The Smell Of The Continent: The British Discover Europe - Hardcover

Munson, James; Mullen, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230741908 ISBN 13: 9780230741904

Publisher: Macmillan, 2009

Synopsis

‘I remember being much amused last year, when landing at Calais,’ wrote Mrs Frances Trollope in her 1835 book, Paris and the Parisians, ‘at the answer made by an old traveller to a novice ... making his first voyage. “What a dreadful smell!” said the uninitiated stranger ... “it is the smell of the continent, sir!” replied the man of experience. And so it was.’

Historians James Munson and Richard Mullen examine just what it was about the smell of the continent that so attracted British travellers in the hundred years from the fall of Napoleon to the outbreak of the First World War. It was the first time in history that the British, en masse, set out to discover Europe. Drawing on contemporary accounts, diaries and letters, Munson and Mullen offer a compelling portrait of the Victorians abroad, many of them convinced that their country was not only vastly superior but also the envy of the world. Their attitudes to foreign food,modes of transport and habits were often as uncharitable then as now and complaints about ‘beastly abroad’ abound. But there were also those intrepid souls who were genuinely interested in other countries what they could learn from them. 'The Smell of the Continent' vividly reveals that the gulf between the ‘traveller’ and the ‘tourist’ was as wide in our great-grandparents’ time as it is today.

About this title

Product Description:

Rare Book

Review:

'Every genteel traveller should pack a copy in their valise for summer.' -- Waterstones Books Quarterly

'Fascinating exploration of the early days of mass travel to the Continent.' -- Choice Magazine

'I shall certainly be giving this book as a Christmas present to many friends.'
-- A N Wilson, Reader's Digest Magazine

`An interesting and well-written account of Victorians abroad.'
-- Living France Magazine

`Crammed with quotations from a wealth of contemporary sources, this is a boisterous, fact-packed read.' -- Geographical Magazine

`Highly entertaining...Aroma is the vital element in this canter through attitudes to abroad.' -- Liverpool Daily Post

`Mullen and Munson have seamed a rich vein of gold...detailing the fascinating mix of curiosity and crusade.' -- Oxford Times

`To travel hopefully was a novelty in the early nineteenth century: it took two revolutions - the French, and the Industrial - to create the perfect conditions for the birth of the tourist. In `The Smell of the Continent', Munson and Mullen's charmingly idiosyncratic take on the British abroad, they venture along the tourist trail armed with ardour, with charm, and with a healthy dose of scepticism about the strange sights they were to encounter.'
-- Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian House and A Circle of Sisters

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0230741908
• ISBN 13: 9780230741904
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400