“Amber Guinness will discuss her new cookery and lifestyle book Winter in Tuscany with Simon Gammell.

Celebrating the region’s rich culinary and cultural traditions, Winter in Tuscany uses the quanto basta approach – Italy’s intuitive cooking method of ‘just enough’ – and is packed full  of cosy autumn and winter flavours to bring a warmth and simplicity to your kitchen table.

But quanto basta is more than just a philosophy for cooking; it’s a metaphor for life. This book celebrates life in the off-season; an ode to exploring Tuscany’s villages and countryside when the crowds have thinned, allowing for a deeper, more intimate connection with the culture, food and landscapes. In discovering treasures off the beaten path, Amber highlights the richness of exploring at a gentler pace, when Tuscany truly reveals itself.

Amber Guinness was born in London and raised at Arniano, the Tuscan farmhouse her parents restored outside Siena. She now lives in Florence.”

Where: The British Institute of Florence, Lungarno Guicciardini 9, Firenze

When: Monday, 1st December – 18:30/6:30 pm

If you are in Florence and would like to attend the lecture in person at the British Institute Library, please send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it – or follow the link: https://www.britishinstitute.it/en/events/meet-the-author-amber-guinness.1182

“Italy, August 1944. A unit of German soldiers arrives at a villa near Florence. Villa Il Focardo is home to Robert Einstein, cousin to the most famous scientist in the world, Albert Einstein – a prominent enemy of the Nazi regime. Twelve hours after arriving, the soldiers have vanished – and a family is dead.

This crime – and what happened next – still haunts those who survived. In The Einstein Vendetta, Thomas Harding recounts the story of an untold true crime, one that unspools to reveal Italy’s brutal wartime history – its fall to fascism, antisemitism and bitter partisanship – and a family’s search for justice.

Thomas Harding is a bestselling author whose books include Hanns and Rudolf  (winner JQ-Wingate Prize for Non-Fiction), Blood on the Page (winner Crime Writers’ Association ‘Golden Dagger Award for Non-Fiction), and The Maverick, which was selected by the New York Times as a Critic’s Pick for 2023. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages.”

Where: The British Institute of Florence, Lungarno Guicciardini 9, Firenze

When: Monday, 10th November – 18:30/6:30 pm

If you are in Florence and would like to attend the lecture in person at the British Institute Library, please send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it – or follow the link: https://www.britishinstitute.it/en/events/meet-the-author-thomas-harding.1178