Introduction (Cont.)

We have divided our book into four sections: culture & history, places, people, and food. Italian culture & history, the foundation of Italian pride, have a rich legacy, embracing everything from hand gestures to the Mona Lisa, from opera to the expressive beauty of the Italian language. Italian places are distinctive geographical entities; cities like Naples, Rome, and Venice and locales like the Italian Riviera, the Isle of Capri, and even the many "Little Italys" in America, are unforgettable once experienced.

People of Italian background who have made major contributions to a wide range of fields constitute the third section of the book. A mere listing of a few names -- Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Frank Sinatra, and Madonna -- suggests something of both the historical and current influence of Italians on our contemporary world.

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