Our list of some of the best Italy books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
- Rick Steves Italy 2019 (2018)
- Lonely Planet Italy (Travel Guide) (2018)
- Fodor’s Essential Italy 2019 (Full-color Travel Guide) (2018)
- Frommer’s Italy 2019 (Complete Guides) (2018)
- DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Italy: 2019 (2018)
- Rick Steves Best of Italy (2018)
- Italy The Best Places to See by Rail: An alternative to the escorted tour (2018)
- Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis (2014)
- Eating My Way Through Italy: Heading Off the Main Roads to Discover the Hidden Treasures of the Italian Table (2018)
- Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany (2017)
- A Concise History of Italy (Cambridge Concise Histories) (2014)
Rick Steves Italy 2019 (2018)
Planning a one- to two-week trip? Check out Rick Steves Best of Italy. Want to explore off-the-beaten-path Italy instead? Pick up Rick Steves Sicily.
Lonely Planet Italy (Travel Guide) (2018)
Lonely Planet: The world’s leading travel guide publisher is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Wander through chariot-grooved streets in Pompeii, sample the abundant varieties of wine and olives as you tour Tuscany, or toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Italy and begin your journey now!
Fodor’s Essential Italy 2019 (Full-color Travel Guide) (2018)
With inviting full-color photos, this updated Fodor’s Essential Italy edition deep dives into everything that visitors adore―from the Emilia-Romangna’s delicious food and wine scene to Rome’s historic art and architecture, as well as Tuscany’s glorious hill towns, the Amalfi Coast’s spectacular views, Milan’s famed shopping districts, and much more. Fodor’s Essential Italy provides thorough, insightful coverage to this year-after-year top European destination.
Frommer’s Italy 2019 (Complete Guides) (2018)
From the most trusted name in travel, Frommer’s Italy 2019 is a comprehensive, completely up-to-date guide to one of Europe’s most storied vacation destinations.
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Italy: 2019 (2018)
DK Eyewitness travel guides: award-winning guidebooksDiscover Italy with this essential travel guide, designed to help you create your own unique trip and to transport you to this beautiful country before you’ve even packed your case – step back in time in Rome, explore the stunning Tuscan countryside, tuck into pizza in Naples or ride the waterways in Venice.
Rick Steves Best of Italy (2018)
covers Venice, Milan, Varenna, Lake Como, Verona, Padua, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso al Mare, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Assisi, Orvieto, Civita di Bagnoregio, Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi CoastPlanning a longer trip? Rick Steves Italy 2018 is the classic, in-depth guide to exploring the country, updated annually.
Italy The Best Places to See by Rail: An alternative to the escorted tour (2018)
Escorted tours are highly regimented and expensive averaging $300-$500 per person per day excluding airfare. Bob Kaufman knows. For over 30 years he ran National Travel Vacations, Inc. a tour operator who offered escorted tours on contract to travel agents. If you don’t want to be told that you must be on the bus at 8 AM, and that you have only one hour to shop in Venice, this book is for you.
Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis (2014)
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Monuments Men “An astonishing account of a little-known American effort to save Italy’s…art during World War II.”―Tom Brokaw When Hitler’s armies occupied Italy in 1943, they also seized control of mankind’s greatest cultural treasures. As they had done throughout Europe, the Nazis could now plunder the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the treasures of the Vatican, and the antiquities of the Roman Empire.
Eating My Way Through Italy: Heading Off the Main Roads to Discover the Hidden Treasures of the Italian Table (2018)
After a lifetime of living and eating in Rome, Elizabeth Minchilli is an expert on the city’s cuisine. While she’s proud to share everything she knows about Rome, she now wants to show her devoted readers that the rest of Italy is a culinary treasure trove just waiting to be explored. Far from being a monolithic gastronomic culture, each region of Italy offers its own specialties. While fava beans mean one thing in Rome, they mean an entirely different thing in Puglia.
Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany (2017)
Spending less than a week exploring Florence? Try Rick Steves Pocket Florence.
A Concise History of Italy (Cambridge Concise Histories) (2014)
Since its formation in 1861, Italy has struggled to develop an effective political system and a secure sense of national identity. This new edition of Christopher Duggan’s acclaimed introduction charts the country’s history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the west to the present day and surveys the difficulties Italy has faced during the last two centuries in forging a nation state.
Best Italy Books: The Ultimate List
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some italy books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
OECD Economic Surveys : Italy 1972.
Author(s): OECD
ID: 2149511, Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Year: Nov. 1972, Size: 6 Mb, Format: pdf
OECD Economic Surveys : Italy 1977.
Author(s): OECD
ID: 2149800, Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Year: March 1977, Size: 5 Mb, Format: pdf
OECD Economic Surveys : Italy 1967.
Author(s): OECD
ID: 2149412, Publisher: Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Year: June 1967, Size: 3 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are absolutely record-breakers according to Chicago Tribune, others are written by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.