Full disclosure. I recently used Tilt as a prop in my online video response to the "I'm So Annoyed" BookTube tag. The first question was: "Do publishers ever do things that you find annoying?" And the book that quickly came to my mind was this one. Why? Because the publishers decided to be gimmicky about its design. Since the subject is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, they thought it would be fun to have the book "lean," too. So instead of producing it in typical rectangular form, they created the book as a parallelogram. The book itself actually tilts, if you open up the pages and place it carefully on a flat surface.

It's sure eye-catching, to say the least. But it's a librarian's nightmare, to keep this book standing upright on a shelf. And it's a little challenging to hold it to read and to turn the pages, too. And yet, I had known about this book only from memory and only from afar. I had never read it or handled it. Since I borrowed it from our library system in order to wave it at the camera, I thought I might as well read it, finally. I'm glad that I did.

The Tower's tale is not just one of art, architecture and history. It is also one of politics, warfare, religion and, beneath it all, soil science. This campanile -- the bell tower -- is part of the Campo dei Miracoli compound, which includes the cathedral of Santa Maria Magiore, a baptistery and a cemetery. Construction on the campanile began in the year 1173. Imagine! And why was it tilted, almost immediately? We learn that and many more details here.

Framing this book is the year 1990, when the Tower was closed to the public because of safety concerns. Its list had grown more dangerous over the years. The fear was that this famous tourist attraction could be lost entirely. After all, other such structures across Italy had fallen, and none of them leaned like this one.

Here was the opportunity for author Nicholas Shrady to research the Tower's lengthy and fascinating history. He even attends to the story that native son Galileo used the building to conduct his own experiments with gravity. A great deal had happened to the campanile since 1173. The book ends with the successful reopening of the Tower in 2001.

I soon put this book on the same level with David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal. Both address famous sites that most of us know only from a distance, from photographs. We know that they exist, but we don't know much about how they were built and who was involved. Most of us will never see either one in person. Through accounts like these, we can learn about these unique undertakings as well as their unique challenges.

If you're looking for something different and historical to dive into, Tilt may be just the diversion for you, even if a copy is tough to find. Our local library system covers 161 libraries, and only five of them own this title. No doubt the unusual format is part of the reason for so few librarians to carry it. Look beyond the gimmick of this book's production, and aim for the content instead. You're sure to learn something new-to-you.