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This series explores the everyday life and cutsoms in different countries around the world. Each book combines key geographical, historical and cultural facts with related activities, games and craft ideas. Ages 9+. ... Read more

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Italy is a land rich in art, history, and culture. Past centuries have seen great change in Italy, from Ancient Rome to the destruction in Pompeii to the rise and fall of Mussolini. But Italy's amazing architecture and its contribution to world history and culture has remained the same. Today it is a favourite vacation spot for many tourists around the world. Features of the series include: main chapters that focus on geography, people and culture, history, government and economy, and nature; 'At a Glance' double spreads to present a maximum amount of information in a minimal amount of space, utilizing charts, tables, time lines, and other highly visual elements; and, full-page maps that highlight physical features, vegetation and ecosystems, history, population, and political organization. As a bonus, every photograph within each chapter is tied to a location on the main map for that chapter. Smaller maps zoom in on special topics, such as migration, rainfall, changing borders, resources, industry, and other important themes.This book includes: special feature sidebars that introduce intriguing people, places, and events; a glossary to aid in comprehension of unfamiliar terms; and, an extensive bibliography that lists books, National Geographic articles, and Web sites. ... Read more

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This work explores processes of corporate restructuring and employment change in two industrial areas, Teeside (in the north-east of England) and Brindisi (in the south-east of Italy), by drawing upon evidence from two industries - the chemical and clothing sectors. ... Read more

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This text enables students to study Germany and its surrounding regions. It is suitable for a range of ages and abilities, providing information, maps, photographs, and satellite images of the region. ... Read more

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The picturesque environments of Italy are explored from the towering Alps to Mediterranean islands and the sandy beaches of the Italian Riviera. Detailed photographs feature splendid cities, historic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, unearthing Pompeii, and the renowned Italian automobile and fashion industries. ... Read more

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"The Traveller's History" series is designed for the discerning holidaymaker or traveller who feels that they need more historical background information on the country in which they are staying than can be found in a guide. In "A Traveller's History of Italy" the author analyses the development of the Italian people from prehistoric times right through to the imaginative, resourceful and fiercely independent Italians we know today. All of the major periods of Italian history are dealt with, including the Etruscans, the Romans, the communes and the city states which spawned the glories of the Renaissance. In more modern times, Unification and the development and degeneration of the Liberal state into Fascism are covered, as well as the rise of Italy to the position it currently enjoys as a leading member of the European Community. The Gazetteer, which is cross-referenced to the main text, highlights sites, towns, churches and cathedrals of historical importance for the visitor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Misnomer - nothing here for the "traveller"
If this book had been called "A brief history of Italy", I'd have given it four stars.As a short but reasonably thorough overview of Italian history, it does a pretty good job.

But as for being a "traveller's history"...it fails.I was planning a trip to Italy and wanted a book that would tell me the history behind the things I was seeing ("And on your left, you see a statue from the early 16th century...").As such, this book is useless.Its historical content is in no way geared towards the traveler.

If you want a quick read on Italian history, great.But don't take it on your travels.

Good background for those who know nothing about Italian His
It's a lot of information to absorb, but overview of the development ofmodern Italy is interesting.As someone who knew little of the history ofItaly, the book enriched my travel experiences in Italy.The timelines area good reference.There could be better maps for those of us who areunfamiliar with Italian geography.Unfortunately, the book is poorly boundand my copy fell apart almost immediately. ... Read more

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The "Focus on Europe" series offers a unique view of the people and places of the European continent. These books explain the basic facts associated with each country, while exploring wider subjects including social history, science, nature, history, technology and arts. Suited for ages 8-12. ... Read more

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Suitable for National Curriculum Key Stage 1-2, a differentiated text edition of an introduction to Italy, which covers the latest developments in the country, and features a map, a fact section and an index.In the LOOK INSIDE series, illustrated with colour photographs.First published in 1995. ... Read more

