Book Description
Filled with headline-making revelations, this explosive account by two award-winning investigative reporters tracks the behind-the-scenes story of the forged intelligence document that the Bush administration used to push the nation into war with Iraq
Like Barbara Tuchman’s 1958 classic, The Zimmerman Telegram, about the decoded German wire that drew the United States into World War I, or the recent bestseller Cobra II, The Italian Letter traces the road to war by following the scandal surrounding the Italian Letter, a fraudulent intelligence document that cooked up proof that the African country of Niger was prepared to supply Saddam Hussein with uranium for nuclear weapons.
What is the real story that led to President Bush’s 16 famous words in his 2003 State of the Union address, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."? In the first book to uncover the details of the scandal that has already led to the indictment of one administration official—a scandal bigger than the Iran-Contra affair—the authors have drawn on their unique access to a large group of CIA, FBI, and international sources as well as whistle-blowers.
As frustration over the increasing deaths in Iraq continues to mount, this timely, page-turning narrative provides fresh insights for a nation hungry for greater understanding of the Iraq War and the manipulated intelligence document that altered the course of contemporary history.
Customer Reviews:
In the lives of the American people it was the end of Innocence.......2007-08-31
1. The Italian letter indirectly supplied by Laura Montini to Rocco Martino and introduced to Elisabetta Burba was not concretely proven. Montini, an employee at Nigerian embassy, in Rome produced the excerpt from the Italian letter: "The government of the republic of Niger and The Govrnment of Iraq by their respective official delegated representatives. Said provision equaling 500 tons of pure uranium per year will be delivered in 2 phases."
2. Michael Ledeen, fellow of the American Enterprise Institute was thought to have had a hand in the Italian letter development from forgery to intelligence because his ties with Italian intelligence services. Ledeen alleged Iranian intelligence agents, and noted Iranian Intelligence fabricator, Manucher Ghorbanifar. AEI fellows include Cheney, Shultz, Kirkpatrick, and Ledeen.
3. Burba was convinced that Niger did not have the capability of shipping yellowcake to Iraq, secretly or openly. Yellowcake was store in 880 barrel filled half way, to control weight and safety. Burba estimated to ship the barrels would have required a 100 truck convey and tractor trailers were rarely seen in West Africa. Each truck would have to travel hundreds of miles from the mining sites in Niger to Cotonou, a major port city in neighboring Benin, where the uranium would be loaded on ships. The risk to sell uranium to Iraq would have been disasterous to Niger, if discovered, because the country receives financial aid from the US and Europe. It wouldn't make sense to make the deal.
4. Burba left copies of the Italian letter with US intelligence and inspired the Bush 16 words scenario. The intelligence community was stunned by the statement not knowing where the statement came from or the source of the information. The policy office was out of the loop and was unaware of a rogue operation in the African country. The intelligence community case was the Iraq was rearming with chemical and biological weapons and when the State department discounted the Niger claim, the director of WINPAC said it was possible. The difference of opinion had more to do with politics than analysis of intelligence.
5. Wolfowitz as his from Christopher DeMuth, president of the American Enterprise Institute, to put together a small team of scholars to assess the dynamics inside the Middle East that had produced the Sep 11 hijackers. The twelve man team concluded that Saadam Hussein had to be removed from power to transform the region into a stable and less threaten part of the world. Neoconservatives were also attracted to the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs with the advisory board consisting of Kirkpatrick, Ledeen, Perle, and Woolsey and Feith as chairman.
6. Wolfowitz hope that Ahmad Chalabi would preside over Iraq after the US invasion. Chalabi received $30 million by the Defense Department in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, payment inpart for providing intelligence, most turned out to be worthless. Chalabi "attempted to influence United States policy on Iraq by providing false information through defectors directed at convincing the United States that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to terrorist." In Oct 2002, the Defense Intelligence Agency cautioned that the Iraq National Congress was pentrated by Iranian hostile intelligence services and would use the relationship to promote its agenda. A similar warning came from the CIA. Chalabi introduced Mohammed Harith, to the Pentagon and the DIA found much of the WMD reporting questionable and his descriptions of alleged nuclear facilities demonstrably incorrect.
7. Under the approval of Rumsfeld, Feith and Wolfowitz create a supersecret team called Team B. Team B provided Cheney and Rumsfeld the evidence that Saadam had created an unholy alliance with Osama Bin Laden. The CIA never said such a thing and did not believe it was true. Team B told Cheney, "Mohammed Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer several months before 9/11 attacks" and Cheney repeated it to the public. As a result 70 percent of Americans polled said Hussein had something to do with the toppling of the Twin Towers.
8. The Office of Special Plans for the new Iraq initiative was a secret matter. The Joint Chief of Staff was not in the loop. Chalabi was a frequent visitor to the NESA and Special Plans office and often broth along Iraqi defectors. DIA reported the information Chalabi and his defectors provided was virtually worthless. "Chalabi stock fell after the invasion, when new accounts dislosed that his intelligence chief was a long time senior officer in Iran's espionage service. US authorities, meanwhile, investigated Chalabi for allegedly passing secrets to Iran.
A Thorough Examination.......2007-07-03
At the core of the disaster of the Bush presidency lies a fabricated "intelligence" document used to justify pre-emptive military invasion.
You wouldn't know it by watching the mainstream press.
This book fills an important role, similar to the 9/11 commission report or the Iraq Study Group. It fills in many of the details necessary to understand how and why such a colossal and embarrassing "intelligence failure" could find it's way into the most important State of the Union address in decades.
It doesn't answer every question, but it answers enough to make it a very worthwhile read, and it does so with just the right touch of humor and lighter prose.
Faked out?.......2007-07-03
Blow by blow account of how to construct a lie and get it delivered to the public by a president. Very well written account of the infamous `sixteen words' in Bush's 2003 state of the union address. This is the way the Mafia would use our intelligence agencies.
