Travels Through France and Italy

Writer Tobias Smollett set off on a journey through France and Italy to relieve a low period in his life. Promising to keep records of inns, prices, and methods of transport for friends who might wish to make the journey, he wrote faithfully. Filled with prejudice, grousing, sharp observation, and caustic satire, Smollett's writings go beyond simple information to become one of the first travelogues to reflect the writer's state of mind.