I know I bought them at a yard sale but I can't remember if I got them both at the same time or not. Doesn't matter. Even though they were written in 1972 (L) and 1969 (R), all of their content is still beneficial today. Because of course, the places and things described and pictured in these books are centuries and even millenniums old (the Colisseum having been completed in 80AD).
The Florence book is all architecture and art, there does not appear to be anything within its pages that shows its vintage. The Rome book, on the other hand, contains several photographs of people and cars that would give it away as being made in the late 60's or early 70's but with a European flavour. Young girls in mini skirts, knee high socks and patent leather shoes, women in longer tweed skirts, sailors in uniforms complete with white caps, men in turtlenecks (so mod) and even one fashionable gentleman who appears to be wearing a long, velour trench coat of some sort. The cars are Volkswagens, Fiats and Citroens that would make a car collector weep today. I like the big, round buses the best.
The Rome book even has a few pages devoted to the Leonardo Da Vinci "Intercontinental Airport", showing people walking up a gangway from the tarmac into the airport terminal or hanging about the "waiting room and booking office". In the write up beside the photo, we are told "the airport will shortly be linked with Rome by a new wide ring-road, which will be much faster and more convenient."
I intend to read these books slowly and savour the images, both before I leave on my trip and after I come back. They are, after all, "in colour"!!
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