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markk's review
informative
medium-paced
3.75
In the late 17th century, members of the English upper class began a practice that came to be known as the “Grand Tour.” Primarily an activity undertaken by young men once they came of age, it was an extended trip to various destinations on the European continent, often in the company of a tutor or guide, that was intended to give them an opportunity to burnish their educations and socialize with their counterparts in other countries. As Jeremy Black explains in his account of the heyday of such travel, the Grand Tour “fulfilled a major social need, namely the necessity for finding for young men, who were not obliged to work and for whom work would often be a derogation, something to do between school and settling into matrimony.”
The nature of travel at that time meant that these tours usually involved spending months or even years abroad. What these men (and the occasional woman) experienced in their voyages varied considerably depending on the interests of their travelers and the itineraries they charted for themselves. This makes recounting the history of these journeys a challenge, yet it is one that Black rises to effectively with a detailed breakdown of the key components involved. As he explains, the typical destination was either France or Italy, with the latter usually involving stops in Paris and other key French cities along the way. Yet others ventured to Lisbon, the Low Countries, or the German states, with a few hardy souls even going as far afield as Russia and the European territories of the Ottoman empire.
Black’s description of their activities and experiences comprises the bulk of his book. For those traveling to Italy in particular, the main attractions were the ancient ruins that dotted the peninsula, which gave them the opportunity to visit the locations described in the classically-centered educations they had experienced. As the century wore on, however, outdoor recreation grew in popularity, as many travelers headed to destinations renowned for their natural beauty. These trips were usually supplemented by visits to courts and attendance at musical performances and other cultural activities, which served as entrée into the local societies with which visitors mingled.
Such travel was not cheap, making the Grand Tour a privilege limited to the monied elite. Yet one of the most striking aspects of it was the onerousness of these trips. While the tradition as well established by the early 18th century, outside of a few well-traveled routes journeys were difficult and accommodations few. This contributed to the preference for France and Italy as destinations, where roads were relatively developed and inns and hotels numerous enough to ease the demands of travel. By contrast, those venturing to parts of Europe less frequently visited by outsiders found the roads poor and housing for travelers virtually nonexistent. While this changed in some places as the century wore on, visiting such places as the Balkans required both an adventurous spirit and a willingness to “rough it” in uncertain circumstances.
And yet for all of the differences between the tours that Black describes and the more modern vacations which his readers might undertake, there is much within it that is familiar to their counterparts today. Though overland travel was limited to carriages, most of the passengers were more interested in the destination than the journey, as what now might be terms “flyover country” was regarded back then by travelers as “fly-through” country. Delays that left them stranded led to much frustrated grumbling about the unhelpful sailors and drivers that they had hired to transport them. Hotels and inns were as plagued with poor facilities and vermin-infested mattresses as they are today, while people enjoying foreign locales often ran the risk of consuming unpalatable food and becoming the victims of pickpockets and other petty criminals.
Such details help to make Black’s book enjoyable reading, as does his generous use of paintings in the text that are nicely evocative of the era. While his choice to organize the material by topic can disrupt any sense of the narrative, it makes the book a great resource for anyone wanting to focus on specific aspects of the travel experience. Where it falls short, unfortunately, is in connecting these details to the broader social and cultural developments taking place in Europe during this time. This is especially unfortunate considering that most of this book is just a warmed-over version of Black’s earlier work The British Grand Tour, with little of substance added. In this sense the absence of an attempt to expand on his observations by showing how they reflected contemporary trends in Western thought is particularly unfortunate, as it limits unnecessarily what is otherwise an extremely useful study of an interesting topic, one that provides a fascinating perspective on how Hanoverian Britain interacted with their fellow Europeans.
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