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  • Published: 29 January 1998
  • ISBN: 9780140434316
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $35.00

Pictures from Italy




A thrilling travelogue of the year Dickens spent in Italy in the mid 1840s, published at a time when interest in his more marginal work is constantly increasing.

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 - St 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. Avoiding preconceptions and stereotypes, he portrays a nation of great contrasts: between grandiose buildings and squalid poverty, and between past and present, as he observes everyday life beside ancient monuments. Combining thrilling travelogue with piercing social commentary, Pictures from Italy is a revealing depiction of an exciting and disquieting journey.

  • Published: 29 January 1998
  • ISBN: 9780140434316
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $35.00

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