For anyone who has adopted Italian as their native tongue, anyone who dreams of one day being able to speak it, or anyone who just loves the way it sounds, Dianne Hales'
La Bella Lingua is a must-read. It makes you want to run to the library and check out all the Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio you can carry. She draws upon the greatest Italian writers, artists, composers and film makers to tell the story of Italian's journey from a vulgar dialect to the best-loved language in the world.
