Italian Lakes (2013)

Travel Companions

Desiring Italy , Susan Cahill (ed). Writings by female authors (George Eliot, Edith Wharton, Muriel Spark, etc) on the beauty and culture of Italy.

Italian Days , Barbara Grizutti Harrison. A witty and eloquent look at Italy, revealing a fascinating insight into a nation.

History, Society and Culture

A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1988, Italy and Its Discontents, 1980-2001 and Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony . Paul Ginsborg - A masterly history of post-war Italy and its politics is completed with an account of the power of the country’s most powerful politician.

Alps and Sanctuaries , Samuel Butler. The 18th-century traveller describes his journeys around the lakes.

Mussolini , Nicholas Farrell. A biography of the reviled Fascist dictator that pulls no punches. It includes the period of the Salò Republic, when Mussolini’s powerbase was on the shores of Lake Garda.

The House of Gucci , Sarah Forden. A biography of Maurizio Gucci, the last family member to run the luxury-goods fashion empire.

The Dark Heart of Italy , Tobias Jones. Although flawed and obsessed with a Berlusconi era that is now history, this is an intriguing look at the underbelly of Italy, from politics, crime and (lack of) punishment to the Italian way of life.

How the English Made the Alps , Jim Ring. The English love affair with the Alps, from its beginnings in the early Romantic movement, through to its Victorian heyday.

La Bella Figura , Beppe Severgnini. Incisive tour behind the seductive face that Italy puts on for visitors by a columnist for the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Fiction and Travelogue

A Farewell to Arms , Ernest Hemingway. The novel tells the story of a wounded American soldier in the Italian army who convalesces in Milan, inadvertently deserts while fleeing from the Germans but is reunited with his beloved in Stresa, on Lake Maggiore.

Europa, Italian Neighbours, A Season With Verona , Tim Parks. The novelist observes life in Italy in a series of light-hearted and affectionate tales.

Food and Wine

Eating up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa , Matthew Fort. Exploring Italy’s regions on an epic scooter trip, Matthew Fort paints a contemporary portrait of Italy through its food and the people who produce it.

Truly Italian , Ursula Ferrigno. An Italian cookbook with inspirational recipes and a vegetarian focus that features the healthiest northern Italian cooking.

Other Insight Guides

With comprehensive travel coverage and cultural background information, the Insight Guides series includes titles on Florence, Sicily, Sardinia, Tuscany and Venice.

Insight Explore Guides provide a series of routes to guide you through the city or region. Titles include Florence, Italian Lakes, Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Sicily, Venice.

Durable and weatherproof, Insight Fleximaps combine clear cartography with essential travel information. Italian maps include Florence, Lake Garda and Verona, Rome, Tuscany and Venice.