The Umbria: Italy's Timeless Heart

by Paul Hofmann

Filled with a wealth of personal and historical accounts detailing the cities, towns, villages, and natural sights of Umbria, a beautiful Italian province, a fascinating guide reveals its hidden wonders from the great Etruscan and Roman ruins, medieval castles, cathedrals, and palaces to extraordinary works of art.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Paul Hofmann was an author, journalist, linguist, and political activist. The New York Times, for whom he was a foreign correspondent, described him as fluent in German, Italian, French, and English, having a command of several other languages that was more than passable, as well as "a broad grasp of history and diplomatic affairs and an often playful curiosity."

Reviews

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saints and
Paintings.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume reads too much like a guidebook to rate more than three stars. The information is interesting enough, and the tour is thorough with a few sidebars into history and anecdote. But Hofman's prose is too much journalism and not enough romance for "Italy's timeless heart."

[Mary Cohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I had expected. This is more a travel guide than a book about Umbria's history or the character of the region. While it may have been helpful, in some instances, to have had the book with me when I traveled there, for the most part, it was uninteresting.