An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

221. Holidays: Byron's Grand Tour

August 15, 2022

Description

Welcome to the first of four episodes on the history of holidays: Byron's Grand Tour; The Invention of Mass Tourism; Sun, Sea and Sex; and Roman Holidays. In the first episode, Tom and Dominic...
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Books Referenced

Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Context:

Referenced when discussing pilgrimages as a Catholic tradition - 'as anyone who's read Canterbury Tales will know'

Britons

Author: Linda Colley

Context:

Referenced when discussing Britain defining itself against the continent in the 18th century - 'The age of kind of Linda Colley's Britain'

The Village of Italy

Author: Richard Lassels

Context:

Explicitly mentioned as a book written by the Catholic priest who coined the term 'Grand Tour' in 1670

A Discourse of Bath and the Hot Waters There, Also Some Enquiries into the Nature of the Water of St. Vincent's Rock near Bristol

Author: Thomas Guidotti

Context:

Explicitly described as 'his most successful book' published in 1676, which helped popularize Bath as a spa destination

The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker

Author: Tobias Smollett

Context:

Explicitly called 'a brilliant book' - an epistolary novel featuring a grumpy Welsh squire who criticizes Bath

Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Context:

Referenced when quoting Lydia Bennett and her mother's exclamation about Brighton - 'as all readers of Jane Austen will recognize'

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Author: Lord Byron

Context:

Discussed extensively as Byron's poem about his travels abroad, described as 'the best-selling poem ever in English publishing, British publishing history'