Elements of Italy Author:Lisa St. Aubin De Teran Featuring writings by: Dante Alighieri, Edith Wharton, Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Dickens, Mary McCarthy, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Primo Levi, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Truman Capote, John Keats, and many more . . . The romance of Italy has for centuries inspired all who have been drawn to her shores. Lord Byron loved here and continues to lure o... more »thers in his wake; Keats, knowing his days were numbered, came to Rome to die by the Spanish Steps; Stendhal concluded that the charm of Italy "is akin to that of being in love;" and Browning said, "Open up my heart and you will see graved inside of it, ‘Italy.’" Lisa St. Aubin de Terán’s love affair with Italy began when she was only eight years old and first read Byron’s letters. In this outstanding anthology, she conveys the essence of her adopted country by dividing it into the four classical elements of earth, fire, air and water. St. Aubin de Terán deftly presents the writings of a stunning variety of writers, a heavenly chorus of Italy’s most ardent admirers.« less