It also includes a quick reference time line of events for those amount us who do not posses great faculties of memory.
Fairly thin on the purported topic.......2007-06-14
I have read most of the books on how and why the US went into Iraq and how badly we botched it up once we got there. I found this book interesting and there was some valuable new information, but I came away knowing little about the Italian letter I hadn't already read elsewhere. The central question of who wrote it and why went unanswered, beyond the belief that it originated within SISMI. It's an interesting book if you don't know the story, but unsatisfying if you do and desire to know more.
Whoa...........2007-06-06
This book really opens your eyes to what exactly this administration has done to push the war in Iraq. It is very indepth and very accurate. While I was reading this book, at times, I would forget that I am reading about something that is going on right at this moment because the crap they have pulled sounded like something in a movie. It's frightening that this is real. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what the hell is going on.
Book Description
Filled with practical advice that will help anyone obtain the information they seek through Italian records, Italian Genealogical Records is a comprehensive guide to the complexities and nuances of what could otherwise be a daunting task. In this book, the author discusses the history and development of Italian record keeping, providing reproductions of typical records and a complete translation and thorough explanation of each. Among the many other topics covered in this book are the significance of Italian surnames and the relevance of Italian noble families in the search for Italian ancestors.
Customer Reviews:
Good- but more informative than useful.......2007-07-23
Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent book. But I found it to focus too much on providing general information rather than specific break-downs on actions to take.
It may have been better if it were divided into two books- one giving the necessary history and background needed to understand how Italian records work, when they came into existence, etc. And another giving specific information and tips on how to obtain them.
Italian records are as complex as it's history. So two books may have been in order, there is just so much information there. Or one book, with less information, but more specifics on each category that they chose.
It left me a bit overwhelmed with knowledge, but still no clear direction to go in.
It's kinda like when you are lost and try asking for directions and they tell you 3 different ways you can go, and all they do is confuse you more-so you have a lot of information but are somehow more confused. I'd rather have them tell me one way, that will get me there... I think that explains how I felt after reading this book.
The first book to buy on Italian records.......2005-12-27
This was the first book I bought on Italian genealogy several years ago and it is still the best source for understanding Italian records. Using the form letters I have been successful in obtaining information from a variety of Italian sources. What is especially useful is the balance between the how to chapters and the background on the records. Highly recommended.
Only in Italy, Only in America.......2005-09-08
Thank heavens this book came into my life as a dedicated heritage researcher, first generation Italo-American. Since I am alone in this, as are many out there I have founf doing this, I especially appreciated the wonderful sources, shortcuts, and information given to the noviate, although anyone can learn something from this complete guide. A great addition to the literature.
This Is It!.......2003-01-31
For those of you in search of your Italian heritage need look no further. Everything you need is right here in this relatively cheap book written by, get this, a non-Italian! Whether you just want to get your grandparents birth records from the 1890's or go all the way back to the 1700's to get your 5th great grandparents marriage record, this book will tell you how, in easy step by step instructions. Can't read or write in Italian? Mr. Cole's book does that for you, too. Don't know your Italian history? Guess what? Mr. Cole does, and he shares it with you in his book.
There are many illustrations of actual Italian records from the 1800's to going back almost 1000 years, and he explains what each is and what the records say. This author covers the history of surnames as well.
With the information in this book, it would be virtually impossible for someone who's ancestors were Italian not to discover their heritage.
I strongly recommend this book.
EXCELLENT.......2003-01-29
This is a truly outstanding work. Well-written, fcat filled, concise, orderly. Dr. Cole covers all the important topics very well. If you buy just one book on Italian genealogy, this is the one.
Using just this book, a subscription to POINT journal, an Italian dictionary, and a Latin dictionary I was able to go through the LDS films of my grandfather's ancestral town and in a few months easily trace most of his lines back to the 1500s.
Book Description
EDITORIAL REVIEWS BOOKLIST Many oenophiles find themselves stumped when it comes to proper pronunciation of names of even familiar wines. How to Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names offers a simple approach to this problem. Bellucci's carefully crafted pronunciations are easy to follow, and only the strictest linguists will quibble with her results. Her phonetic approaches to French's accents and uniquely pronounced consonants give good approximations of the originals, and she has helpful suggestions for dealing with German's umlauts. Although not noted in the book's title, there are tables of Spanish and Portuguese wine words as well. The comprehensive lists of chateaus, personal names, and grape varieties make this a very helpful addition to any reference collection of books on wine. Mark Knoblauch Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
PUBLIHSERS WEEKLY "You need this book because: Ordering wine should be as easy as drinking it, not an intimidating experience."
WINE SPECTATOR.COM "A new book may help...Its goal is not to teach you the languages comprehensively, but simply to make you more confident the next time you order wine at a restaurant or ask a retailer for a certain bottle." -Dana Nigro
AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOKS ANNUAL "Perfect for a waiter or sommelier needing a refresher course on pronunciations of wines, for an executive throwing a dinner party, or for those interested in knowing everything there is to know about wine...This book will be ideal in the libraries of the wine connoisseur, restaurateur, or world traveler." -Shannon Hysell
DRINKS, THE MAGAZINE OF FINE WINE, SPIRITS, AND LIVING "You say Abruzzo, she says [ah-b(l)roots-so]. Anyone who's ever struggled with foreign wine names should find welcome relief in Diana Bellucci's helpful new guide How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names. Bellucci uses her own system of phonetics to demonstrate proper pronunciations of wine types and producers in not only the languages mentioned in the title, but also in Spanish, and Portuguese."
ORANGE COUNTY HOME MAGAZINE "It's impossible to be a true wine connoisseur without the ability to pronounce international wine names correctly. With Diana Bellucci's How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names, even the most linguistically challenged person will be able to sound like a world traveler."
