Italy

The rise and fall of the Venetian empire stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty....

"Sicily," said Goethe, "is the key to everything." It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East....

An extraordinary chronicle of Venice, its people, and its grandeur Thomas Madden’s majestic, sprawling history of Venice is the first full portrait of the city in English in almost thirty years....

It is John Berendt and only John Berendt who can capture Venice, a city of masks, a city of riddles....

Acclaimed WWII historian James Holland both narrates and reframes the controversial first months of the Italian Campaign and sets a new standard in the chronicling of war....

Whether you’re a student of Italian history looking for a refresher or a brand-new learner looking for an introduction, this book is a concise, easy-to-follow overview of the major players, events, and forces in Italian history, from antiquity to today....

Tourists, armchair travelers, and historians will all delight in this fluid narrative that can be read straight through, dipped into over time, or used as a reference guide to each period in Sicily's fascinating tale....

Michelangelo, God's Architect is the first book to tell the full story of Michelangelo's final two decades, when the peerless artist refashioned himself into the master architect of St. Peter’s Basilica and other major buildings....

This riveting audiobook narrated by Phyllida Nash traces the history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman Empire....

A concise, star-studded retelling of Italy's past, from Caesar and Augustus to da Vinci and Michelangelo, tracing the story of a country with prodigious global influence—from a foremost author of historic Italy.

Packed with personal accounts of the action, this is a vivid narrative history of the often-overlooked USAAF campaign in North Africa and Sicily in World War II.

Filled with colorful characters and history, Double Entry takes us from the ancient origins of accounting in Mesopotamia to the frontiers of modern finance....

A powerfully argued and utterly definitive account of a murderous tyrant we thought we understood, Hitler is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the origins and outcomes of the Second World War....

Naples '44 is an unflinching autobiographical account of a year in Naples after the armistice and Allied landings in Sorrento in 1943. Working as a British counterintelligence officer under the Allied occupation, Lewis documents the rich pageant of life in the city and its surrounding areas....

A riveting story that has been ignored by modern historians, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara will prompt intense interest and discussion as it lays bare attitudes of the Catholic Church....

Why does Rome continue to exert a hold on our imagination? City of the Seven Hills, spiritual home of Catholicism, city of the artistic imagination - Rome has inspired, charmed, and tempted empire-builders, dreamers, writers, and travelers across the 27 centuries of its existence....

If you want to discover the captivating history of Italy and Rome, then this audiobook is for you. It includes two books: History of Italy and History of Rome. It covers topics ranging from the founding and early settlements to the modern history....

Set in the court of Urbino in 1507, Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier presents an invaluable look at court life and culture during the Renaissance. Over four nights of dialogue, the book explores the key question, ‘What should a courtier be like?’ Listen for more....

Since its formation in 1861, Italy has struggled to develop an effective political system and a secure sense of national identity. Christopher Duggan's acclaimed introduction charts the country's history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to the present day....

In the early morning of 6 May, 1527, the 20,000 starving, unpaid troops of Emperor Charles V began their assault on the great walls of Rome. After only a few hours they had overcome the barricades; the city into which they streamed was now in their grip....

A dark tale of violence, ideals and a country at war, in Blood and Power, historian John Foot draws on decades of research to chart the turbulent years between 1915 and 1945, and beyond....

It is not an easy job to draw the border between the history of Italy and the history of Rome. In so many places, the two political and geographical entities collide. They wouldn’t be possible without each other, but they each have their own story....

In the late summer of 1943, when Italy broke with the Germans and joined the Allies after suffering catastrophic military losses, an Italian Resistance was born....

Hardly anyone who was educated was unaware of at least some of the more famous stories of Roman myth and history as told by Titus Livius....

Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography....

Before the emperors, there was the Republic. Before the Republic fell, there was the Rubicon. History of the Roman Empire: Power, Betrayal, and the End of the Republic is a sweeping, uncompromising account of how one of history’s most sophisticated democracies collapsed into autocracy—not through foreign invasion or sudden catastrophe, but through internal corrosion, political violence, and the dangerous allure of strongmen. Based entirely on verifiable sources, this work strips away myth and romanticism to reveal the hard truths of Roman political decay and the rise of imperial power. ...

Italy is more than a destination — it’s a conversation between centuries. A place where time doesn’t pass, it accumulates. Original Masterpiece: The History of Italy Through Its Cities, Its Stories, Its Soul is a sweeping, immersive journey through the living past of Italy — told not through cold dates or dry facts, but through the heartbeat of its cities, the voices of its people, and the beauty etched into its stones. This is a history book for those who want to feel the past. Each chapter travels through a different Italian city and era, inviting readers to walk the narrow alleys...

1742: the famous dome atop Saint Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo, is fractured and threatened with collapse. The dome is the pride of Italy and the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. And no one knows how to fix it. This engaging and colorful narrative tells the overlooked story of how Michelangelo's Dome was saved from disaster by three mathematicians and Pope Benedict XIV, who had asked them for help.

I moti del 1848 in Sicilia come pretesto per rivalse trasformistiche da parte del notabilato: in questo contesto si svolgono due efferate stragi sulle quali le autorità si affrettarono a stendere un velo di silenzio. La prima strage avvenne a Porto Empedocle, dove il maggiore Sarzana si liberò in un sol colpo di 114 detenuti, soffocandoli e bruciandoli vivi in una cella comune; la seconda ebbe luogo a Pantelleria, dove ad opera di mafiosi e proprietari furono giustiziati 15 contadini in base a pretestuose accuse.

La Resistenza a lungo è stata considerata solo una "cosa di sinistra": fazzoletto rosso e Bella ciao. Poi, negli ultimi anni, i partigiani sono stati presentati come carnefici sanguinari, che si accanirono su vittime innocenti, i "ragazzi di Salò". Entrambe queste versioni sono parziali e false. La Resistenza non è il patrimonio di una fazione, è un patrimonio della nazione. Aldo Cazzullo lo dimostra raccontando la Resistenza che non si trova nei libri.