SUBJECT INDEX:

TRAVEL:

The Alhambra: Robert Irwin; The Alhambra is the only Muslim palace to have survived since the Middle Ages and has long been a byword for exotic and melancholy beauty. In his absorbing new book, Irwin, Arabist and novelist, examines its history and allure.; Hardcover 2004

The Colosseum: Keith Hopkins; Mary Beard; The history of the Colosseum--chockfull of romantic but erroneous myths--is, in reality, much stranger than the legend. In this engaging book, we learn the details of how the arena was built and at what cost; we are introduced to the emperors who sometimes fought in gladiatorial games staged at the Colosseum; and we take measure of the audience who reveled in, or opposed, these games. The authors also trace the strange afterlife of the monument--as fortress, shrine of martyrs, church, and glue factory.; Hardcover 2005

Paris from the Ground Up: James H. S. McGregor; Paris is the most personal of cities. There is a Paris for the medievalist, and another for the modernist—a Paris for expatriates, philosophers, artists, romantics, and revolutionaries of every stripe. James H. S. McGregor brings these multiple perspectives into focus throughout this concise, unique history of the City of Light. Color maps, along with identifying illustrations, make the city accessible to visitors by foot, Metro, or riverboat.; Hardcover 2009

The Parthenon: Mary Beard; At once an entrancing cultural history and a congenial guide for tourists, armchair travelers, and amateur archaeologists alike, this book conducts readers through the storied past and towering presence of the most famous building in the world. Who built the Parthenon, and for what purpose? How are we to understand its sculpture? Why is it such a compelling monument? The classicist and historian Mary Beard offers readers the ultimate tour of the marvelous history and present state of this glory of the Acropolis, and of the world.; Hardcover 2003

Rome from the Ground Up: James H. S. McGregor; Rome is not one city but many, each with its own history unfolding from a different center. Beginning with the very shaping of the ground on which Rome first rose, this book conjures all these cities, past and present, conducting the reader through time and space to the complex and shifting realities--architectural, historical, political, and social--that constitute Rome.; Hardcover 2005 / Paperback 2006

St. Peter's: Keith Miller; Built by the decree of Constantine, rebuilt by some of the most distinguished architects in Renaissance Italy, emulated by Hitler's architect in his vision for Germania, immortalized on film by Fellini, and fictionalized by a modern American bestseller, St. Peter's is the most recognizable church in the world. This book covers the social, political, and architectural history of the church from the fourth century to the present.; Hardcover 2007

Stonehenge: Rosemary Hill; Hill guides the reader on a tour of Stonehenge in all its cultural contexts, as a monument to many things—to Renaissance Humanism, Romantic despair, Victorian enterprise, and English Radicalism.; Hardcover 2008

The Tomb of Agamemnon: Cathy Gere; Mycenae, the fabled city of Homer's King Agamemnon, leapt into the headlines in the late nineteenth century when Heinrich Schliemann announced that he had opened the Tomb of Agamemnon and found the body of the hero smothered in gold treasure. In this book, historian of science Cathy Gere tells the story of these extraordinary ruins.; Hardcover 2006

Venice from the Ground Up: James H. S. McGregor; Venice came to life on mudflats at the edge of the habitable world. Protected in a tidal estuary from invaders and Byzantine overlords, the fishermen and traders who settled there crafted a way of life unlike anything the Roman Empire had ever known. In an astonishing feat of narrative history, James H. S. McGregor recreates this world, with its waterways rather than roads and its livelihood harvested from the sea. The narrative follows both a chronological and geographical organization, so that readers can trace the city's evolution by chapter and visitors can explore it by district on foot and by boat.; Hardcover 2006 / Paperback 2008

Westminster Abbey: Richard Jenkyns; Westminster Abbey is the most complex church in existence. This is both an appreciation of an architectural masterpiece and an exploration of the building's shifting meanings. We hear the voices of those who have described its forms, moods, and ceremonies, from Shakespeare and Voltaire to Dickens and Henry James; we see how rulers have made use of it, from medieval kings to modern prime ministers.; Hardcover 2005