ARIZONA FOOD & LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE "Here's a book for the well spoken wine enthusiast (and those who wish they were). …purchase How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names by Diana Bellucci….an incredible compendium of wine titles that helps anyone pronounce even the most complicated vintage…The gift of enunciation is a most unique and delightful gift. Bravo!" -Candy Lesher
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS "Feeling incorrect? This book tells how to pronounce more than 15,000 wine names Spatlese [shpayt-lay-za], a style of riesling." -Fred Tasker
STAR-LEDGER "At last! A wine book that anyone who ever has occasion to talk about wine can immediately put to good use. …people concerned about the correct pronunciation of foreign wine terms will find this an indispensable guide. Just about every wine book that comes out these days promises a fresh approach to the subject, but most are monotonously alike… Every once in a while, I come across a wine book that has something new to say, or at least a new way of saying it." -T.J. Foderaro
HOUSTON CHRONICLE "Even if you know wine, do these names flow as effortlessly off your tongue as a vintage port into a decanter? Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Sforzato, Auxerrois and (gulp) Königsschaffhauser Steingrüble? Finally, a guide for the linguistically challenged (which includes me)." -Michael Lonsford
MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE "If imported wines leave you tongue-tied, then you'll look forward to Diana Bellucci's book How To Pronounce French, German and Italian Wine Names. Before long, you'll be saying Chianti and Château d'Auguilhe with the best of them." -Nicole Hvidsten
AKRON BEACON JOURNAL "For the restaurant weary: How to Pronounce French, German and Italian Wine Names by Diana Bellucci will put anyone who dreads ordering a glass of wine on the road to confidence. This book is a veritable Hooked on Phonics for wine." -Tricia Colianne
SWIRL WINE NEWS "Your last high school French class was just a few (ahem) years ago; you never even took Italian or German. And yet, you wish to impeccably pronounce a wine's name (like Trockenbeerenauslese, perhaps) when you're ordering a bottle for your Valentine's dinner. What to do? Get yourself a copy of Diana Bellucci's How To Pronounce French, German, and Italian Wine Names." -Arlene Wszalek
COLORADO WINE NEWS "This book is a lifesaver. Its simple pronunciation rules and multitude of examples mean you can say wine names with confidence even if you don't speak French, German, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese. Now you need not fear ordering or discussing any wine your heart or palate fancies." -Harold J. Baer, Jr.
ITALIAN WINE MERCHANTS NEWSLETTER "It's fairly easy to stumble on the names of Italian wines and regions, especially after a few glasses. Here's a guide that will help you untie your tongue as you explore the world of wines. You won't learn the language, but you will be able to ask for the wine by name."
Customer Reviews:
Makes me confident behind the podium.......2006-11-10
It helped me to pronounce the French wine names like a Frenchmen & Spanish wine like a Spaniard and so on. I am no longer worried about someone in the audience trying to correct my pronunciations. Further it has very comprehensive coverage, I found almost all names that I wanted to pronounce in this book." It real is great value
Presents a complete method of learning pronunciation.......2004-04-04
Diana Belucci's newest reference title isn't just a another dictionary of pronunciation as might be anticipated: rather, How To Pronounce French, German And Italian Wine Names creates and presents a complete method of learning pronunciation to provide keys to the phonetic pronunciation of over 15,000 wine terms, regions, and grape varieties in five different languages. How To Pronounce French, German And Italian Wine Names could've appeared in our 'Literary' or 'Languages' section but deserves mention here for its in-depth interest to wine buffs.
Book Description
A Book Sense Pick for May 2005, this is the humorous tale of how the author moved— against his will and his better judgment—to Italy with his wife, only to rediscover himself, his marriage, and the importance of getting in touch with his inner Italian.
After years of working on a string of sitcoms, Phil Doran found himself on the outside looking in. Just as he and his peers had replaced the older guys when he was coming up the ranks, it was now happening to him. And it was freaking him out. He came home every night angry, burned- out, and exhausted. After twenty-five years of losing her husband to Hollywood, Doran's wife decided it was finally time for a change—so on one of her many solo trips to Italy she surprised her husband by purchasing a broken-down 300-year-old farmhouse for them to restore. The Reluctant Tuscan is about the author's transition from being a successful but overworked writer-producer in Hollywood to rediscovering himself and his wife while in Italy, and finding happiness in the last place he expected.
In the witty tone that made him a success as a writer in Hollywood, The Reluctant Tuscan captivates those who simply love a good travel narrative as well as anyone who loves the quirky humor of Bill Bryson, Dave Barry, and Jerry Seinfeld.
Praise for The Reluctant Tuscan:
“Doran's brutally funny accounts . . . are enough to keep readers hooked until the last page.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“ . . . disarmingly funny.”
—THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC
“A truly funny book that reveals Italy as never before.”
—THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
Customer Reviews:
Real or Hollywood?.......2007-10-02
The author is a Hollywood comedy script writer, so the frequent laughs are to be expected. As a matter of fact, I had to stop and wipe my eyes more than once during this delightful read. My only question is; just how much of this story has been embossed/fictionalized for the desired effect? In all I enjoyed the book, but have been left with this nagging question: Just how much of this was real? In my search for stories of authentic life in the Tuscan hill country, was this just a side trip?
Fun tastic.......2007-08-23
This book is insiteful and fun with a great sen of new reality and humor,
Funny and Entertaining.......2007-05-23
This is probably one of my favorite books ever.
Phil Doran writes with humor and wit that made me laugh out loud to the point of needing to put the book down in order to regain my composure more than once!
The story of he and his wife's adventures, frustrations, and joy in restoring an old "rustico" in Tuscany were simply amusing and entertaining. Even more enjoyable was the sub-story about their reconnecting during this time after living parallel lives for so long.
A definite must read for anyone who wants a great book!
