This is a pretty exhaustive bibliography of English language books concerned with Corsica, but you can always do a Google search for a title you can find here. Of course if you want to find Corsican books in French or Corsican (or other languages), Corsica Isula has less of them!
Here is a bibliography of books in English about Corsica. It is almost certainly incomplete and
some of the references may be inaccurate or incomplete - apologies in advance. I have gathered
the list over time and is not a work of scholarship. It is an eclectic selection and includes
anthropology, topography, history, political, travel, guide and fiction books. There is a link to
books about Corsica in French.
There are many individual links from the books below to www.amazon.co.uk, but feel free to click on the link, if you'd like to see the 300 or so books that amazon lists under Corsica.
If you want maps of Corsica, go to the maps section below. I would be delighted if you would email me with any additions or corrections I should make.
Before getting into the booklist proper, I invite you to read a poem by an English poet whom I
much admire and who's been visiting Corsica for many years. He's John Fuller and the poem's
called Le Train Mailin - the Corsican railway U Trinccinellu.It's from his most recent book,
published by Chatto & Windus, London 2002: Now and for a Time.
ATKINSON David et al, Lonely Planet Corsica (London, Lonely Planet, 2004) - the latest edition. I spent time with David when he was
researching this edition.
BAEDEKER, Southern France including Corsica (1868)
BANGS John Kendrick, Mr. Bonaparte Of Corsica - republished by Kessinger Publishing Co in 2004 (New York, Harper Bros,
1895)
BARRY John W, Studies in Corsica, Sylvan & Social (London, Sampson, Low, Marston, 1893) - I like this one and it's
got loads of stuff that's still useful.
BENNETT J Henry, Menton, the Riviera, Corsica and Biarritz as Winter Climates (John Churchill, 1861)
BENNETT J Henry, Winter in the South of Europe (John Churchill, 1885) - about 20% on Corsica.
BENNETT J Henry, Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean (J&A Churchill, 1875) - over 10% on
Corsica.
BENNETT Lindsay, Berlitz Corsica Pocket Guide(London, 2004) - not bad for a quick introduction if you are coming on hols.
BENSON Capt, Narrative of Lord Byron's Voyage to Corsica and Sardinia (J Limbard, 1824)
BENSON Robert, Sketches of Corsica (London, Longmans, 1825) - here's another Victorian book that remains a good
reference book and I refer to my copy surprisingly frequently.
BENT J Theodore, Genoa: How the Republic Rose and Fell (London, C Kegan Paul & Co, 1881)
BIANCARELLI Bernard tr REEVES Jo, The Great Hike - all stages of the GR20 (Ajaccio, Albiana, 2001) - this is a
good guide and the translation's not bad either. Order it beforehand, or buy it at any Corsican bookshop or many
supermarket book sections. Jo Reeves has translated another Corsican book on Ajaccio (Albiana, 2000).
BLACK CB, Itinerary Through Corsica by its Rail, Carriage and Forest Roads (London, 1888)
BOSWELL James, An Account of Corsica, the Journal of a Tour to that Island and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli
(London, Edward and Charles Dilly, 1768) - reads well still in the 21st century. It is a 'must' for serious Corsophiles. There was a reprint by Turtle Point Press in 2002 and if not available, you can almost certainly procure an original copy, though you'll pay about £450 for a second edition and £600 for a 1st!
BOSWELL James, British essays in favour of the brave Corsicans (London, 1769) - currently available in French as En
défence des valereux Corses published by Editions Le Rocher in the Anatolia collection and translated by Béatrice
Vierne.
BRADSHAW, Itinerary of Corsica (Adams, 1855)
BRADY Frank & POTTLE Frederick (eds), Boswell on the Grand Tour: Italy, Corsica and France 1765-6 - 2 vols
(London, Heinemann, 1955).
