France and the Grand Tour

the long version

"In this innovative study of the Grand Tour, Jeremy Black relies on archival sources to provide an exploration of the real tourist experience rather than, as with the majority of studies of the Grand Tour, an account that is essentially based on travel literature. While sensitive to wider cultural dimensions, the author demonstrates his interest in the experience of tourists, particularly the circumstances they encountered, and the impact of the Grand Tour on British society. Black conjures up a vivid account of the pleasures and predicaments experienced by tourists. He also asks about the impact of tourism on Britain and locates foreign travel in the tension between cosmopolitanism and xenophobia in British culture and society. The book closes with the impact of the French Revolution on tourism."--BOOK JACKET.