'A reminder that writers and readers once travelled widely and magnificently, without ever leaving their homes or their heads, to places that retained their truth in our imaginations long after mundane reality overtook them' The Times. 'It was love at first sight. What a stunning, great explosion of colour! Wonderful' Big Issue in Scotland. 'Prolonged scrutiny of such seductive utopias would turn anyone into a believer' Radar, The Independent. 'Presented by Eco in light and witty prose, these legendary places are made more vivid by many well-chosen illustrations and historic texts' New Statesman. 'Eco is our witty and erudite travel guide through these fantastical and theoretical worlds' Catholic Herald. 'The same sparkling intelligence that characterises Eco's 'serious' writing is also at work here' Times Literary Supplement. 'Placing ancient and medieval texts beside contemporary stories, films beside poems, comics beside novels, it is a journey that is both erudite and enjoyable, and one that only Eco could have created' PSYCHIC.

Umberto Eco's first novel, The Name of the Rose (1982), was a huge bestseller which brought him worldwide acclaim. With his subsequent works of fiction, philosophy, literary criticism and semiotics, he has been recognised as one of Europe's finest thinkers. He is currently President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Humanistici and the University of Bologna.