TUSCANY: A HISTORY -- PART 3

ALISTAIR MOFFAT BOOK REVIEW

 

Moffat's well-researched, scholarly content is conveyed in eminently readable prose.

It’s like those lectures of your favorite undergrad history prof: the one who made learning ancient stuff so surprisingly enjoyable.

Describing Tuscany’s appeal, Moffat writes: “…(I)t looks old, and very beautiful, and very detailed.

Punctuated by tall cypress trees, patterned by fields, olive groves and vineyards…crossed by dusty, winding roads and tracks, the landscape bears the marks of the men and women who have worked every corner of it for millennia.”

I think I’ll check the Alitalia website for flights to Firenze…  
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: 

http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Tuscany-9781841588315

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

TUSCANY: A HISTORY -- PART 2

ALISTAIR MOFFAT BOOK REVIEW

It could not be otherwise, what with its unparalleled art and architecture, amazing food and wine, and exquisite natural beauty. Even the sun shines differently there. It’s almost unfair.

Author Alistair Moffat fell under Tuscany’s spell in 1971 when studying abroad.

In Tuscany: A History, Moffat offers up an entrancing story of the region from pre-historic times to the present day.

And what a story to tell: of oligarchs and popes, iconic artists and writers, soaring cathedrals and medieval walled towns.

Even a bad writer could beguile readers with a narrative woven with tales about Dante, Giotto, the Medici, the Knights Templar and the Black Plague. 

Fortunately for us, Moffat is anything but a hack.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: 

http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Tuscany-9781841588315

TUSCANY BOOK REVIEW CONTINUES

TOMORROW -- SEPTEMBER 21

TUSCANY: A HISTORY -- PART 1

ALISTAIR MOFFAT BOOK REVIEW

Sometimes the upshot of a trip abroad is little more than a few postcards, a couple cheap souvenirs and some digital photos posted on Facebook.

Short-lived fun and a few happy memories. Other trips, however, are different.   

Some places get under your skin, ooze into your pores, maybe even change your DNA.

Once you’ve been there, you always yearn to go back, and conjure up daydreams of moving there, living the ex-pat lifestyle.

Tuscany is just such a place. It begs not to be simply toured, but rather absorbed, tasted, savored. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: 

http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/details/Tuscany-9781841588315

TUSCANY BOOK REVIEW CONTINUES

TOMORROW -- SEPTEMBER 20