Endearing AND funny.......2007-04-11
This book was a very easy & fun read, fraught with sarcasm & Italian charm. Even though Doran was occasionally a little over the top with self-pity and Hollywood drama, that was just who he was and I eventually got past it. I thought it also provided a little more than charming little Italian villager stereotypes. They weren't all cute little old ladies or wine makers, there were schemers and antiquated beurocracy that could be incredibly frustrating.
Overall, really fun summer read.
Not that funny but a pretty good book........2007-04-06
When I picked out this book I was in the mood for some fun, light reading and the excerpts from the reviews on the cover caught my eye as they suggested that the book would elicit belly laughs. It's about a former TV sit-com writer in L.A. who moves into an old, delapidated house in Tuscany and gives up his former career.
Funny? Hardly. I read the book and did find a few passages where I found myself smiling a bit, but that was all. After reading it, I understand why Phil Dorn was being phased out as a sit-com writer; he's just not that funny. He is not a bad writer, however, and the real value of reading the book is to look into the struggles of a middle-aged man as he tries to reinvent himself into someone he didn't think he was. As he goes through this process, he discovers that there is much more in life than his former job and he is restored in health and happiness. Despite this obvious transformation, Phil still seems to cling to the idea that he can go back and be successful at what he once was. By the end of the book, I felt that he had only made it about 95% of the way there and still needed to get over that last little bump to understand what he really had accomplished.
Dorn's characters are somewhat enjoyable, but if you are looking for that belly laugh, read Janet Evanovich because his Tuscan friends and acquaintences just don't make the grade. Phil should drop any idea that he is really funny and concentrate more on just telling the story.
I think the book is worth reading, however, as it is fairly well-written and the struggle this guy is going through is an interesting story in itself. It's just not what it was advertised to be.
Amazon.com
In La Bella Cucina, Viana La Place instructs us to look to Italy to discover how to live the good life--la bella vita. She paints a picture of generations gathered together around a table abundant with bowls of pasta, bright platters of vegetables, glistening olives, ripe fruit, and crusty peasant bread. The image poses a sharp contrast to American society, where most of us rush along spending many hours at work and the rest isolated in suburban homes or city apartments.
La Bella Cucina is not just a cookbook, but a guide on how to live la bella vita no matter where you call home. La Place--celebrated author of several Italian cookbooks, including Cucina Rustica and Verdura--details not only the essence of true Italian cooking but also the way of life so profoundly connected to it. She even includes a blueprint for eating like an Italian--from a breakfast of espresso and biscotti to pranzo, the hearty Italian lunch, to cena, the late, light dinner typical in Italian households.
In keeping with the traditions of true Italian cooking, La Place relies on simple, earthy ingredients to create evocative recipes that are at once rich in flavor and simple to prepare. Her soulful recipes like Summer Barley, Tomato, and Basil Soup; Dried Fava Bean Purée with Leeks and Bitter Greens; Sunday Meat Sauce; Spaghetti with a Mountain of Tiny Clams; and Roast Pork with Wild Fennel are more than sufficient for feeding the good life. --Robin Donovan
Book Description
Viana La Place, coauthor of the classic
Cucina Fresca, is passionate about bringing the delights of the Italian table-and the essence of the Italian way of living-into everyone's home. Viana knows the life and food of Italy as well as anyone who ever fell in love with the place, and in
La Bella Cucina we meet her Italian neighbors, travel to local festivals that, of course, feature food, and generally learn how to cook, eat, and enjoy all of life like the Italians.
What are the staples of an Italian pantry? How do you use a moka to prepare the first coffee of the day? When is the right time for a gelato? Viana answers these and many other questions, then presents a collection of more than 125 elegant, fuss-free recipes for soups, salads, vegetables, pastas and rice, meat and poultry, fish, and ideas to end a meal.
As with the best of Italian cooking, these recipes are naturally healthful and celebrate the simplest ingredients and techniques. They are an invitation to not only a meal, but also to a way of life.
Customer Reviews:
Relax, browse, cook.......2001-11-13
Musing on her life in the Salento, a rugged, isolated part of Puglia, Viana La Place ("Cucina Fresca," a classic and personal favorite) paints a romantic, convivial, earthy portrait of the simple life. The recipes, from little dishes through main courses and finishes, are enveloped in Italian ritual and custom and La Place's own experiences. She includes a chapter on wild foods and another brings together dishes for "when you are not feeling well." Ingredients are fresh and simple - though not always easy to obtain here; the leaves and stems of an Italian squash, for example.
But whether she's braising an artichoke, roasting an eggplant, or stewing beef, La Place explains how to choose the best and get it right. Rustic dishes include bread and wine-washed arugula, white bean and ditalini soup with wild fennel, dried fava bean puree with leeks and bitter greens. There are several tomato sauces, simple pasta dishes with wild herbs, or vegetables or seafood, risottos, fried squid, skewered lamb and roast pork.
This is a book for browsing and relaxing as much as cooking.
Book Description
Few understand how to cook great Italian food in America like Giuliano Hazan. A master teacher in his own right -- Giuliano is the son of the authority on Italian cooking, Marcella Hazan -- he knows exactly what home cooks want and need: delicious, easy, and often quick-to- prepare authentic Italian meals made with readily available ingredients.
How to Cook Italian is Hazan's masterwork, the culmination of twenty years of teaching experience, and a perfect follow-up to his previous two highly successful books, Every Night Italian and The Classic Pasta Cookbook.
Hazan covers the basics of Italian cooking, including perfectly cooking pasta, sautèing vegetables, making quick pan sauces, and braising meats until they are fork tender. He guides you every step of the way -- from what you need (usually just a sautè pan and a pot) and what you don't (expensive, fancy equipment) to how to shop and stock the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for easy, fantastic meals throughout the week.
Over 225 clear and concise recipes reflect the way Americans grocery-shop, cook, and eat. Preparation time and total time from start to finish are listed for each dish. Recipes cover all aspects of the meal, from appetizers and buffet items to soups, pastas, risottos, entrees, vegetables, salads, and desserts.
