Pictures from Italy

In 1844, Charles Dickens took a break from novel writing to travel through Italy for almost a year, and pictures from Italy is an illuminating account of his experiences there.

He presents the country like a magic lantern show, as vivid images ceaselessly appear before his, and his readers’, eyes. Italy’s most famous sights are all to be found here, Saint Peter’s in Rome, Naples with Vesuvius smouldering in the background, the fairytale buildings and canals of Venice, but Dickens’s chronicle is not simply that of a tourist. Combining compelling travelogue with piercing social commentary, he portrays a nation of great contrasts: between grandiose buildings and squalid poverty, ancient monuments and everyday life, past and present.

Libro intonso, privo di sottolineature o scritte.