BRANDON Robin with Rcc Pilotage Foundation, Corsica and North Sardinia(London, Imray, Laurie & Wilson, 2002)
BUHL Fritz W, Corsica (New York, Doubleday & Co, 1965)
BURNABY Andrew, Journal of a Tour of Corsica in the year 1766 (London, 1804)
CAIRD LH, The History of Corsica (London, 1899)
CAMPBELL Thomasina, Notes on the Island of Corsica (London, Hatchard,1868) - a modern-style travel book, but not
very exciting, even though the woman was such an intrepid Victorian pioneer.
CARRINGTON Dorothy, Granite Island: Portrait of Corsica (London, Longmans, 1971 and Penguin, 1984). These are secondhand copies at amazon and Penguin edition is supposedly due for reissue though oddly the title is still available in Corsica at
most bookshops and many
newspaper shops - I bought a copy for a friend only the other day. It is still available in French under the title La Corse -
this is the book of reference - a classic travel book.
CHIARI Joseph, The Scented Isle: a parallel between Corsica and the Scottish Highlands (Glasgow, William
Maclellan, 1948)- he was a Corsican, who lived in Scotland for years and wrote in English, including poems and plays (eg
Mary Queen of Scots).
FORDE Gertrude, A Lady's tour in Corsica - 2 vols (Longman/Bohn, 1861) - the same book as the one above?
FORESTER Thomas, Rambles in the islands of Corsica & Sardinia, with notices of their history, antiquities and
present condition (London, Longman, 1858) - here's another good Victorian travelogue/reference book that has lots to
recommend it, if you can put up with the dated language and small print.
FORTESCUE B, Napoleon's heritage (London, 1924)
FREDERICK (Frederic de Neuhoff), Description of Corsica (London, GG & J Robinson, 1795) - by a man who claimed
to be the son of Theodore Neuhoff, King of Corsica.
FRESHFIELD Douglas W, Below the Snow Line (London, Constable, 1923)
FULLER John, Now and for a Time (London, Chatto & Windus, 2002) - this and the previous entry contain poems set in
and inspired by Corsica, where the author is a frequent visitor.
GALLENGA Guy Hardwin - 'Snaffle', The Impossible Island. Corsica, its people and its sport (London, HF&G
Witherby, 1923)
HALL Thadd E, France & the Eighteenth Century Corsica Question (New York, 1971).
HARRISSE H, Christopher Columbus & the Bank of St George (1888) - no doubt of interest to those who are
convinced that Columbus was born in Calvi and that the enterprising Genoese, who whipped all their Corsican records to
Genoa, claimed him as their own.
HAWKES Robert, Corsican Death (1975)
HAWTHORNE Hildegarde, Corsica, the Surprising Island (New York, Duffield, 1926)
HOGG Garry, Corsica, The Fragrant Isle (London, 1973)
HOUSTON JM, The Western Mediterranean World (London, Longmans, 1954)
HOWELL Edward (Howell-ap-Howell), The Birthplace and Childhood of Napoleon (Liverpool, self-published, 1896) -
this 54-page book has 18 photographs taken by GE Thompson in 1894.
HUDDLESTONE Sisley, Mediterranean Blue (London, Evans Brothers, 1948)
JAFFE Alexandra, Ideologies in Action: Language Politics on Corsica (Language, Power & Social Process) (USA Walter de Gruyter, 1999) - this an
outstanding piece of work from a scholar who lived here in a small village in the interior and though there's plenty of
academic stuff, I find it an insightful guide to Corsican culture - and she's much respected here.
JAQUES Francis, Queen of Corsica (London, The Malone Society, 1989)
JEHASSE Olivier, Corsica Island of Beauty (Plurigraf, 1989)
KAY FG, The south of France and Corsica (Glasgow, Collins, 1976)
KEYSER William, I have only one eye (Calvi, Editions Almar, 1994) - I wrote this fictional account of Nelson's seige of
Calvi to celebrate the bi-centenary. It is illustrated by Alex Lochrie - send me an email to order it.
