Travels Through France And Italy

Name: Travels Through France And Italy
Brand: Findaway
Availability: InStock
Author: Tobias Smollett
ISBN: 9781802566963

Author: Tobias Smollett

Narrator: Finian Silverwood

Unabridged: 14 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Interactive Media

Published: 06/27/2025

Categories: Nonfiction, Travel

Synopsis

In Travels Through France and Italy , Tobias Smollett offers a sharp-witted and often acerbic account of his 1765 journey across continental Europe. Written in the form of letters, the narrative captures Smollett’s observations on the customs, manners, politics, and social conditions of France and Italy during the mid-18th century. With little patience for foreign eccentricities or perceived backwardness, Smollett delivers biting commentary on everything from French cuisine and Italian architecture to medical practices and local superstitions. Though often critical and biased, his travelogue provides a vivid and historically rich portrait of Enlightenment-era Europe through the eyes of a skeptical, opinionated Englishman. Combining satire with cultural insight, it remains a classic of early travel literature.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Henry on February 14, 2024

The famous 18th century British author Tobias Smollett, (and infamous grouch) travels to France and Italy in 1763. Bringing along his wife Nancy and two young girls, of which Nancy was their guardian and a servant . What are the chances that disasters will ensue, for the party of five? Having recent......more

Goodreads review by Rob on March 18, 2024

When it comes to the arts and “Frenchified Cuisine”, Smollett was undoubtedly a philistine, and he was also a curmudgeon par excellence. Fortunately, he was also a good writer with wit, an eye for detail, and dramatic incident too. We join Tobias Smollett, already a famous novelist, and his wife and......more

Goodreads review by R.C.A. on January 28, 2015

As Henry wrote wonderfully above - Infamous grouch! Smollett provided the model of the wingeing tourist for the next 250 years. At times I wanted to belt the guy. Still, his descriptive powers are often brilliant, and his complaints fully merited. Since the places he visited often retain the very ru......more