As the Crow Flies: From Corsica to Charing Cross

A wry, observant travelogue from the age of steamships and railway stations, capturing one man's journey through the Mediterranean and England at the close of the Victorian era. Walter Phelps Dodge begins in the sweltering hold of a boat bound for Corsica, where terrible food and dreary hotels cannot diminish his fascination with the island's ancient vendetta customs, Napoleon's birthplace, and the stark beauty of its hill towns. From there he moves through the Riviera's glittering coast before returning to England, where his encounters range from the royal estates at Sandringham to the humbler inns of the countryside. His voice is that of the educated Victorian traveler: curious without being condescending, critical yet affectionate, always ready to sketch a telling detail about the locals he meets. The book survives not as a guide but as a time capsule of a particular English sensibility abroad, at once confident in empire and genuinely curious about the wider world. For readers who delight in the genre of Victorian travel writing, who appreciate dry humor and the peculiar pleasure of watching a proper Englishman endure uncomfortable Continental conditions with resignation and wit.