My most recent visit to Italy was in September 2011. The country was in the throes of one of the worst economic crises in its history but, at the same time, was celebrating the 150th anniversary of the unified Italian state.
The idea for this book occurred to me after this most recent visit to the country. In the course of a total of 11 visits to Italy I had captured many thousands of images of various regions of the country and it seemed like a good idea to put together a collection of my favourites. At the same time I have tried to include some to illustrate different aspects of Italian history and culture. In addition, I have used as many images as possible that are different from the straightforward postcard type views. This volume will appeal to all Italophiles and neutrals alike.

The images were taken over the period 1986-2011 on colour transparency and print films and, during the 2011 visit, on the digital medium.