Italy - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

I just came back from two weeks in beautiful Italy and this book was a wonderful resource. The sections on history and politics helped me understand who the Italians are today and the challenges they face, while the chapters on values and attitudes helped me understand the philosophy and concepts that underlie the unique Italian take on life. Chapters on festivals, cuisine, socializing, home life and etiquette gave me all the necessary tools when it came to interacting and befriending locals. The book’s information went a long way to improving the quality of my trip and I’m looking forward to discovering more in the series ahead of my next trip abroad.

I enjoyed my visit to Italy in 1990. This book is an interesting excellent book about Italy. Some of the interesting information that is in this book include the following information: The Italians like to buy their food fresh and going to the market is an important part of their daily lives. Supermarkets account for about 6% of the Italian food market in Italy. Small grocery stores and open- air markets are still the preferred way of shopping in Italy. However, the major supermarkets in Italy include Coop Italia, Interdis, Conad, and SPAR. Italians usually take their own bags to the supermarket in Italy. Because of the prevalence of tax evasion in Italy, shops, restaurants, and bars are required by law to issue customers receipts. If they do not do so, they can be heavily fined. Italians take a month's vacation every year and this tends to be in August, when most family firms close down completely except those in the tourist trade.

Barry Tomalin’s book introduces the culture and customs of Italy to English-speaking readers. He stresses the importance of family and clothes to Italians. Mr. Tomalin encourages visitors to carry photos of their families to help create links with Italians. And he makes the point that Italians are willing to pay for their high-quality clothes by stating that “Italian ‘cheap’ is often British or American ‘expensive.’”The 195-page book contains an 18-page “Brief History” that covers prehistory through the Second World War. The self-imposed page limit forced Mr. Tomalin to omit certain people and events, and it seems interesting that he chose to omit any reference to Marco Polo.The book was published in 2021, but it appears that some parts of the book do not reflect current information. His section on Money and Banking claims that “travelers’ checks are the safest form of currency,” which seems obsolete. And the section on Transportation contains no information about Lyft or Uber.

I got my dad this for christmas and i think it’s his favorite gift. he read it all in 2 days

I took this on holiday. There was some valuable information contained within this wee book.

I purchased this book to assist me whilst I was studying the Idler Academy course on Italian Food and Lifestyle. It has proved to be a good asset and has helped me to progress on my learning journey.

An interesting and informative guide to living and working in Italy. Mostly accurate, but in some parts has an old fashioned view. Worth a read.

The booklet provides insights that can be useful to a business traveller or tourist who has never been to Italy. Some of the practical tips are common sense in any setting or country though. For a book that supposedly was updated in 2021, the writer or editor could have taken out the references to outdated practices such as travellers cheques and post offices offering telegrams.