This is a collection of essays and one short story Dickens wrote about his many travels in Europe, in particular France and Italy, but also Switzerland. His curiosity is everywhere evident – he is haunted by the face of a corpse in the morgue in Paris, almost dies in a reckless trip up Vesuvius and everywhere describes in detail the people and landscape. He is always observant, particularly in regard to the characters he meets, listing their good and bad traits, their clothing, voice and face. The Folio Society edition is their standard fare, well-printed and bound with a beige slipcase. There are about a dozen illustrations of places Dickens stayed or visited and copious editor's notes explaining what else was going on in Dickens life at the time of his travels. ( )