For quick weeknight dinners, cooks can choose from a wide variety of dishes ready in thirty minutes or less: Spaghetti Carbonara; Risotto with Rosemary; Grilled Salmon with Thyme and Parsley Sauce; Shrimp with Pistachio Sauce; Chicken Breast Fillets with Lemon; and Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic, Arugula, and Parmigiano, to name a few.
When time is more plentiful, there are dishes such as Classic Bolognese Meat Sauce or Tuscan Ragù, Pork Loin Braised in Milk, and Leek and Porcini Lasagna.
To indulge your sweet tooth, try Neapolitan Lemon Trifle, Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Grandma's Custard Pie.
Illustrated with thirty-two pages of full-color photographs of finished dishes as well as instructional line drawings throughout, this is the one Italian cookbook that today's American cooks cannot live without.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent start for cooking Italian.......2006-11-10
Giuliano Hazan does an excellent job of putting together a variety of Italian dishes. His book contains dishes of both northern and southern Italy. The book starts with a very good primer on how to cut vegetables correctly, what tools you will need, and information about basic ingredients of Italian cooking. I also like that he limits the recipes to ingredients that can be found in your local "Mega Mart".
I found the primer in the begining of the book to be very helpful. Sometimes just knowing how to prepare or cut a particular ingredient can help take away any intimidation you may have with a new ingredient. He has step by step instructions for cutting up artichokes, onions, and so much more. I also like he takes the time to tell you what tools are essential, he isn't one for useless gadgets. The ingredients that you will need, you will find in a local grocery store. Nothing too exotic will be asked for in this book. It is annoying trying to make a recipe and having to forage for some rare ingredient.
The recipes do span both northern and southern Italian cooking. So often in the United States I think we often feel Italian food is just red spaghetti sauce. Northern Italian food is rich, has unique sauces, and if you haven't tried any northern Italian food, you are missing out. His recipes also do a good job of spanning appetizers, meats, rice, pasta, salads, vegetables, and desserts.
I like that the recipes are written clearly, and are easy to follow. He lists out steps, so you can make sure you are on the right track with his recipes. Also the recipes have ingredients that you are familar with. His recipes are written to where they are almost fool proof.
This is a well put together cookbook. I like that ingredients are easy to find. Recipes are written out clearly, and they are easy to understand. He also does a good job of featuring recipes from northern as well as southern Italy. If you are looking for a book to start out our Italian cooking adventures you will be pleased with this book.
How To Cook Italian is wonderful!.......2006-10-05
Giuliano Hazan offers rich and varied recipes in his book How To Cook Italian. Suggestions of preparation and cooking time tables provide both the novice and the expert cook with achievable feasts.
My husband loves to cook with Giuliano's books!.......2006-09-27
We love Giuliano's new book How to Cook Italian! A few years ago we bought Every Night Italian and were ready for some new and exciting options from Giuliano and we got it with this new collection of gems! The recipes were easy to follow and the explanations for each next step were so helpful. My husband loves to cook with Giuliana's books and it was fun for the whole family to join in the kitchen! Thanks for another wonderful book!
I am confused.......2006-08-12
Perhaps I have a different cookbook or maybe it is because I am basing this after only trying one recipe-but-I do not understand the raves for this book. The recipe for Braised Italian Beef came out so poorly that I had make something else for my dinner guests. I am just glad that I made this the night before.
Straightforward Italian Style Cooking for Americans........2006-07-30
`How to Cook Italian' by Giuliano Hazan is a highly evocative pairing of author and title, since Senor Hazan is the son of the foremost writer on Italian cooking in America, Marcella Hazan, who has given us more than her share of instruction on how to `cook like an Italian'.
The breezy tone of the title leads me to believe the author will be taking the Mario Batali line on cooking with local (in Giuliano's case, Florida) ingredients in the Italian approach to technique for preparation and cooking. I also expect far more than usual emphasis on technique than in the average cookbook. The third vibe I get is that this is not intended to be an attempt to be exhaustive or a scholarly approach, in the style of either Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' or Elizabeth David's `Italian Food'. But why bother, since Elizabeth David and Giuliano's mother have already covered both those bases. Instead, I expect to see genuine Italian cooking interpreted for the average American cook. And, to a great extent, Senor Giuliano has succeeded in this task. The only problem is that the market is so full of good general Italian cookbooks, expecially the recent and encyclopedaic `The Silver Spoon' and Michele Scicolone's `1000 Italian Recipes' that one wonders if there is any room left for this book, regardless of how good the author's pedigree may be. This competition is especially stiff, as the author includes none of his mother's excellent reflections on the doctrinal and procedural underpinnings of Italian cuisine (See `Marcella Says' and the encyclopedaic `Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking'.
True to the expectations created by the title, the first 46 pages are dedicated to techniques, equipment, ingredients, and base recipes. This is all to the good. My only problem here is that the author or Scribner's art department went just a bit too cheap by not providing line diagrams of every piece of kitchen equipment cited in the text. The author says all the right things about the food mill, and yet, from his text, a person totally unfamiliar with the device may be at a loss to appreciate how to find it, especially when faced with less than knowledgable sales clerks.
In the base recipes, there are instructions for bread crumbs, bechamel sauce, mayonnaise, sausage, and meat broth. This seems a bit thin, and I'm puzzled with the absence of fennel in the sausage recipe.
The recipe chapters are:
Appetizers and buffet items, 20 pages
Soups, 30 pages
Pasta and pasta sauces (including macaroni and cheese!), 103 pages
Rice and Risotto, 32 pages
Meats, 84 pages
Vegetables and Side Dishes, 34 pages
Salads, 14 pages
Desserts, 26 pages
It should be no surprise to see pasta taking up the largest chapter. Even at over 100 pages, this is still not a complete manual to Italian pasta; however, it does give about the right amount of space to preparing dried pasta, fresh egg pasta, and gnocchi. The section on how to make the egg pasta of Emilia Romagna is especially good, but one wonders why he didn't simply refer to his mother's excellent writings on the subject. But then, this would not be complete as a good cookbook for the average American who wants to cook Italian now and then, and do a good job of it.
