Italian Highways and Byways from a Motor Car

In 1909, when the automobile was still a miraculous novelty and Italy remained largely untouched by mass tourism, M.F. Mansfield climbed behind the wheel and set off to discover a country that existed far from the railway stations. This travelogue captures that singular moment in history: a Italy of unpaved roads, village festivals untouched by globalization, and landscapes that had remained unchanged for centuries. Mansfield writes with the keen eye of both historian and adventurer, pausing to examine ancient Roman ruins half-consumed by wild figs, sampling wine in sun-drenched farmhouses, and marveling at how the motor car grants freedoms no train ever could. The journey moves from celebrated cities into the hidden heart of the peninsula, where the real Italy thrives in its contradictions and quiet beauty. What emerges is not merely a guidebook but a time capsule of sensory pleasures and discoveries that await those willing to leave the main road. For readers who dream of old-world Europe, who hunger for travel before it became an industry, this book offers the next best thing to climbing into a motor car and turning the key in 1909.