Lombardy

Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer

by Robert Byrd

Famous in his time as a painter, prankster, and philosopher, Leonardo da Vinci was also a musician, sculptor, and engineer for dukes, popes, and kings. What remains of his work –from futuristic designs and scientific inquiry to artwork of ethereal beauty — reveals the ambitious, unpredictable brilliance of a visionary, and a timeless dreamer. Robert Byrd celebrates this passionate, playful genius in a glowing picture book replete with the richness and imagination of Leonardo’s own notebooks. Twenty lavish spreads, including side drawings, supplemental texts, and quotes from Leonardo’s writings, highlight distinct periods and make the master’s art, jokes, explorations, and inventions wonderfully vivid and accessible. A striking tribute to an irrepressible mind and to the potential within all who are curious.

Art History, Biography & History, Literature For KidsFlorence, Milan, Rome

A Farewell to Arms

by Ernest Hemingway

(8779)

Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times to get the words right. This edition collects all of the alternative endings together for the first time, along with early drafts of other essential passages, offering new insight into Hemingway’s craft and creative process and the evolution of one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. Written when Hemingway was 30 years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield—weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Featuring Hemingway’s own 1948 introduction to an illustrated reissue of the novel, a personal foreword by the author’s son Patrick Hemingway, and a new introduction by the author’s grandson Seán Hemingway, this edition of A Farewell to Arms is truly a celebration.

Classics, NovelsLombardy, Northern Italy, Veneto

Without Reservations: The Travels of An Independent Woman

by Alice Steinbach

(691)

American journalist Alice Steinbach took a year off to live in five cities – Paris, Venice, Milan, London and Oxford – when she realized she had entered a new phase of life. Her sons had graduated from college; she had been divorced for a long time; she was a successful journalist. While there was nothing really wrong with her life, she felt restless. Could she live independently of her family, her friends, her career? Steinbach searches for the answer to this provocative question firstly in Paris, where she finds a soul mate in a Japanese man; in Milan, where she befriends a young woman about to marry, and in the evocative cities of Oxford and Venice. Her trip is peppered with accounts of the exotic strangers she meets, her reflections on life and the observational postcards she wrote to herself during her year away.

MemoirsMilan, Venice

Living Abroad in Italy

by John Moretti

(4)

John Moretti left his job as a small-town reporter in Vermont for an extended vacation in Rome, realized he didn’t want to go home, and eventually relocated to Milan for four years. John provides insight and first-hand advice on navigating the language and culture of Italy, outlining all the information needed in a smart, organized, and straightforward manner. Moon Living Abroad in Italy makes the moving and transition process easy for businesspeople, students, teachers, retirees, and professionals. It is packed with essential information and must-have details on setting up daily life including obtaining visas, arranging finances, gaining employment, choosing schools, and finding health care. This relocation guide also includes practical advice on how to rent or buy a home for a variety of needs and budgets, whether it’s an apartment in downtown Milan or a villa in the Tuscan countryside. All Moon Living Abroad Guides include color photos, black and white photos, black and white illustrations, and maps.

Lifestyle, Decorating & GardeningMilan

Death in the High City: A crime novel set in Italy

by Val Culley

(60)

Within the walls of Bergamo’s high city, the Città Alta, an English woman writer is found dead in her apartment. Although Sophie Westmullen’s death seems suspicious at first, local Commissario Aldo Esposito does not believe there is enough evidence to open a murder inquiry. The victim’s cousin, journalist Kate Butler, arrives in Bergamo to try to get some answers. She meets Sophie’s friends and delves into the life of Gaetano Donizetti, the composer who was to have been the subject of her cousin’s next book, uncovering some disturbing information along the way. But after her own life is threatened and there has been another death in the Città Alta, Kate’s lover, recently-retired DCI Steve Bartorelli, joins her in Bergamo to help her unravel the mystery and trap the killer.

NovelsLombardy