"The book is worth reading from beginning to end," said The Nation in June 1905, upon the first American publication of this classic work of travel literature. The second of two memorable trips to the Mediterranean. The second was to Calabria and the wild Italian coast south of Naples. From bad food to filthy inns and dangerously watered wine, to a strange malarial-type fever which kept him bedridden for days, Gissing suffered all for the sake of viewing the sites and old ruins of "Magna Graecia," and to see for himself the classical cities he called his "land of romance." Filled with humor, pathos, and captivating landscapes, By the Ionian Sea continues to inspire the traveler, while re-educating the reader in the glories of this still-forgotten corner of Italy.
Author
People best know British writer George Robert Gissing for his novels, such as New Grub Street (1891), about poverty and hardship. This English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era. Born to lower-middle-class parents, Gissing went to win a scholarship to Owens College, the present-day University of Manchester. A brilliant student, he excelled at university, winning many coveted prizes, including the Shakespeare prize in 1875. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) he produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile , The Odd Women , In the Year of Jubilee , and The Whirlpool . The middle years of the decade saw his reputation reach new heights: some critics count him alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy, the best novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up-and-coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.
