Italy

In this authoritative biography of one of the most fascinating figures in world history, Marco Polos incredible odyssey--along the Silk Road and through all the fantastic circumstances of his life--is chronicled in sumptuous and illuminating detail. Illustrated.As the most celebrated European to exp... More

Prizewinning author Harr embarks on a spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as "The Taking of Christ." The fascinating details of the artist Caravaggio's strange, turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work come to life in these pages.An Italian village on a hillt... More

In this book Peter Neville presents a new assessment of lifeand times of the famous leader, Mussolini. This study places the Fascist movementin its historical context and assesses its theoretical base. It examines theformative influences on the young Mussolini, his turn away from Socialism by1914, h... More

This engaging, entertaining book reveals all the secrets about this wildly gifted man, from his prescient inventions and his lost art to his animal rights activism--not to mention his enemies and allies in the dark, turbulent world of his time. Young Adult.Thanks To The international bestseller The ... More

This is the first thorough study of charity and of medical and poor relief in post-Renaissance Italy. It departs from current interpretations by putting much greater emphasis on the various circumstances that motivated individual men and women to become involved in charity, and argues that conflicts... More

Chronicling the thirteenth-century world from Venice, his birthplace, to the far reaches of Asia, Marco Polo tells of the foreign peoples he meets as he travels by foot, horse, and boat through places including Persia, Tibet, India, and, finally, China. There he serves in the court of Kublai Khan, t... More

'Levi was a consummate listener, as his book often beguilingly demonstrates...[and] like all good writers, is quirky and idiosyncratic, and pounces on... curious details.' "Sunday Times" 'the stirring story of an incomparable era' "Times Literary Review" 'characteristic elegance and insight, ...a ... More

Thank you, our Stalin, for a happy childhood." "Thank you, dear Marshal Stalin], for our freedom, for our children's happiness, for life." Between the Russian Revolution and the Cold War, Soviet public culture was so dominated by the power of the state that slogans like these appeared routinely in ... More

This book provides a comprehensive account of the culture of modern Italy. Specially-commissioned essays by leading specialists focus on a wide range of political, historical and cultural questions. The volume provides information and analysis on such topics as regionalism, language, social and poli... More

The Italian Renaissance was a creative period for art criticism as well as for art itself. The early efforts to give verbal accounts of visual representations and their quality throw light not only on the art of the period but also on art criticism at any time. This collection of papers by art histo... More

A paperback edition of a much-acclaimed history of Europe's forgotten Inquisition. Venice in the 16th and 17th centuries was on the frontier between Christianiity and Judaism, being one of the principal points of departure from Europe to the Levant, and of re-entry from the Ottoman Empire. It was of... More

The idea that the Renaissance witnessed the emergence of the modern individual remains a powerful myth. In this important new book Martin examines the Renaissance self with attention to both social history and literary theory and offers a new typology of Renaissance selfhood which was at once collec... More

Since 1600, whenever a Pope dies, the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church convene in Rome to elect a successor. The Papal Conclave is an event like no other. Highly secret and conducted behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, it happens about eight times every century. It is an event that ... More

'The book is perfectly pitched...It is an impressive and clear presentation of a very complex and central historical phenomenon...It offers a provocative and approachable thesis and argument for students to debate.' Marla Stone, Occidental College 'An incredibly concise and manageable comparative an... More

Pre-revolutionary Paris comes to life in this fascinating story surrounding the correspondence between two colorful and witty society figures: the French author Louise d'Epinay and the Italian priest-diplomat Ferdinando Galiani. Their friends included Voltaire, Diderot, Melchior Grimm, and the famou... More

Reception of English: Cultural responses in Telugu Documents is a collection of various text types written in English by Telugu writers along with English translations of Telugu texts. The documents included in this collection span over two hundred years of the Telugu-English interface with the earl... More

In this engaging study, Michael Grant presents some of the most outstanding manifestations of art from all over the enormous territory which was the Roman empire. He has selected items which particularly represent the special achievements and functions of art in the empire. Architecture and portrait... More