A charming narrative and "pop historical" look into how Italy has shaped the Western world's most vibrant passions, from literature to love, music to art, food to wine.

A jubilant celebration of Italy's outsize impact on culture, from literature to art, music to movies, that "masterfully examines the multitude of reasons why so many people fall in love with Italy and the Italian lifestyle" (Forbes)

Can you imaginepainting without Leonardo, opera without Verdi, fashion without Armani, food without the signature tastes of pasta, gelato, and pizza? The first universities, first banks, first public libraries? All Italian.

New York Timesbestselling authorDianne Hales attributes these landmark achievements tola passione italiana, a primal force that stems from an insatiable hunger to discover and create; to love and live with every fiber of one's being. This fierce drive, millennia in the making, blazes to life in the Sistine Chapel, surges through a Puccini aria, deepens a vintage Brunello, and rumbles in a gleaming Ferrari engine.

Our ideal tour guide, Hales sweeps readers along on her adventurous quest for the secrets ofla passione. She swims in the playgrounds of mythic gods, shadows artisanal makers of chocolate and cheese, joins in Sicily's Holy Week traditions, celebrates a neighborhood Carnevale in Venice, and explores pagan temples, vineyards, silk mills, movie sets, crafts studios, and fashion salons. She introduces us, through sumptuous prose, to unforgettable Italians, historical and contemporary, all brimming with the greatest of Italian passions-for life itself.

A lyrical portrait of a spirit as well as a nation, La Passioneappeals to the Italian in all our souls, inspiring us to be as daring as Italy's gladiators, as eloquent as its poets, as alluring as its beauties, and as irresistible as its lovers.

Praise for La Passione

" An effervescent love letter to all things Italian."-Newsday

"In this sweeping account oflapassione italianafrom ancient to modern times, Dianne Hales shows once again why she is one the world's foremost guides to the riches of Italian culture. Every page resonates with the author's love for Italy and her joy in sharing its remarkable discoveries and exquisite pleasures with her readers." -Joseph Luzzi, author ofMy Two ItaliesandIn a Dark Wood

"Hales takes us on an enriching and delightful journey, filled with fascinating characters, scintillating sensual details, and an authentic connection to the ever-inspiring Italian heart and soul that has given the world boundless pleasures." -Susan Van Allen, author of100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go