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A basic introduction to countries around the world is the aim of this series. Each title focuses on two localities featuring real families in rural and urban settings. "Country factfiles" present simple information about flags, currency, stamps and capital cities. ... Read more

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While the themes, sources, and materials of The Palladian Landscape span a range of disciplinary interests from art and architectural studies, economic, social, and environmental history, to philosophy and Renaissance humanism, Denis Cosgrove seeks to provide a geographical interpretation of a region of northern Italy in the specific period of the late Renaissance. However, he goes much further, using the thoughts, designs, and commissions of the architect Palladio as the central thread to weave a picture of a place, Venice, that is in a period of crisis as it seeks to survive a transition from a maritime power hinterland to a new land-based terraferma. As a cultural geographer, he seeks to understand how groups come to terms with and transform their material environments, and he therefore pays special attention to the intellectual forces and spiritual sensibilities that empower those groups as well as to the economic, social, and environmental constraints with which they have to contend. Although these two broad realms of human experience are often studied separately, Cosgrove brings them together in this study. He uses the leitmotif of architecture, and specifically the work of Andrea Palladio, to describe a localized transformation of the natural world into a landscape of expression of cultural meaning.Beyond this leitmotif, the work adopts an essay structure in which each chapter stands somewhat separately as a spatial narrative. It moves from the imperial city of Venice into its Italian territories, and thence from city to rural landscape to specific country estates. Having described localized transformations of urban and rural landscapes, Cosgrove then expands the scale again to consider hydrological engineering in the Venetian territories and some of the techniques involved in surveying and mapping the landscape. These return the reader to the more global view of a Venetian mentalité coming to terms with a changing geographical and historical world map. ... Read more

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Countries in Our World focuses on the countries that shape and influence our modern world. Each book examines physical features, daily life, industry, media, leisure and much more. Each title in Countries in our World is a mine of useful information ideal for school and project work. ... Read more

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Become a detective and discover information about an interesting destination using photos, figures and facts. This book helps you discover what it is like to live in Italy.Find out what the countryside looks like and what people do for fun.Discover wha

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The region that became Roman Arabia had been loosely "unified" and centrally administered by the Nabataean Arabs during the later stages of the Hellenistic period, as Seleucid and Ptolemaic control of Syria/Palestine/Transjordan gradually passed to the Romans. When Herod the Great established himself as the primary political force within Palestine (37-4 BC), by acceptance of a client status with Rome, he was allowed to annex to his kingdom and adminster all the territory collectively called today the Lava Lands (the Hawran) of southern Syria exclusive of the northern Nabateaen city of Bostra. That was the beginning of what became a long and very gradual process of pacification and urbanization of a region traditionally populated by pastoralists and infested with brigands who resisted - often through rebellious activity - royal or imperial encroachment. Governance of that area became Rome's responsibility when the Herodian and Nabataaen dynasties terminated almost simultaneously at the end of the first century AD and their royal domains became part of the ajoining provinces of Syria and Arabia, respectively.There is no evidence that Rome pursued a stated policy of economic and social development in the Hauran region. There is every reason, however, to believe that the provincial authorities supported, and even encouraged, those rural communities to become urbanized. Though few villages ever achieved the rank of formal "poleis" in the six centuries that followed Roman rule, many developed the form and function of the larger provinical city-states (for example Canatha, Bostra, and Philadelphia). The 15 articles included in this volume represent some of the authors research and publications between the early 1980s and early 21st century. The papers on the inter-related topics of geography, urbanization and settlement patterns aim to provide solid groundwork in comparing and contrasting historical development of the Roman Near East with neighbouring provinces of the eastern Roman Empire, as well as other portions of the Roman world. ... Read more

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Find out what the landscape, weather, transport, farming, food, shopping, houses, working life, festivals and having fun is like in Italy. This work includes a large, colour map of Italy with an inset map showing its position in the world. Unfamiliar words are in bold and can be found in the glossary at the book of the book. A 'scrapbook' spread shows things that children might collect from Italy to put in a scrapbook, such as tickets, coins and postcards. There is a small list of Italian words at the end of the book, which children might use if they were to visit Italy. ... Read more

