"Puglia is the heel stretching down from the spur of the Italian boot. It boasts very beautiful landscapes, wonderful old cities with Romanesque cathedrals, Gothic castles and a great wealth of Baroque architecture. And yet, though far from inaccessible, until quite recently it was seldom visited by western tourists." "Today, however, Puglia is becoming fashionable as "an alternative Tuscany". There are radio and television features on it, travel supplements which describe its beaches and cooking, and supermarkets stock Apulian wine, oil, bread and pasta. Yet almost nothing about the region has been published in English since the days of Norman Douglas and the Sitwells. One can find "holiday histories" of Tuscany, but there is no popular introduction to Apulian history, not even in Italian. This book has been written to fill the gap by providing a simple, readable study of the region."--Jacket.