Florence with Pisa, Siena & San Gimignano in a series of street plans from Rough Guides published on very light waterproof & tear-resistant plastic paper, indexed, with recommendations for shops, restaurants, cafes & cars, & venues. The plan is folded to only 9x 19cm when detached from its protective cover, & can be easily rolled or folded into smaller size without any damage or creases. On one side is a plan of central districts of Florence at 1:9, 200, plus an enlargement of the city ...

Why has Florence always drawn so many English & American visitors? Why have men & women fleeing sex scandals traditionally settled here? What is it about Florence that has made it so fascinating--and so repellent--to artists & writers over the years? Moving fleetly between present & past & exploring characters both real & fictional, Leavitt`s narrative limns the history of the foreign colony from its origins in the middle of the nineteenth century until its demise under Mussolini, & considers the appeal of Florence to figures as diverse as Tchaikovsky, E.M. Forster, Ronald Firbank, & Mary Mc Carthy. Lesser-known episodes in Florentine history--the moving of Michelangelo`s David, & the construction of temporary bridges by black American soldiers in the wake of the Second World War--are contrasted with images of Florence today (its vast pizza parlors & tourist culture). Leavitt also examines the city`s portrayal in such novels & films as A Room with a View, The Portrait of a Lady & Tea with Mussolini. ...

Of all Italian cities, Florence has always had the strongest English accent: the Goncourt brothers in 1855 called it `ville tout anglaise`. Though that accent is diminished now, Florence remains for the English-speaking traveller what it always has been
- one of the best loved, & most visited, of cities. In this Traveller`s Reader, Florence`s rich & glorious past is brought vividly to life for the tourist of today through the medium of letters, diaries & memoirs of travellers to Florence from past centuries & of the Florentines themselves. The extracts chosen include: Boccaccio on the Black Death; Vasari on the building of Giotto`s Campanile; an eye-witness account of the installation of Michaelangelo`s ` David`; the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning at the Casa Guidi; & D. H. Lawrence & Dylan Thomas on twentieth-century Florentine society. Sir Harold Acton provides a concise history of the city from its origins, through its zenith as a prosperous city state which, under the Medici, gave birth to the Renaissance, & up to the Arno`s devastating flood in 1966. Sir Harold Acton, man of letters, historian, aesthete, novelist & poet, has spent most of his life in Florence. Among his best-known books is The Last Medici, Memoirs of an Aesthete.
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This book is as captivating as the city itself. Hibbert`s gift is weaving political, social & art history into an elegantly readable & marvelously lively whole. The author`s book on Florence will also be at once a history & a guide book & will be enhanced by splendid photographs & illustrations & line drawings which will describe all the buildings & treasures of the city. ...

A detailed street plan of central Florence showing the city as it was between 1865 & 1871, the period during which it served as capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Drawn by Edizioni Multigraphic using information from various historical sources including the city’s official archives, the map presents the famous landmarks as government buildings, e.g. Palazzo Pitti as the Royal Palace & Palazzo Vecchio as the Parliament. It is interesting to notice the central railway station “ Santa Maria Novella”, which here appears in its original shape before the enlargement of the 1930s; the Art secondary school of Porta Romana is still used as Royal Stables, etc. The map also shows the new tree-lined avenues: this was the most visible change to the city structure, since the old city walls were knocked down & replaced with the avenues. Over 80 locations are cross-referenced to the accompanying list of public buildings, & the map also provides historical notes which include a list of ministerial office holders during the city’s tenure as the capital of Italy. Map legend & all the text are in English. ...

A map commemorating the tragic flood on 4th November 1966, showing the extent of the inundation within the city itself & in the surrounding province. A street plan of the historic city centre & the adjoining districts on both banks of the Arno shows the height reached by the flood waters, up to six metres in places. A map of the Florence province at 1:100, 000, with cartography based on the Italian topographic survey, shows the areas flooded by the Arno & its tributaries. Map legend & the accompanying text are in Italian only. The map also has black & white photos of the city centre during the flood. ...

