Wisdom of Tuscany

This sun-drenched land has become synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn"t happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the independence-loving Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and built hamlets and hill towns in which they perfected a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and love of daily life.

Ferenc Mt has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses, to the joys centered in human contact and community, Tuscans live a healthy, all-senses-satisfying, emotionally rich life. Mt'"engaging, funny, and insightful'"nudges us all to live like Tuscans. With our frantic world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.

One of the best books on Italy. --John Rousmaniere, author of

"One of the best books on Italy." Primo

Sun-drenched Tuscany is synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn't happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and, in hamlets and hill towns, have built a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and a love of daily life. Ferenc Máté, a Tuscan resident for twenty years, explores this idyllic existence. He finds Tuscans brimming with creative practicality, down-home humor, and relentless optimism. Blended with their passion for work and independence, they have achieved a haven of economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses to the joys centered in human contact, Tuscans live a healthy, emotionally rich life. Máté--engaging, funny, and insightful--shows us how to live like Tuscans.

Ferenc Mate, a Tuscan resident for twenty years, explores this idyllic existence. He finds Tuscans brimming with creative practicality, down-home humor, and relentless optimism. Blended with their passion for work and independence, they have achieved a haven of economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses to the joys centered in human contact, Tuscans live a healthy, emotionally rich life. Mate--engaging, funny, and insightful--shows us how to live like Tuscans.

By the author of the international bestseller The Hills of Tuscanyand the New York TimesNotable Book A Vineyard in Tuscany: making the Tuscan life-style your own.

With our world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.

Ferenc Máté was born in Hungary and escaped after the revolution at the age of eleven. He grew up in Vancouver, and has lived in California, Paris, Rome, the Bahamas and New York. He had worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boatbuilder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. His many books include the nautical bestsellers From a Bare Hull, Shipshape and The World’s Best Sailboats, as well as Autumn, A New England Autumn, A Reasonable Life, A Real Life, The Hills of Tuscany and The Wisdom of Tuscany. He and his family run their vineyards and winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.