MAURICE JF, The diary of Sir John Moore - vol 1 (London, 1904) - in his young days he had been sent to negotiate
with the Corsicans in 1794, before Nelson took St Florent.
McLAREN Moray, Corsca Boswell: Paoli, Johnson and freedom (London, Secker and Warburg, 1966) - by a fellow Scot. He followed up Boswell's journey after 200 years - and this Scots author knows he fellow countryman, almost as if he'd met him.
MERRIMAN Henry Seton, The Isle of Unrest (Holicong, PA, Wildside Press, 2004 - reprint, orig ed London, Elder Smith, 1899) - a novel.
MERIMEE Prosper, Columba (Maidenhead, McGraw Hill Educational, 1996) - the classic translated into English; a sequel has been
written: Colomba 1923 by Robert Colonna d'Istria (Paris, France-Empire, 2001).
MINDER Jean-Paul, This Way: Corsica (South Africa, JPM Publications, 1999)
MOLINELLI-CANCELLIERI Lucia, Spada: The Bandit Who Lived For Love & Revenge
MONCRIEFF A Hope, Where to Go Abroad (London, A&C Black, 1893)
MONKHOUSE FJ, MUIRHEAD F & MONMARCHE M, Naval Intelligence Division: Corsica - Geographical
Handbook Series (Cambridge, HMSO, 1942)
OPPENHEIM E Phillips, Quest for Winter Sunshine (Boston, Little, Brown & Co, 1927)
OSBORNE Avril, Casa Di Corse(Cambridge, Pegasus, 2003) - fiction on a move to Corsica (why the author has mixed two languages, I'm not sure!)
OSMOND John, Small world. Essays on national minorities and their cultures (London, Channel 4 TV, 1985) - a
chapter on the Corsicans.
PAOLI Robert, La Corse (bi-lingual: Paris, Les Créations du Pélican, 2000)
PARKINSON Roger, Moore of Corunna (London, Purnell Book Services, 1976) - the biograpahy of Sir John Moore,
the general who was sent to meet with Pasquale Paoli in 1790.
PERROT Eugenie, Corsica cooking of yesterday and today (Ajaccio, La Marge Editions, 1991) - still available in
bookshops in Corsica.
PHILIPS John Austin Drury, The Girl Out in Corsica, (London, Hutchinson & Co, 1927) - a novel
PIDGIN Charles Felton, The Corsican Lovers. A Story of the Vendetta (New York, BW Dodge, 1906)
PILLEMENT Georges, Unknown Sardinia and Unknown Corsica : archaeological itineraries - trans A Rosin (London,
Johnson, 1972)
PIRIE Valerie, His Majesty of Corsica (London, William Collins, 1939) - a biography of King Theodore - a racy story
about a racy man, who died a pauper in London - see also the books by Aylmer Vallance & Percy Fitzgerald.
POCOCK Tom, ed NASH Michael, Nelson and the Campaign in Corsica (Hoylake, 1805 Club, 1994)
POTTINGER Henry, Zurlina, a tale of Corsica (London, 1853) - in verse.
QUIGLEY Martin, A Tent on Corsica (GI Tail Gunner) (Lion Book, 1953) - a WWII novel.
QUILLER-COUCH Sir Arthur, Sir John Constantine - Memoirs of His Adventures Abroad and Particularly in the
Island of Corsica (Smith, Elder & Co, 1906) - a thriller of sorts.
RAMSAY Robert, Corsican Time-bomb (Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1983)
RANKIN Lt Col Sir Reginald, A Notebook on Corsica and Elsewhere (London, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1930)
ROSS Alan, South to Sardinia (London, Hamish Hamilton, 1954)
ROSS Alan, The Bandit on the Billiard Table (London, Hamish Hamilton, 1954)
ROSS Alan & MINTON John (illus), Time Was away: A Notebook in Corsica(London, John Lehmann, 1948 -
reissued by Collins Harvill 1989) - a personal perspective by the poet with
drawings by John Minton.
