The only book in English or Italian that covers the whole range of Italian baking, and it earned that claim honestly: Carol Field spent two years travelling Italy collecting regional specialities, then tested every one of them in her own kitchen until it worked on an American range with American flour.

When it first appeared in 1985 it changed what Americans thought Italian food was. This revised edition adds four colour photography throughout, new ingredient and equipment sections, source guides, and weights alongside volumes, so the recipes hold up for a generation of bakers who work with a scale.

Breadsticks and cornetti, pizza and focaccia, tarts, cakes, pastries and cookies, plus the artisanal doughs and biga starters that make Italian bread taste Italian. If a bread baker in your life owns one Italian book, it should be this one.