Old Calabria (Marlboro Travel) - Softcover

Douglas, Norman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810160226 ISBN 13: 9780810160224

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 1997

Synopsis

First published in 1915, Old Calabria is a comprehensive and exciting account of adventure travel. Captivated by the pagan quality of the mezzogiorno, Norman Douglas plunged into Calabria, the southernmost and most backward part of Italy (a province that was still largely devoid of any form of modern amenity). He endured extremes of climate, scaled mountains, rode in carriages driven by villainous coachmen, and traversed remote stretches of country where murderous groups of banditti were known to roam. As Jon Manchip White points out in his introduction, it "makes good reading, but it must have constituted a protracted and frightening ordeal--frightening, that is, to anyone except someone like Douglas, possessed of a more than normal share of guts and fortitude."

About this title

Review:

'One of the most entertaining literary characters of his age, always unexpected. He lived and died an unpenitent nonconformist.' --The Evening Standard

'Douglas is an excellent writer of works of travel: he has the necessary independence of mind, his loneliness, the face that gives nothing away. Old Calabria is a classic. His eye wanders from the road into the generalities of history and religion...but he never misses the precise contours of the country.' --The New Statesman

'Almost everything a newcomer can require is here: Douglas turns easily from legend to natural history, natural history to notes on local wine..;' --Graham Greene, on Footnote on Capri, Sunday Times

From the Publisher:

“If there is a better book of travel in English, I do not know it” Professor R.M.Dawkins. With an introduction by Jonathan Keates.

About this edition

• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0810160226
• ISBN 13: 9780810160224
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352