In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy by Biggers, Jeff
Biggers, Jeff
Books

In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy -- Jeff Biggers, Hardcover


"At last, a grand companion to the mysterious and enchanting island of Sardinia. Known to most travelers for its beaches, Sardinia's complex archeological heritage extends back to Neolithic times. Written with verve and love, In Sardinia is the book I'll be taking on future trips." -Frances Mayes, New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun

Award-winning historian Jeff Biggers opens a new window into the hidden treasures of Sardinia in a groundbreaking travel narrative that crisscrosses one of the most enigmatic places in Italy

After three decades of living and traveling in Italy, Jeff Biggers finally crossed over to Sardinia, uncovering a treasury of stories amid major archaeological discoveries rewriting the history of the Mediterranean.

Based in the bewitching port of Alghero, guided through the island's rich and largely untranslated literature, he embarked on a rare journey around the island to experience its famed cuisine, wine, traditional rituals and thriving cultural movements.

"Sardinia is something else. Enchanting spaces and distances to travel," D. H. Lawrence wrote in 1921. On the 100th anniversary of Lawrence's visit, Biggers opens a new window into the history of the island, chronicling how new archaeological findings have placed the island as one of the cradles of the Bronze Age. From the Neolithic array of Stonehenge-like dolmens and menhir stone formations to the thousands of Bronze Age "nuraghe" towers and burial tombs, the vastness of the uninterrupted cycles of civilizations and their architectural marvels have turned Sardinia into the Mediterranean's "open museum."

Beyond its fabled beaches, reconsidering how its unique history and ways have shaped Italy and Europe today, Biggers explores how travelers must first understand Sardinia and its ancient and modern history to truly understand the rest of Italy.

In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Basque History of the World, Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones: A Journey Through in China, and Frances Mayes' and Tim Parks' narratives on Italy, In Sardinia is a major new addition to travel writing and literature in Italy.

Author: Jeff Biggers
Publisher: Melville House Publishing
Published: 05/23/2023
Pages: 354
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.26lbs
Size: 9.18h x 6.31w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9781685890261

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2023
Booklist 04/01/2023 pg. 14
Foreword 04/27/2023

About the Author
Jeff Biggers is an American Book Award-winning historian, journalist and playwright. Based part-time in Italy since 1989, he is the recipient of the David Brower Award for Environmental Reporting, the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year for Travel Writing, a Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism, and other honors. Author of ten books of cultural history and investigative reporting, his work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Salon.com, and on National Public Radio and Public Radio International. For more information, visit: www.jeffbiggers.com