Old Calabria

Old Calabria

by NormanDouglas (Author)

Synopsis

Then, as now, Calabria was relatively ignored by traditional tourists. But Norman Douglas, the unrepentant pagan, was no traditional tourist. With his inexhaustible fund of erudition, wit and elegant literary style he conducts the reader from the promontory of Gargano to the tip of Aspromonte; through the influences of its many invaders - Greek colonists, Norman feudal lords, Spaniards and Angevins until its absorption into the corrupt Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Delicate, allusive, urbane and civilized, it is recognized as a classic for its vivid evocation of the life, language, history and customs of Europe's most colourful extremity. Its literary quality puts it in a class of its own.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Edition: New
Publisher: W&N
Published: 21 Jun 2001

ISBN 10: 1842124609
ISBN 13: 9781842124604
Book Overview: A remarkable travel book about one of the most enigmatic and secluded parts of Italy One of the finest writers of his generation 'lonely, intractable, often impenetrably strange, Calabria endures, sullenly defiant of our mania for system, connection and universal openness'

Author Bio
Norman Douglas was born in 1868 and was educated in England, Germany and France. He entered the diplomatic service in 1894 but was granted extended leave in 1896 to avoid a scandal. He settled in Italy and began to write seriously. Siren Land was published in 1911, Fountains in the Sand in 1912 and Old Calabria in 1915. Publication of South Wind in 1917 established his reputation but after this success he became and exile, living in Italy and travelling in India and Africa. He returned to England in 1942 but spent the last five years of his life in Capri, dying in 1952.