Tuscany and Its Wines By Hugh Johnson Hardcover Book 2000

Views from a Tuscan Vineyard by Julian and Carey More (1987, Hardcover).In this unusual father-daughter collaboration, writer Julian More and photographer Carey More explore the world of Tuscany, combining her superb photographs with his evocative text. It is not a wine guide...

The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Tuscany Book by James Bentley.Author of the highly successful The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany, James Bentley, with photographer Alex Ramsay, has now turned his attention to the equally beautiful towns of Tuscany. Traveling from north to south, as in the Villages volume, we encounter first the towns with substantial Etruscan and Romanesque features, then the walled towns of central Tuscany, followed by the coastal and thermal communities of the south. The country towns described and photographed in this book have been selected not only to exemplify the remarkable variety of this part of Italy but also because they embody its exceptional artistic and architectural heritage. There are works by Luca della Robbia and Donatello in Impruneta; Piero della Francesca was born in Sansepolcro. The architects of the Renaissance have left many masterpieces as well, often under the patronage of powerful local families: Michelozzo built the Villa Medici near Fiesole, while Giuliano da Sangallo designed the Medici fortress at Sansepolcro. Other aspects of the cultural heritage of these towns are more ancient: Volterra has the remains of Etruscan walls...

Great Houses of Italy: The Tuscan Villas by Harold Acton. New York: The Viking Press, 1973. First Edition hardcover with dust jacket. 288 pp. A book on T...

Tuscan Countess The Life and Extraordinary Times of Matilda of Canossa By: Michèle K. Spike This is a fast-paced and colorful exploration of the life of Matilda of Canossa (c. 1046–1115), the woman who loved a pope and was loved by him, successfully defied the Holy Roman Emperor, and changed the map of Europe. A new kind of history, this biography also carries the flavor of present-day Italy. Matilda of Canossa, the “Great Countess,” was a remarkable woman. Her personal power was so extraordinary that even centuries after her death she became the first woman to be interred in St. Peter’s Basilica. She is best remembered for her role in the conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperor, the climax of which took place at her castle of Canossa. This unique biography is also a journal of the author’s travels through contemporary Tuscany as she explores the palaces where Matilda held court, the blood-stained plains on which her soldiers battled, the churches and cathedrals she endowed, and the fortified aeries where she sought refuge. Readers will be swept along on this engrossing journey retracing the steps of a courageous and brilliant woman. Michèle K. Spike is a lawyer and historian who has lived in Florence since 1989. She has collaborated with her husband, John Spike, on numerous books on...