By far the biggest gap in this book's coverage is on the subject of breads. The treatment of pizza is brief, and there are precious few references to bread in the Index. There is not even any references to calzones or bruschetta, let alone artisinal yeasted breads. But then, one can say that that is really outside the scope of this book.
The best evidence I have that this is neither `authentic' nor `complete' are the facts that the recipe for `Classic Bolognese Meat Sauce' is not nearly as classic as I have seen elsewhere, where three different meats, beef, veal, and pork, are included in the recipe. The second evidence is that there is no recipe for the infamous `Pasta Puttanesca', although there is a very similar recipe called `Spaghettini with olives and capers, Vesuvius style'. A third evidence is that after discoursing at length on the importance of olive oil in Italian cuisine, Senor Hazen goes French on us and uses butter to make his frittatas. Oddly, Senor Hazan makes frequent use of a rather uncommon (in America) ingredient from Sardinia, bottarga, in several of his dishes. I must keep an eye out for that one. It may be the new anchovies!
Most of these complaints are really nitpicking, as the book really does succeed in its basic task of teaching basic Italian cooking techniques which are done at home. Just be warned that this book does not cover the whole story, as there are entire worlds of bread and sausage making and timbalo dishes left to be explored.
All in all, this is a very decent introduction to Italian cooking for American homes, as it is true to Italian roots, and is not another `Italian-American' approach.
If you have no other Italian cookbook, this is a very good starting point.
Book Description
When Italian immigrants landed on American shores they were outsiders: dark in complexion, culturally different, and unable to speak English. Over time the vibrant community assimilated and moved from being ethnically suspect to being racially privileged as America divided into black and white.
This dazzling collection of original essays from some of the country's leading thinkers asks the rather intriguing question - Are Italians White? Each piece carefully explores how, when and why whiteness became important to Italian Americans, and the significance of gender, class and nation to racial identity.
From tales of immigration to the stormy relationship between Italians and blacks, the volume presents a dynamic, insightful look at integration, community identity, radicalism, urban politics and creative expression. The authors also explore critical moments in community conflict from the murder of Yusef Hawkins in Bensonhurst to Frank Sinatra's visit to Italian Harlem in the 1940s.
In the tradition of groundbreaking works like How the Irish Became White and How Jews Became White Folks, Are Italian White? is sure to become a landmark work that defines and adds to the dialogue on the distinct relationship that Italian Americans have had throughout American history to both racialized discrimination and racial privilege.
Customer Reviews:
Are Sicilians White Anglo Saxon Protestant? No, Are they White Latin/Berber Catholic? Yes!.......2006-05-01
I have not yet read this book but I am going to, since I do have an italian great grandmother (Lavagnino) from Guatemala. The title may be hard to understand for younger adults. However if you can understand the history of CLASSISM (you know rich against the poor), cultural elitism (racism if you must), sociology in general it will make complete sense. You'll know why you can see italian american Raymond Arroyo on EWTN cable channel talking about why the immigrants are a burden on the USA and cant really be considered our christian duty to help them, even if they're an orphan living in rags in a trash dump. (oh the hypocrisy! so many recent immigrants from south american still have italian blood in them, but EWTN's still mostly a good channel) Read books about the "white anglo saxon protestant" (WASP) "establishment" (sometimes liberal/sometimes conservative) from Boston for example these "blue bloods" who were anglo-philes who traced their citizenship back to pilgrims and didnt trust anyone who wasnt northern euro protestant, and certainly shunned the Irish Catholics (until JFK in the 60's) you'd know where the author is coming from.
I see what you're trying to say, BUT..............2006-01-12
Ok, being a "white" skinned, NOT "olive" skinned Italian, with light brown hair and hazel eyes, as well as having blond haired blue eyed relatives, this book and "Are Italians White" officially confused me. I figured it would be best to go right to the source to answer this question, and you all should to if you want to know, if, genetically speaking, Italians are "white". That source is ANTHROPOLOGY! I have cut and pasted factual information straight from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia, regarding Italian people, race, how and why they have the physical features they do, and DNA speaking, who Italians are closest related to. Here it is: The Italians are a Western European ethnic group with a linguistic Latin backround primarily associated with Italy and the Italian language.
There are almost 56 million autochthonous Italians in Italy, around 550,000 in Switzerland, around 25,000 in San Marino, as well as some smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia.
There is a notable Italian diaspora in the United States (Italian-Americans), Brazil (Italian Brazilians), Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Canada (Italian Canadian), Australia (Italian Australians), and France.
Ethnic makeup:
The history of Italy shows that over the centuries, quite a few non-native ethnic groups have poured into the Italian peninsula and Sicily since Roman times. Almost all of these ethnicities were European with the notable exception of a small number of Arabs who invaded Sicily in the 9th century, only to be driven away by the Normans, a people who were a mixture of Celtic and Viking origin who settled in France. The northern Italians of the Po Valley were historically recognized as Gauls (or Celts) by the Romans. Central Italians called themselves Latins and other linguistically related tribes (and are probably related to the Celts in the north). The main outsiders who came into Italy in the last 3000 years were the Greeks who heavily colonized the southern Italian Peninsula as well as Sicily before the 1st century BC. Then came the Ostrogoths in the 5th century AD who plundered and settled both north and southern Italy, and finally the Lombards in the 6th century AD. Both of these groups were Germanic tribes who had come from northern Europe seeking land, wealth, and living space. Other later groups such as the Franks, Byzantines, Normans, and the French Angevins who ruled parts of Italy, settled in smaller numbers.
