La Passione

How Italy Seduced the World

Dianne Hales

$49.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Crown Publishers
16 April 2019

History; Travel & holiday

A charming narrative and "pop historical" look into how Italy has shaped the Western world's most vibrant passions, from literature to love, music to art, food to wine.

What makes Italian passion so undeniably unique? Dianne Hales unspools the answer to this question with gusto in La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World, her ambitious follow-up to La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. Whether they built aqueducts, chiseled arches, conducted choirs, directed movies, raced cars, or designed fashion and furniture, Italians have done so with a full-hearted zest that transforms everything they touched. What didn't exist, they invented: the first universities, public libraries, and law and medical schools; the first modern histories, satires, and sonnets; the battery, barometer, radio, and thermometer--even the gift of music.

Dante and Petrarch, titans of the Italian language, translated their fervid love for idealized muses into literary landmarks. Michelangelo carved a Bacchus so sinuously delectable that a Florentine sniped, "Buonarotti could not have sinned more with a chisel." Puccini swept listeners, in a biographer's words, "into that place where erotic passion, sensuality, tenderness, pathos, and despair meet and fuse." La Passione traces this earthly, earthy drive back to its roots, follows its course through the centuries, and chronicles its impact on the realms of literature, art, music, cuisine, and style, as its people came to embrace, fully and deeply, a passion for life itself.

Combining her adroit journalist's eye with extensive research, Hales delves into passions of the heart, senses, and soul across the ages in this perfect read for the casual Italophile, inquisitive tourist, or history buff in your life.

By: Dianne Hales
Imprint: Crown Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 139mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780451499165
ISBN 10: 0451499166
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 16 April 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

DIANNE HALES is a journalist and author of books on Italian culture, most recently Mona Lisa- A Life Discovered and Crown's La Bella Lingua- My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. Her website and blog, Becoming Italian Word by Word, has been honored as the best blog on Italian culture in an international survey, and has more than 1.3 million visitors. Hales lives in Marin County, California, with her husband.

Reviews for La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World

In this sweeping account of la passione italiana from ancient to modern times, Dianne Hales shows once again why she is one the world's foremost guides to the riches of Italian culture. Every page resonates with the author's love for Italy, and her joy in sharing its remarkable discoveries and exquisite pleasures with her readers. -JOSEPH LUZZI, author of My Two Italies and In a Dark Wood What would we do without Italy and the treasures she has given to the world? Thank God we won't have to find out. Dianne Hales exquisitely reveals how the passion of Italians - ancient and modern, famous and anonymous, unwavering even in the most difficult of circumstances - has given birth to an explosion of art and innovation unlike any other culture. Hales captures the spirit of Italy and makes us more grateful than ever for its ardent creators. La Passione takes us on a journey that you simply won't want to end. -KATHY MCCABE, host of Dream of Italy on PBS Hales takes us on an enriching and delightful journey, filled with fascinating characters, scintillating sensual details, and an authentic connection to the ever-inspiring Italian heart and soul that has given the world boundless pleasures. -SUSAN VAN ALLEN, author of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go In this inquisitive celebration of the Italian spirit, Hales traverses the country, exploring its history and culture... The chapters on food will delight readers... Sure to inspire many vacations, this volume shows Italy's many contributions to the world and captures the essence of the very things that make it such a wondrous place. -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY [Hales'] love affair with Italy shines through as she recounts the histories of colorful characters who made their names through war, art, food, wine, music, and more. She brings the reader with her to experience the country's long-lasting traditions and the people whose dedication keeps that legacy alive today... Frothy as a cappuccino and rich as tiramisu, La Passione is a delightful excursion into the heart of Italian culture. -BOOKLIST