Florence and Tuscany

About this book

The magical landscapes and rich culture of Tuscany have fostered the inspiration and settings for literature since the works of the great Florentine poets Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio in the 14th century and has been a magnet for expatriate writers since the arrival in Florence of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in 1372. With its historic cities and villages; its verdant countryside and crepuscular coastline; its treasury of art covering five millennia and, above all, its long heritage of authorship, Tuscany one of the most celebrated and well-travelled regions in the world. As the source of the Italian language and birthplace of the Renaissance, Tuscany lies at the historic and cultural heart of Italy, and has remained an irresistible attraction to writers for six centuries. This book is a journey that follows in their footsteps; from John Milton and Thomas Gray to the Brownings, the Shelleys, Charles Dickens, D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, E. M. Forster, Mark Twain, Muriel Spark and many others. Florence and Tuscany: It takes the literary-minded traveller (either in person or in an armchair) on a vivid and illuminating journey, retracing the footsteps of writers who have lived and worked in, or been inspired by, the history and landscape of Tuscany from John Milton and Thomas Gray to the Brownings, the Shelleys, Charles Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, E.M. Forster, Mark Twain, Muriel Spark and many others. For anyone who has fallen under a Tuscan spell, as so many have before, this book - the first of its kind - will prove enthralling reading.