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Chapters: Biota of Italy, Geology of Italy, Trees of Italy, Geography of Italy, Fauna of Italy, Marine Life of the Straits of Messina, Acer Platanoides, Acer Pseudoplatanus, Bay Laurel, Acer Campestre, 1980 Irpinia Earthquake, Naples Underground Geothermal Zone, Pleurotus Nebrodensis, Ulmus Canescens, Abies Nebrodensis, Alnus Cordata, Apulian Plate, Monte Milone, Grana Double Tree. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 71. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Italy has one of the highest levels of faunal biodiversity in Europe with over 57,000 species recorded (more than a third of all European fauna). This is due to Italys 86% of the Italian fauna is land-based, 14% is aquatic. Insects represent about two thirds of all of Italys fauna. Portions of Italy are included in the Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot. Important terrestrial ecoregions include the: Illyrian deciduous forests, the Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests, the South Apennine mixed montane forests, the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests,Appenine deciduous montane forests, the Dinaric Mountains mixed forests(Trieste) and the Po Basin mixed forests. There are also many cave systems significant for Biodiversity. The Checklist of the Species of the Italian Fauna includes 4777 endemic animal species. Unique Mammals include the Corsican Hare, Sardinian Long-eared Bat, the Apennine Shrew , the Udine Shrew the Calabria Pine Voleand the Sardinian Deer. Corsican Swallowtail An endemic speciesEndemic amphibians and reptiles include the Spectacled Salamander, the Sardinian Cave Salamander, Italian Cave Salamander Monte Albo Cave Salamander, the, the Sardinian Brook Newt , the Italian Newt, the Italian Frog, the Apennine Yellow-bellied Toad the Sicilian Green Toad, the Aeolian Wall Lizard, the Sicil...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=25726602 ... Read more

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Producing Culture and Capital is a major theoretical contribution to the anthropological literature on capitalism, as well as a rich case study of kinship and gender relations in northern Italy.

Drawing on ethnographic and archival research on thirty-eight firms in northern Italy's silk industry, Sylvia Yanagisako illuminates the cultural processes through which sentiments, desires, and commitments motivate and shape capitalist family firms. She shows how flexible specialization is produced through the cultural dynamics of capital accumulation, management succession, firm expansion and diversification, and the reproduction and division of firms. In doing so, Yanagisako addresses two gaps in Marx's and Weber's theories of capitalism: the absence of an adequate cultural theory of capitalist motivation and the absence of attention to kinship and gender. By demonstrating that kinship and gender are crucial in structuring capitalist action, this study reveals these two gaps to be different facets of the same omission. A process-oriented approach to class formation and class subjectivity enables the author to incorporate the material and ideological struggles within families into an analysis of class-making and self-making.

Yanagisako concludes that both "provincial" and "global" capitalist orientations and strategies operate in an industry that has always been integrated into regional and international relations of production and distribution. Her approach to culture and capitalism as mutually constituted processes offers an alternative to both universal models of capitalism as a mode of production and essentialist models of distinctive "cultures of capitalism." ... Read more

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Marvellous ethnographic studyof Family Capitalism in Italy
Professor Yanagisako undertakes an ethnographic study of thirty-eight family firms in northern Italy's silk industry from an anthropological perspectivein order to go against the prevailing theories propounded by Weberian and Marxist scholars that capitalism can be self-perpetuating that requires no culturally motivated agents to reproduce or capitalism is the rational and calculated pursuit of profit and accumulation in which the effects of culture towards the diffusion of capitalism in the western world are not long-term and stronger.To her, culture and capitalism are not oxymoron and they can be mutually interdependent.

