I have used Michel Thomas to learn French. I'm about to start the Spanish course as there's more chance of me using that over the next few years. The principle behind the Michel Thomas system is that there is no writing or learning (as such) to do. Its all conversational so there aren't great long lists of words to remember.
Order the Foundation course first:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Michel-Thoma...3143192&sr=8-1 it comes with the first 8 CDs. There are another 14 CDs available in 5 seperate packs after the Foundation course.
Italian Foundation Review - 2 CDs
Italian Advanced - 4 CDs
Italian Review - 1 CD
Italian Language Builder - 2 CDs
Italian Vocabulary - 5CDs
You can often find these bundled together into multipacks for not a great deal of money.
Hope this helps?
Phil