A fascinating portrait of a unique book, its context, and its author. Joseph Forsyth, travelling through an Italy plundered by Napoleon, was unjustly imprisoned in 1803 by the French as an enemy alien. Out of his arduous eleven-year "detention" came his only book, Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters during an Excursion in Italy.
The Imprisoned Traveler is a fascinating portrait of a unique book, its context, and its elusive author. Joseph Forsyth, a Napoleonic “detainee” of 1803, wrote his travel writing classic in a bid for release from prison. Keith Crook uncovers his protests against Napoleon’s tyranny, concealed beneath his discerning art criticism and vivid impressions of Italians.