Physical appearance and characteristics:
Some stereotype Italians as having tan coloured complexion and dark eyes, but this is not all true. While the Italian phenotype is European, they vary within this context. Sicilians tend to have the darkest complexions, but yet many native people with Nordic features can be found throughout the island. The peninsula contains people mainly descended from the prehistoric waves of migration from the north during the last ice age. These groups of stone-age Europeans gave rise to the indigenous Italian tribes such as the Romans and Etruscans.
Succesive waves of Greeks who populated the southern Peninsula and Sicily, were very numerous to the point that southern Italy became known Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece"), During the decline of the Roman Empire, invaders from northern Europe, mostly Germanic tribes plundered Italy, and then at least two massive waves of Germans during the medieval period. The resulting varied appearance of Italians shows that there is no typical Italian 'look' as some claim for other European countries. The shape of the Italian peninsula dictates that any land travel into the peninsula would have to come down from the main body of the European continent, which is exactly what happened during the last ice age. Later, sea travel facilitated contact and some migration around the Mediterranean.
As a result of the thousands of years of migration, Italians come in all hair and eye colours. Those who are taller with fair skin with blonde hair, blue/green eyes tend to dominate north and central Italy including sizeable pockets in Sicily and the south. Those who are brown hair, brown eyes with darker complexions tend to dominate southern parts. Darker complexions commmon in Sicily are due to high sun exposure rather than genetics. It is also interesting to note that the most common hair colour after brown in Sicily is red, and this is due to the Norman and to a smaller extent, Germanic invasions that occured in the south. Current genetic studies are attempting to detect distinct foreign gene signatures. The results so far indicate that Italians are most closely related to their immediate European neighbours... This little "Anthroplogy lesson" helped clear up any misunderstandings as to the degree of "whiteness" Italians have. "Are Italians White?" this book speculates...well, I think the above just answered that question. Hope the above anthropological information helps clear up any stereostypes and blanket statements commonly made about Italian ethnicity.
Great essays, but this book has the wrong title.......2005-11-05
When I first saw the title of this book, I literally laughed. I thought it was a joke. In my mind, anyone of European descent was always unarguably white. It's not that I considered it any honor or anything special to be white. As I have mentioned in many other reviews, my stepfather was Mexican American; I spent my childhood mainly among Mexican Americans, and I spent my teen years living in the mostly black neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon. I had simply thought that the categorization of "white" was very cut and dry. Of European descent? Then you're white. End of story.
It was fascinating for me to read the introduction where the editors say "Italians were not always white." It was also fascinating for me to read that at one point even Malcolm X himself said that Italians were not really "white." (I wonder what my African American History class teacher and fellow students would've made of that.) The book quotes Malcolm X as saying that any Italian who knows his history, knows that Italians have African ancestry and therefore are not completely "white."
The enclosed essays are wonderful and very interesting, with topics ranging from the bigotry Italian immigrants faced, to the challenges faced by people who are both black and Italian American. One essayist says that her grandmother's naturalization papers made it clear that though the grandmother was white, she was "not fully white." (Can you believe that the early naturalization papers not only asked what your "color" was but also what your "complexion" was? Many Italians were listed as being of the "white" color, but having a "dark" complexion.) Another essayist discusses the challenges of living in the United States while being half Italian American and half black.
The essays focus on the bigotry Italians have faced, and occasionally the essays explicitly state that the Italian American community is one of the most racist segments of the population -- and this bigotry was a reaction to the discrimination that Italians have faced. Some say that it was only after embracing the racism in American society that Italian Americans were fully accepted as "white." And in this discussion of bigotry faced by Italians, the topic of whether Italians are truly white is occasionally raised. But the question of whether Italians are white never seems to be enough of the focus of the various essays so as to warrant the title "Are Italians White?"
Don't get me wrong. This is a good book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Italian American experience and the bigotry Italian Americans have faced in the past. It's just that I think it has an unfortunate title because the essays don't line up with the title that well. The title should've been something along the lines of, "Italian Americans and the Bigotry They've Faced."
On a personal level, this book was very interesting to read. My biological father is a full-blooded Italian American, and he grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area where there is a large Italian American community, going back to the 1880s. Over the years, I have become something of a "self-realization junkie," looking in just about every place possible in order to understand the makeup of my life. For some odd reason, it wasn't until recently that I decided to look at what it means to be of Italian descent. For me, Italy always seemed very much in the past, and when I thought of what it meant to be Italian -- the only things that came to mind were Michelangelo, the Roman Empire, opera, etc., all the "glory" of Italian history and culture. (To be completely honest, I had always viewed Italy as being the most important country on earth. I know that sounds terribly ethnocentric, but at least give me credit for being honest. That's truly how I always felt.) Unlike my father, I did not grow up in an area with a sizeable Italian American community. There are so few Italians in Oregon that being Italian really doesn't signify much of anything to anyone here, and certainly would never be a cause of racism or bigotry. The most authentically "Italian" thing we have in my area is the Olive Garden. Never once in my life have I experienced any bigotry for being of Italian descent; the closest I've come is to be told that I have an "interesting" last name.
Reading this book helped me realize that my father's experience was very different from my own. Unlike me, my father grew up in an area where being Italian carried a connotation, and, due to stereotypes, due to the racism in society that placed an importance on being white, due to the fact that the whiteness of Italians was occasionally dubious, due to the fact that some Bay Area Italian Americans were interned during World War Two (see "Una Storia Segreta" by Lawrence DiStassi), that connotation was often not very positive. This book helped me realize that there was a time in US history when "Italian" didn't simply mean the Renaissance, Michelangelo, the Roman Empire, etc., but meant poor immigrants of dubious ethnic classification who were allegedly prone to crime (the mafia stereotype, etc.), and in some cases considered closer to being black than white. (This book says that the term "guinea" was originally used in the American South to refer to African slaves, and only later was that term used to refer to Italian Americans.)
