A country’s transportation system can be surprisingly illuminating, and in Italian Ways (W.W. Norton, $15.95) Tim Parks takes the Italian railroad region by region, telling the country’s history by that of its railway. His engaging and informative tour includes a look at nonsensical laws that are as frequently enforced as they are blatantly ignored, and the political and economic implications of the controversial form of transportation (yes, controversial!). From the tickets that state they require stamping but in fact don’t, to the Sicily-bound train that has to be dismantled, carriage by carriage (a twelve-hour process), and ferried  to the island because there is no bridge, the reader sees what Parks means when he says that “Italy is not for beginners.” All this is riveting, and Parks makes the book unputdownable with his own personal accounts of traveling by Italian rail. Here are first-hand glimpses homecoming soldiers smothered in maternal kisses and the loud and boisterous soccer fans waving team flags from the windows—you will walk away from this book with a few laughs and a deeper understanding of Italy’s people and culture.