ROUSSEAU Jean-Jacques, Political Writing including Part 1 of the Constitutional Project for Corsica (London, Thomas Nelson & Co, 1953)
SALA George Augustus, A Journey Due South (Vizetelly & Co, 1885) - about 20% on Corsica.
SAND George, George Sand and Chopin (Pennsylvania, Kirkgate Press, 1902) - 'Being a letter written by George Sand
describing her experiences at the the time she took Chopin to Corsica for his health',
SAVIGEAR Peter, Corsica : Regional Autonomy or Violence? (London, Institute for the Study of Conflict, 1983) - Peter was a
political scientist much loved by many Corsican activists; he had intended retiring here, but an early death prevented this; I
had the pleasure of owning his olive mill in the mountains.
SEBALD W G, Campo Santo trans Anthea Bell (London, Hamish Hamilton, 2005) - essays, including four on Corsica; he was planning a book on Corsica before he died; the cover picture shows Piana in 1932).
SEDILLOT Réné (trans Mary Ann Hargrove-Schneilin), Corsica (Paris, Sun, 1979)
SHELDON Sidney, Morning, Noon and Night (New York, Morrow, 1995) - novel about a strange drowning off
Corsica, reminiscent of Maxwell's disappearance and a recent disappearance of a Calvi lawyer.
SOUTHEY Robert, Horatio Nelson - an English officer in Corsica in the century of light.
STEWART Anna Reid, Two Young Corsican: A Boy and His Colt (Philadelphia, JB Lippincott, 1944)
STEWART Newton V, A Son of the Emperor (London, Methuen & Co, 1909) - a novel.
STRATTON Rebecca, The Corsican Bandit (New York, Harlequin Books) - fiction
SPURLING Hilary, The Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse: The Early Years, 1869-1908 (New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1998) available in Penguin as The Unknown Matisse: Man of the North - He lived in Ajaccio then
and whence he came on honeymoon with Amélie - "I was dazzled. Over there everything sparkles, it's all colour,
everything's light." is how Henri described it. He painted 55 pictures inspired by the city. There's now an Association des
Amis de Matisse in Ajaccio.
The picture is La Cour du Moulin à Ajaccio.
STANLEY John, Travels without a donkey (Congleton, Old Vicarage Publications, 1991) - from the early '50s to '70s he
led school hiking/camping trips abroad - about half to Corsica. Thanks, Robert.
SWINDELLS Madge, The Corsican Woman(London, Macdonald, 1988) - a novel by a South African writer.
THOMPSON Ian B, Corsica (Newton Abbot, David & Charles, 1971); Thompson is a geographer who has written many articles on Corsica eg 'The Revival of Corsica' and 'Settlement & Conflict in Corsica'.
WHITWELL Mrs ER, Through Corsica with a Paintbrush (Darlington, Wm Dresser & Sons, 1908)
WILSTACH Paul, Islands of the Mediterranean (London, Geoffrey Bles, 1926)
WINTON John, The Night of the Scorpion (Sutton, Severn House Publishers, 1994) - about 1944 Corsica-based torpedo boats that landed agents/saboteurs on mainland France.
WOOLSEY Theodore S, French forests and forestry: Tunisia, Algeria and Corsica (New York, 1917)
WYNNE Harry (ed), Corsica: the isle of beauty (Brentford, 1928)
YOUNG Ernest, Peeps at Many Lands: Corsica (London, A & C Black, 1909)
This bibliography has been greatly extended, thanks to the continuing generous help of Robert Sharp of the Library
of the National Museum of Science & Industry, London and John Theakstone, who is a bibliophile specialising in
Corsica, now retired in the Ribble Valley of Lancashire and who first visited Corsica 30 years ago.
