Italian Journeys: From Venice to Naples and Beyond (Tauris Parke Paperbacks)

When Abraham Lincoln appointed William Dean Howells Consul to Venice, the young writer embarked on a journey that would leave an indelible impression on his life and work. Howells lived in Italy for four years, from 1861, during the pivotal and tumultuous period of Italian reunification. Italian Journeys , Howell's engrossing memoir of this time, describes his adventures across the country. He travelled from Genoa, a hotbed of nationalistic fervour and the city from which Garibaldi had led the Expedition of the Thousand only a year before, to the cultural and political powerhouse of Naples, which had only just become part of the Kingdom of Italy, and from there to Rome, focus for the hopes of a fractured country. Travelling by land and sea, Howells was inspired at every turn - as much by the fevered events of the time as by the cultural and historical wealth of the country - and his beautifully rendered portrait has become a classic of travel literature, essential for all those who, like him, have loved Italy. Annotation In 1861, in recognition of his service to the election campaign of the previous year, Abraham Lincoln appointed William Dean Howells consul to Venice. Howells lived in Italy for four years during the pivotal and tumultuous years of Italian reunification. Italian Journeys describes Howells adventures across the countryfrom Genoa, a hotbed of nationalistic fervor from where Garibaldi had led the Expedition of the Thousand only a year before; to the cultural and political powerhouse of Naples, which had only just become part of the kingdom of Italy; and on to Rome, the focus for the hopes of a fractured country. Traveling by land and sea, Howells was inspired at every turnas much by the fevered events of the time as by the cultural and historical wealth of the countryand his beautifully rendered portrait has become a classic of travel literature, essential for all Italophiles CLASSIC TRAVEL WRITING. When Abraham Lincoln appointed William Dean Howells Consul to Venice, the young writer embarked on a journey that would leave an indelible impression on his life and work. Howells lived in Italy for four years, from 1861, during the pivotal and tumultuous period of Italian reunification. Italian Journeys, Howell's engrossing memoir of this time, describes his adventures across the country - from Genoa, a hotbed of nationalistic fervour and the city from which Garibaldi had led the Expedition of the Thousand only a year before; to the cultural and political powerhouse of Naples, which had only just become part of the Kingdom of Italy and from there to Rome, focus for the hopes of a fractured country "In the later part of his long and productive life - he wrote well over a dozen novels, thirty-one dramas, a few volumes of verse, several autobiographical works, eleven books of travel - W. D. Howells was considered one of America's foremost men of letters."--BOOK JACKET. "Italian Journeys, published in 1867 and written during the four years Howells spent as an American consul in Venice, is more than a lively, knowing, and entertaining book of travel. It is also a shrewd and perceptive inspection of persons and places European. On every page it interrogates European values while between every line it grapples with problems of American identity."--BOOK JACKET.