnificence, including the works of Uccello, da Vinci, Correggio, Titian, Michelangelo and more. The paintings and frescoes of the birthplace of the Renaissance get a lavish, full-color treatment in this new book from Canadian historian and novelist Ross King, whose previous work includes "Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence. "The next best thing to a Tuscan sightseeing trip is a tour through the pages of "Florence: The Paintings & Frescoes, 1250-1743"...which opens the doors of the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Duomo and countless Florentine churches to the armchair traveler.