Dorothy Carrington (Frederika, Lady Rose), the author of the seminal work on Corsica in English - Granite Island (1971) - died
in January 2002 at the age of 91. She was both an outstanding scholar (the first to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the
Université de Corse in 1991) of Corsica and of Napoleon Bonaparte. Her last book, published posthumously is of the writings
of Napoleon's father - she wrote this directly in French. She was instrumental in the uncovering of the carved neolithic menhirs of
Filitosa and wrtote widely on the white witches of Corsica. She came from the Gloucester landed gentry and first came to
Corsica in 1948, settling here permanently in the fifties. An amazing bird, who was the most respected Corsican academic
researcher of Corsican history and culture.
If you are interested in a bibliography of books about Corsica in French, here's a good one.
An excellent source of Corsican books in French, is alapage.com, my partner; at this link you'll find over 700 titles. As
well as many classics, tourism, history and political titles, there are scads of guidebooks. Another good source is one of the Corsican publishers,
Albiana.
Among the guidebooks, for example, they have the classic Guide Michelin of Corsica, or the two
outstandingly good Gallimard guides - best in their class: Haute Corse and Corse du Sud (I
recommend them strongly). Another popular title is Le Guide Routardand The Hachette Guide
of Corsica - the Blue Guide is attractive and reliable. In the IGN
series, there is one for the North and another for the South.
Another excellent book, not really aguide book as such, though it can be used this way: Monuments de Corse - it describes 100 monuments and how to reach them, region by region. The monuments are from the origins of Corsica, such as standing stones and Genoese towers, to the modern era with examples such as tower houses
of the C16 to Eiffel's rail bridge at Vivario. For those of you who want to explore the 'real Corsica' this illustrated book will take you to places, you would otherwise miss. many are not listed in regular guidebooks.
There are many different kinds of map available. If you want to start basic, the Corsican Tourism
Agency produces a mini-map that folds to credit card size. Or you can download a Map of Corsica right here from Corsica Isula!
However here are a few maps that are easily obtained. You can see details and order them direct
by clicking on their titles. The basic standby is of course the good old yellow Michelin -
it's regularly updated, of course; it's cheap and available in newsagents all over Corsica.
An alternative is the IGN map of Corsica, which is more detailed. The IGN maps 73
(north) and 74 (south) are at 1cm = 1km and then it's the Top 100 series (1cm = 1km) & Top
25 series (1cm = 250m), which is probably as detailed as you'll ever need. These are available at newsagents and supermarkets in Corsica.
There are two alternatives you might want to try. One is the Corsica Insight Travel Map,
which is laminated. The other is the new Rough Guides map Corsica: this one is made of rip-proof, waterproof Polyart paper, durable enough to survive a dip in the sea.
me with any additions or corrections I should make.
The Rough Guide to Corsica (London, Rough Guides, 2003, 1st ed 1994) -
classic of the genre.
ATKINSON David et al, Lonely Planet Corsica (London, Lonely Planet, 2004) - the latest edition. I spent time with David when he was
researching this edition.
GOSCINNY René, Asterix in Corsica (London, Orion, Nov 2004, 1st ed Hodder Childrens' Books, 1982) - Corsicans like it
LUCAROTTI Rolli, Recipes from Corsica (London, Prospect Books, 2003)
Corsica: Car Tours and Walks (London, Sunflower Books, 1993)
SEBALD W G, Campo Santo trans Anthea Bell (London, Hamish Hamilton, 2005) - essays, including four on Corsica; he was planning a book on Corsica before he died; the cover picture shows Piana in 1932). 
SPURLING Hilary, The Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse: The Early Years, 1869-1908 (New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1998) available in Penguin as The Unknown Matisse: Man of the North - He lived in Ajaccio then
and whence he came on honeymoon with Amélie - "I was dazzled. Over there everything sparkles, it's all colour,
everything's light." is how Henri described it. He painted 55 pictures inspired by the city. There's now an Association des
Amis de Matisse in Ajaccio.
The picture is La Cour du Moulin à Ajaccio.
(London, Collins, 1967) 
Books & Guides about Corsica in French.
by Alan Davidson; 
(English and other languages)
by Elizabeth David;