Guidebook for Italy's "heel"?

WikiVoyage is a good resource for basic information: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Southern_Italy

Frommer’s and Lonely Planet both cover Puglia.

Rick Steve’s’ travel guidebooks include
specific regions and are not comprehensive, never have been. Nat. Geographic has a Puglia guide. DK Euewitness may have one too.

Thanks. I wasn't being critical of the RS Guidebook. It was great for our last trip to Italy. No guidebook can cover everything. I was merely looking for options to cover what is missing.

We found no source that covers the area adequately, but with some effort you can make your own. We used official tourist sites, some bloggers, wikipedia, and others to build a combo resource of links, PDFs, and paper docs of areas and sites of interest to us. You'll have a better trip because you have to learn the ins and outs of the area according to your particular interests. One I still have bookmarked is: https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/hp/en Do be aware that many websites are soft sells for commercial products - especially accommodations - although some do so with excellent knowledge of the area.

Jeff, you did not say whether you would be travelling by car, which I would recommend for this area. A few suggestions, perhaps a base in Lecce for a few days , it is an easy walking city and to day trip to Gallipoli , taking the slow road around the coast at the bottom of the heel to Otranto. I also recommend a car to travel to Alberobello (trulli houses) and we loved the area around Polignano a Mare.
If you are picking up your car prior to travelling to the heel than I would highly suggest you stop in Matera.
We, like Mike did this all on our own by reading blogs and googling a lot of the towns we wanted to visit to make notes on what to see. We do wish we had spent more time travelling the back roads to some of the olive groves.
Have fun planning your trip.

Now you've done it...another destination added to the list (don't tell my spouse...). 2023 or 2024.

Not a guidebook, but Frances Mayes' "See You in the Piazza" chronicles visits to many towns in Puglia. It really gave me a good orientation to that region. Have a great time.

We're going to Puglia next month (!) and I have the NatGeo book and the Lonely Planet guide to Southern Italy. I find NatGeo kind of annoying because it dives right into a ton of history before orienting you in the here & now. (Don't get me wrong - I'm very interested in the history, but before I can appreciate the battle of the Saracens and the Swabians, I'd like to get the lay of the land.)

Don't overlook the Blue Guide if you want nitty-gritty culture and history.
There is also a ton online:
https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/puglia-maps-guide.html
https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/italy/puglia/areas-of-puglia
https://www.summerinitaly.com/guide/puglia

British newspaper travel sections are a good resource: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jul/04/puglia-guide-italy-hotels-bari-brindisi-foggia-salento
And of course, tourism bureaus: https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/hp/en

Thank you all.

Another blog, very comprehensive in coverage of the area. We used it for our first trip.

https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/8-towns-not-to-miss-in-puglia/

Not a guidebook, but Frances Mayes' "See You in the Piazza"

I'll second this recommendation. The title says it all: "See You in the Piazza - new places to discover in Italy" and it's quite recent (2019) so not way outdated. It's great for getting an idea of the towns and sights there but, since it's not meant to be a typical 'guide book' it lacks the basic details - getting around, where to stay, etc. But there's plenty of resources online and in other guide books to fill in those blanks.