A map commemorating the tragic flood on 4th November 1966, showing the extent of the inundation within the city itself & in the surrounding province. A street plan of the historic city centre & the adjoining districts on both banks of the Arno shows the height reached by the flood waters, up to six metres in places. A map of the Florence province at 1:100, 000, with cartography based on the Italian topographic survey, shows the areas flooded by the Arno & its tributaries. Map legend & the accompanying text are in Italian only. The map also has black & white photos of the city centre during the flood. ...

Florentine is a collection of recipes & photographs from Tuscany`s capital. Emiko Davies draws on her lived experience of traditional Florentine cuisine to share recipes that transport readers to the piazzas of Florence. From her torta di mele
- a reassuringly nonna-esque apple cake
- to ravioli pera e ricotta
- mouthwateringly buttery pear & ricotta ravioloni
- allow yourself to be taken on a culinary tour through the city. Florentine is a unique stroll through the city`s streets, past pastry shops bustling with espresso-sippers, hole-in-the-wall wine bars, busy food vans & lunchtime trattorias, to reveal why the people of Florence remain proudly attached to their unchanging cuisine
- a cuisine that tells the unique story of its city, dish by dish. From the morning ritual of la pasticceria (the pastry shop) & il forno (the bakery), the tantalising fresh produce of il mercato (the market) & il maccellaio (the butcher) through to the romance of la trattoria, Davies expertly guides food lovers through the Renaissance city. Be swept up in the atmosphere of Florence`s street food scene with a few bites of crunchy crostini with fig compote & prosciutto, or savour a silky gelato of hazelnut & crema. With a nod to Florence`s rich history, Florentine offers some much-loved traditional dishes, such as schiacciata fiorentina (orange & vanilla cake), apricot jam crostata (apricot jam pie), piselli alla fiorentina (peas cooked in tomato sauce) & cinghiale con le olive (stewed wild boar with olives). Seasons & long-held food traditions play an important role in the Tuscan kitchen & this is reflected in every Florentine menu, bakery window or market stall. Davies says that one of the things living in Tuscany has taught her is that there is no such thing as Italian cuisine; rather, Florentine is about offering readers a local`s perspective on one of the country`s 20 regional cuisines. In this case, the one that has won her heart.




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Topographical survey of Belgium at 1:20, 000 from Nationaal Geografisch Instituut / Institut Géographique National, the country’s national survey organization. Each 20K map covers one quarter of the corresponding 1:50, 000 map (with adjustments in the border & coastal areas). The maps provide all the information expected of topographic mapping at this scale & in addition have an unusually large amount of vegetation and/or land use information (different types of woodlands, gardens, orchards, heath, etc). The maps have a 1-km UTM grid, with margin ticks for latitude & longitude at intervals of 1`. Map legend & a glossary of terms used on the maps include English. Stanfords keeps as regular stock 20K maps for the World War I battlefields around the Ypres, Messines & Passchendaele, & for the area of the Battle of Waterloo. The 1:20, 000 survey covers the whole of Belgium & maps for other regions can be supplied as special orders. To see the list of titles in this series please click on the series link.PLEASE NOTE: the Long-Distance Footpaths Map of Belgium at 1:300, 000 which shows the division of Belgium into the 50K survey sheets can also be used to see in more detail coverage by the 20K maps. ...

Ardennes Recreational Maps at a scale of 1:25, 000 enable you to discover the Ardennes from junction to junction, each associated with a locality, through a network of hiking, cycling or riding paths. The network of mini walks consists of suggested routes with kilometre distance marked showing field boundaries & urbanised built up areas. Contour markings are at five metre intervals. The map legend is in English, French, Dutch & German. You can scan QR codes on the map for details about the respective locality or upload GPX files of the proposed routes via the provided website. ...