Italy from Above [Hardcover]

Alberto Bertolazzi (Author), Antonio Attini (Photographer), Marcello Bertinetti (Photographer), Franco Zeffirelli (Preface), Giuliano Urbani (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2010

Splendido! This is perhaps the only way to describe this book, a superb photographic tableau that shows Italy from all angles with all the artistic insight and technical innovation worthy of the Bel Paese. All of Italy unfolds in a sumptuous collection of aerial images taken by photographers who know and love their own country. This is a "trophy" book on a land that, from above, appears to have been laid out by a master eye. Specially commissioned photographers have explored everywhere to bring the reader unusual perspectives on the country's breathtaking beauty and its many identities, from folk to high art. The Alps in the north and the volcano-hewn coastlines of the south, majestic cathedrals and Roman ruins, colorful cities and hidden villages-these are all part of Italy. The photos in this book invite the reader to ponder these treasures anew, while appreciating the human life in their midst. Fascinating images of familiar landmarks appear, but surprises hide around every corner.This book captures the many flavors of Italy in ways that few books can. All of Italy's regions spring to life dramatically in these gorgeous photos. Italy has cultivated beauty, art, and science for centuries, and in this book the Bel Paese itself-its terrain, its monuments, its people-appears as a masterpiece.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alberto Bertolazzi was born in 1961 and studied philosophy at the University of Pavia. A dedicated traveler and enthusiastic naturalist, he has written for La Repubblica, La Stampa, Il Giornale Nuovo, Il Piccolo di Trieste, and Il Giorno. He has contributed articles to travel and adventure magazines, including Meridiani, Sestante, and Panorama.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 428 pages
• Publisher: White Star Publishers; Har/DVD edition (September 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8854400831
• ISBN-13: 978-8854400832
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 1.5 x 13.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Italy We Never See: Adventures in a Glider, November 16, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Italy from Above (Hardcover)

For those legions of people for whom Italy is the special place in the heart this new book will serve as a feast. Imagine riding in a low flying glider from the north to the south and everywhere in between, swooping down for intimate views of lakes, cottages, villas, cities, ruins, and landscape: reading and viewing this book is very much like that quietest of all transportation modes and equally as thrilling.

Alberto Bertolazzi, and experienced travel writer, has worked with Marcello Bertinetti and other outstanding photographers to create this romantic journey to his beloved Italy from the vantage of the sky. After a warm introduction by Franco Zeffirelli, and an equally impressive preface by Giuliano Urbani, Bertolazzi and his photographers take us from volcanoes, the Alps, the lakes, and vineyards, the ruins many have never seen, the majestic palaces and villas, a perspective of Venice that is surpassingly beautiful, the cities as seen form above, to the small treasures unknown to the casual visitor. This is an insider's view of Italy and all its flavors and people.

The quality of the photographs is stunning and we are treated to page after page of splendid sites and surprising treasures, from the mundane to the internationally significant. This is simply a magnificent volume that promises, and gives, an Italy never before seen in books. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, November 05

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, September 13, 2006

By 

Robert F. Woods - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Italy from Above (Hardcover)

First - I guess I'm glad to have the book rather than not having it.

But for the price and the hype about it - plus the OPPORTUNITY - it is a great disappointment.

You will find oodles of pictures of the tops of Alpine mountain ranges - oodles of uninhabitated or slightly inhabitated capes - but none of similar landscapes with HOW ITALIANS HAVE INTERACTED with the environment. If you are looking for villages nestled in the Dolomites, fishing villages near the capes, etc. - forget it. Much of the book has been taken up with repeat after repeat of something you already looked at - or almost.

But probably the worst part of the book is the totally INFERIOR PRINTING (or picture quality). Take a rather normal magnifying glass and you will see why the pictures do NOT look good to the normal eye - there are just blotches - were they digital pictures you would see nice square PIXELS. I really suspect they have not bothered to print at 1200 dpi - OR - the original pictures are horrible - OR both! (I compared the pictures - with the glass - with many other books and the difference is STARTLING - if the originals were taken from a satellite, it might be a reason - but they surely weren't).

Another aspect of this poor printing/poor photography is that MANY of the pictures are just dark blobs with no definition - no contrast - no detail - no 'color.'

There has been a pretty bad job of editing -- just look at the ridiculous picture of the piazza in Trieste - it wouldn't even fit on your average San Marino postage stamp!

So - if you are a fan of Italy - you may appreciate the book in a very general way - but you surely will still be on the lookout for a good book which might actually cover the material you might have been hoping for in this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly mediocre quality of prints, January 9, 2007

By 

Sally Polzin "always reading" (Lawarence, MA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Italy from Above (Hardcover)

As a frequent visitor and lover of Italy, I was excited to get this book. I'm still happy that I have it as it does give a birds eye view of many cities that I love, but it also has a tremendous amount of mountain photos that are pretty but redundent. I also found that the quality of the prints was not terrific. Many border on blurry and have a grainy appearance.