Grand Tours and Cook's Tours: A History of Leisure Travel, 1750-1915 [Hardcover]

Lynne Withey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

This history of leisure travel from the middle of the eighteenth century to the start of World War I is a record of remarkable changes - in technology, the size of the traveling public, choices of destination, even beliefs about what was worth seeing. What begins as a description of the Grand Tour of the European continent for sons of wealthy British families - the tour itself was often an education in carnal as much as classical knowledge - becomes the story of how the masses came to enjoy the pleasures once reserved for a special few. In their efforts to be exclusive, the well-to-do turned to ever more exotic landscapes. Switzerland, Egypt, Japan, and the American West were among the places they sought out, as enterprising businessmen built lavish hotels to insulate rich travelers from the inconveniences of everyday life in remote locations (and from their more proletarian counterparts). But, as Lynne Withey delightfully and informatively shows, no matter where the wealthy led, mass tourism followed, with package tours, budget train tickets, and ingenious advertising providing the incentives. Among the more famous travelers who appear on these pages are James Boswell, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, and even Emily Post (a pioneer auto traveler whose adventures included camping out in the New Mexico desert). But equal attention is paid to lesser-known men and women, among them Amelia Edwards, a pulp novelist whose journey up the Nile launched her on a career as an Egyptologist, and Ida Pfeiffer, who made a career of traveling around the world on a budget. And, of course, here are the stories of theentrepreneurs whose innovations have made their names synonymous with their products - among them Karl Baedecker, George Pullman, Cesar Ritz, and, above all, Thomas Cook.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The grand and fashionable European tours of the 18th century have undergone a dramatic change over the past century, becoming open and accessible to every youth with a backpack and a good stomach. This history is well done--it includes intelligent analysis and the experiences of James Boswell, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Emily Post. But not everything's changed. Even back in 1780 folks were complaining that their treasured havens were overrun with "tourists."

From Publishers Weekly

In this entertaining and illuminating history of more than 150 years of travel, Withey (Voyages of Discovery: Captain Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific) traces the transition from the lengthy, expensive expeditions of the wealthy to brief and relatively low-cost trips for the middle class. Before the advent of railroads, getting almost anywhere required leisure, money and a willingness to endure major discomfort. Crossing the Channel could take a day; getting from Paris to Lyons several days or even weeks; and crossing the Alps was a frightening expedition, in which travelers were carried over mountain passes in a litter. Transportation was crude and erratic, luxury accommodations were scarce and the food was unfamiliar. But before mass transit and television helped to homogenize the world, travel was a high adventure into the exotic, and a "wanderjahr"?a year spent seeing the world before settling down?was a social prerequisite for the sons of the rich. With the advent of railroads, Thomas Cook, a British temperance preacher and cabinetmaker, conceived the idea that workers might share the broadening effects of travel. Beginning in 1841, he persuaded carriers to discount fares in exchange for large numbers of passengers. Thus was born group tourism, with its cheap day trips and short vacations for the masses, changing the nature of travel, even for the wealthy. Withey fills her account with intriguing details of the trials and rewards of travel in Europe and the U.S. from the 18th century to the close of the 19th, including choice observations from such famous travelers as Boswell, Goethe, Dickens, Edith Wharton and Mark Twain. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 401 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688088007
• ISBN-13: 978-0688088002
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #922,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb historical travel book with excellent bibliography, August 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Grand Tours and Cook's Tours: A History of Leisure Travel, 1750-1915 (Hardcover)

This fine book caused me to revisit Alexander Kinglake's EOTHEN and realize how good it was, too. Ms. Withey's prose style is highly readable, making easy reading for such an immense subject. The bibliography is a research treasure on its own. The author works in gentle irony and wit in a way that does not interfere with her subject matter. She does not let drop such items as the search for the perfect way to Italy but, rather, consistently mines these deserving themes once they are introduced. I highly recommend this book

5.0 out of 5 stars very interesting history, July 19, 2010

By 

josinc (San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Tour and Cooks Tours: A History of Leisure Travel, 1750 to 1915 (Hardcover)

Very interesting history of the rise of travel from a pastime of the wealthy to mass travel. Coordinates with a history of railroads and steamships. Well done.