Why read Eothen, or Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East?

Book cover of Eothen, or Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East

Book description

Eothen ("From the East") recaptures a bold young Englishman's exploits in the Middle East during the 1830s. Alexander William Kinglake recounts his rambles through the Balkans, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt in a style radically different from other travel books of his era. Rather than dwelling on art or…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Eothen, or Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Roff Smith

Author

If you’re looking for the literary antecedents of today’s best travel writers, look no further. One can pretty well mark the start of modern travel writing with this witty travelogue, published anonymously in 1844 about a journey Kinglake made through Palestine, Syria, and Egypt some ten years earlier with his friend Lord Pollington. The book was an immediate best-seller but what distinguishes it today from other Victorian travelogues, some of which can be rather turgid, is the bright, engaging, and surprisingly modern style with which Kinglake tells his tale.

From Roff's list on the golden age of globetrotting.