Oh, by the way, one reason Italian immigrants were of dubious racial classification upon arrival in the United States is because, apparently, the very classification of "white" didn't even exist in Italy during the period when many of our ancestors arrived here (late 1800s, early 1900s). Therefore, many Italian immigrants didn't know if they were "white" or not because they had no concept of the US system of color classification.
Oh, geez, and now I'm feeling all emotional. Most likely something I owe to my Italian descent.
"Lo sono fiero di essere Italiano!"
Andrew Michael Parodi
How is race defined and categorized in this country?.......2003-11-15
How is race defined and categorized in this country? Various contributors here focus on the Italian American experience as a showcase for discussing racism, stereotyping, and differences between ethnic groups in America. The focus on Italian American experiences will reach a wide audience, from college-level students in classes on social issues to Italian Americans interested in their history.
Inspiring!.......2003-09-20
A friend gave me this book a few days ago and I haven't been able to put it down. Each essay is short, to the point, and easy to read. The best thing about it is that it's filled with lessons about the powerful role each of us can play as individuals in confronting racism within ourselves, our families and our neighborhoods. There are essays on everything from hip hop, labor struggles, and neighborhood tensions, to police brutality, white flight, and inter-racial families. This book is revolutionary and I recommend it to all who are committed to ending racism and building a truly democratic society.
Amazon.com
Bestseller lists routinely include advice books instructing attentive readers on everything from how to create a life of material and spiritual abundance to how to delay the aging process. While addressing specific issues, such how-to books reflect larger social concerns that characterize a particular time period, and, as such, they can be read as sociological and historical documents. Rudolph M. Bell, professor of history at Rutgers University, takes the rare step of investing the genre--usually considered ephemeral or dismissed as "fluff"--with just such historical importance. How to Do It offers an insightful, frequently humorous examination of 16th-century middle-class Italian life as reflected in the abundance of advice books that circulated during the period.
Bell relates, in lively detail, just how obsessed Renaissance Italians were with the same kind of advice literature that proliferates today. How to Do It makes clear how timeless many societal concerns are, and how little the solutions to them have changed over the centuries. He focuses his study on advice concerning interactions among men, women, and their children--beginning by examining advice books on conception--and continues sequentially forward in the life of the parent, addressing issues of pregnancy and childbirth, raising children, adolescence (considered in the 16th century to extend until age 28), and, finally, marital relations. Two secondary themes add depth to his already engaging examination: the confusion of "authorities" resulting from the large number of printing presses that simultaneously emerged in so many places, and the ways in which the printed word allowed these self-appointed experts to enter the intimate recesses of private life.
Book Description
How to Do It shows us sixteenth-century Italy from an entirely new perspective: through manuals which were staples in the households of middlebrow Italians merely trying to lead better lives. Addressing challenges such as how to conceive a boy, the manuals offered suggestions such as tying a tourniquet around your husband's left testicle. Or should you want to goad female desires, throw 90 grubs in a liter of olive oil, let steep in the sun for a week and apply liberally on the male anatomy. Bell's journey through booklets long dismissed by scholars as being of little literary value gives us a refreshing and surprisingly fun social history.
Customer Reviews:
A lively look at 16th century Italy's mores and customs........2006-01-14
A very lively and fast-paced look at advice manuals of the 16th century. He takes a lot of different sources, from manuals written by uptight husbands for one specific person, to widely-published manuals from priests, doctors, quacks, lawyers, and women from all walks of life, to show how middle-class Renaissance Italians looked at things like childbirth, conception, raising children, how spouses should behave, and how widows and widowers should live. What I liked best about the book was the wide range of manuals he takes from -- it's a popular history to be sure, but you come away with a pretty good idea of how people were expected to behave and what was normal for the era. The index and footnotes are splendid -- worth the price of the book itself in my opinion.
The informal tone of the writing makes the book a fun read, but the way he can synthesize all these facts he's got is what makes the book worth the money. I certainly would consider this a valuable addition to my history bookshelf.
A new world for c16 Italian scholars, social historians.......1999-10-24
It's a privilege to rise to Professor Bell's challenge in the book itself and be the first to drop a public note about this book. It's an impressive distillation of a wonderful body of writing in c16 Italy--he's done a fine job of evenhandedly presenting a very large, notoriously difficult to trace, and sometimes outrageous (and entertaining) corpus of material. Another indication (were one needed) that social context in period studies is neglected to one's peril.
Customer Reviews:
Great Research Guide.......2007-08-23
This book is very informative about the history of the immigrations of Italians. The how to read Italian records alone is worth the price of this book. I am going to suggest this book to my genealogy class.
Researching Your Italian Ancestory Wherever.......2006-09-11
Whether your family came from Italy itself or the Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland, you will find this book gives you HEAPS of detail on how to approach the tricky matter of researching across cultures and across languages (assuming you speak only English!) It also gives a sound understanding of the national approach to archival material. Researchers making their way through all the paperwork need this - plus you get a good feel for what you have to do once you're actually there in person trying to contact the people who hold the records with the information you want to access.
Great resource.......2006-01-18
I've been using this book for several years along with Trafford Cole's book about Italian records. Without these two books, I would not have had nearly as much success extracting information from reels of difficult-to-read records on microfilm. They are especially helpful dissecting the different types of records and the distinctive handwriting. There's tons of other indispensable information you'll need to know when embarking on any serious study of your Italian ancestors.
The best for Italian research.......2002-08-19
It has been one year since I started researching my Italian Ancestors and this was the first book I purchased. It was so easy to follow and helped me tremendously in reading the birth certificates, to write letters in Italian and to understand where to search.
A Learned Guide For All Italian Genealogists.......2001-09-17
The book takes you step by step throught the process of how to read, decipher, and understand the vital records of Italy. Great examples of how to translate and understand birth, marriage, and death records. Word lists and examples are extremely helpful to both the beginner and veteran. It has become my handbook.
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