In this book, Professor Yanagisako undertakes a critical reconsideration of the concept of culture within the framework of anthropology as an analysis of family capitalism in Italy. She rejects the widespread notion that western capitalism is a homogenising and acultural force. She maintains that capital is accumulated, dispersed, and reproduced through historically specific cultural processes which are being formed through everyday practices of entrepreneurs. By studying sentiments, identities, kinship and gender of family firms in northern Italy's silk industry, she suggests that the application of cultural essentialist theory in the study of family capitalism in northern Italy cannot fully account for diverse everyday practices of family firms in the same geopolitical space. To her, we cannot view culture as a fixed and unchanging system and entrepreneurial practices within a specific national or regional space as homogeneous.

Professor Yanagisako interviews family firm founders and their family members and relatives. She also collects information from "Camera di Commercio" (Chamber of Commerce) in the provincial office that contains more detailed quantitative and qualitative data surrounding family firms. According to her findings, family firm founders are used to be depicted as "men of strong character" (P. 40),and "accentratori" (P.88) (making all the decision themselves), whereas there are sparse descriptions of founder's wives with such distinctive characters and personalities. The strength and character of the emotional bonds within the family become a productive force that enables family firms to survive and prosper. Amongst thirty-eight family firms, Professor Yanagisako finds that the practices of family firm founders in the upper, middle, and lower bourgeoisie factions vary even though they have similar sentiments, desires, and meanings of kinship and gender and therefore, they differ as regards capital accumulation, diversification, and reproduction. Chapter 5("Betrayal as a Force of Production" ) of the book is very interesting for its in-depth analysis of a recurring process of how betrayal and trust can lead to continuation and breakdown of solidarity of family firms.


This book should be read by readers who are interested in culture and family capitalism because it provides a new perspective towards the concept of culture and many particular insights and razor-sharp analyses of family capitalism. Resulting from rigorous integration of theories and empirical evidence made by Professor Yanagisako, this book is also strongly recommended as a good piece of scholar work for ethnographic researchers in the domains of family firms, entrepreneurship, and cultural studies.

Interesting book
Although I'm Italian and interested in the fashion/textile industry, I wasn't aware of the historical backgrounds of the most prestigeous Italian families who started textile businesses early in the Century. The author did an awesome job in gathering all the information the book contains. This book will help you get an idea of: where the major Italian textile firms are located around the lake Como; what are the families' styles and traditions beyond the businesses; and, ultimately, which are their characteristics. Simply intersting and amusing book. ... Read more

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Examines the land, people, and history of Italy and discusses its state of affairs and place in the world today. ... Read more

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Good book for a report.
This book has great historical information and facts.If I had to do a report on Italy, this is a book that I would want to use for the report.This is a good book for students and teachers alike. ... Read more

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Chapters: Geography of Italy, 1980 Irpinia earthquake, Naples underground geothermal zone, Apulian Plate, Monte Milone,. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 24. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in the Irpinia region in southern Italy on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Measuring 6.89 on the Richter Scale, the quake, centered on the village of Conza, killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000 and left 300,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto dell'Irpinia (Irpininan earthquake). The quake struck at 18:34 UTC. The first jolt was followed by 90 aftershocks. Towns in the province of Avellino were hardest hit. In Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, 300 died including 27 children in an orphanage and eighty percent of that town had been destroyed. One hundred were killed in Balvano when a medieval church collapsed during Sunday services. The towns of Lioni, Conza di Campania (near the epicenter), and Teora were destroyed, and dozens of structures in Naples were levelled, including a 10-story apartment building. Damage was spread over more than 26,000 km², including Naples and Salerno. The Italian government spent 59 billion (or 59 thousand milliard) lire on reconstruction, while other nations sent contributions. Germany contributed 32 million United States dollars (USD) and the United States 70 million USD. However, in the early nineties a major corruption scandal emerged of the billions of lire that actually disappeared from the earthquake reconstruction funds in the 1980s. Of the $40 billion (or 40 thousand million) spent on earthquake reconstruction, an estimated $20 billion (or 20 thousand million) went to create an entirely new social class of millionaires in the region, $6.4 billion (or 6,400 million) went to the Camorra, whereas another $4 billion (or 4...http://booksllc.net/?id=11531796 ... Read more