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Best of South Italy in 13 Days: Recommended Reading & Viewing

Italy is overwhelmingly rich in history, art and culture. Any preliminary reading, viewing or listening you can do will help you get the most from your trip. Here's a list of some sources we've found helpful. For more information on any of these books, visit your favorite bookstore or check out amazon.com; for video information, go to imdb.com.Rick Steves guidebooks are available at our office in Edmonds and also on our website's Travel Store.

Recommended Reading

Non-Fiction

• Italian Days — Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
• Desiring Italy — Susan N. Cahill
• Travelers' Tales: Italy — Ann Calcagno
• Italian Neighbors — Tim Parks
• The Italians — Luigi Barzini
• Excellent Cadavers — Alexander Stille
• Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year — Carlo Levi
• Pomp And Sustenance: Twenty Five Centuries Of Sicilian Food — Mary Taylor Simeti
• Marling Menu-Master for Italy
• Culture Shock: Italy — Raymond Flower

Fiction

• The First Man in Rome — Colleen McCullough
• I, Claudius — Robert Graves
• The Leopard — Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
• A Soldier of the Great War — Mark Helprin
• A Bell for Adano — John Hersey
• Pompeii — Robert Harris

General Europe

• Europe 101 — Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw: A fun and informative look at European history and art; including the Italian Renaissance.
• A World Lit Only by Fire — William Manchester: Vivid account of Europe's transition from the Roman Empire to the Reformation and the Renaissance.
• Innocents Abroad — Mark Twain: Classic, humorous account of an American group's 1867 "Grand Tour" through Europe and the Holy Land.
• Civilization — Kenneth Clark: BBC-TV series and book that teaches European art and civilization like nothing else.
• Connections — James Burke: Fascinating book and TV series that links historical events and scientific discoveries across the centuries.

Rick Steves' Travel DVDs

For a fun, informative preview of your next tour destination, watch a DVD from our "Rick Steves' Europe" TV series! Our online Travel Store has 70 shows available on 12 DVDs (a generous five to eight shows per disc).

Films With a Italian Accent

Open City (1945) • Bicycle Thieves (1949) • Roman Holiday (1953) • Ben-Hur (1959) • Spartacus (1960) • La Dolce Vita (1961) • 1900 (1977) • Cinema Paradiso (1990) • Enchanted April (1991) • Ciao, Professore! (1994) • Il Postino (1995) • Life Is Beautiful (1997) • Gladiator (2000)

Mood Music

Big Night soundtrack; Ezio Pinza; Andrea Bocelli; Three Tenors; Puccini's Tosca; Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci; Verdi's Rigoletto; Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla, Zucchero