Two Requests!

[tea]

My sister and I take off for the classical "youth backpacking around Europe trip" in (oh my God) 19 days, and I thought I'd make a very general request for useful/interesting books to read before then. We're going to be in Paris, Geneva, Cinque Terres, Rome, Florence, Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam, FWIW. Be it your favourite travel guide, intro to a city, or travel book in general, hit me!

Second, I've been looking for a specific kind of non-fiction book about music theory: one that's written to be sat down and read, not a series of exercises or a textbook, preferably written with some sort of historical perspective. I can think of lots of science books written in this style, but I've never come across a music one.

Comments

[cloverdew]

Any of the DK travel series are awesome. They include photos, maps, history, trivia, layouts of interiors of popular tourist sites (like museums, etc.) and are generally the best guides in my opinion.

Hope you enjoy your trip. Sounds awesome!

[jadesfire]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but Stephen Fry's "Incomplete and Utter history of Classical Music" is a brilliant book. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

If you're looking for a good guide to Rome, Amanda Claridge's Archaeological Guide to Rome is excellent, and includes Byzantine churches as well as the ancient monuments. I'd also second the DK guide rec above - they're gorgeous books.

Have fun!

[edited to put link in!]

[foxfinial]

I read a wonderful travel book recently: Nicolas Bouvier, The Way of the World. It's about two guys in the 1950s who get a car and drive from the Balkans to India, stopping off along the way to work. Absolutely full of fascinating details.

The Scent Trail by Celia Littleton is really interesting: a woman buys a bespoke perfume, and visits the various places around the world where its ingredients originated.

Popular music theory

[cesy]

Response from my boyfriend, who studied music at uni:

Well, there's the Oxford "A Very Short Introduction to Music". That will give you a certain amount of history. What kind of theory did you mean? Analysis is easiest by buying CDs from Naxos and reading the sleeve notes. The best way to learn theory is actually by doing the exercises, so the analogy with popular science books doesn't actually quite work.

(I'd disagree with him there, actually, as the best way to learn science also includes actually doing some, but popular science books are not intended to teach you in the same way as you would for someone who actually wanted to learn properly.)