Norman Douglas one of the 20th centurys great travellers in Italy was for most of his life inextricably passionately connected to the Bay of Naples. This breathtaking sweep of sea & coastline
- dominated by Vesuvius & with Pozzuoli & Sorrento standing sentinel
- was Douglas first experience of Italy. It was here on the island of Capri that he died some 55 years after first buying a villa in Naples. Siren Land" Douglas first travel book is a homage to a part of the world that captivated him more than any other. Weaving the myths of the Sirens into the landscape & history of the region Douglas writes with knowledge & an irrepressible exuberance of the past & the present of legends & archaeology folklore & daily life patron saints local ghosts wine & the wind. As the summer draws to a close Douglas prose becomes suffused with a melancholy tinged with excitement at what still remains to be discovered: relics of Roman rule of old Hellas or medieval romance... These are the delights of Siren Land. What makes " Siren Land" exceptional is the quality of the telling. Weaving scholarship impressions fact & fantasy into an intricate fabric as enchantingly entertaining & full of human interest as the best of fairy tales or ancient myths. One of the most memorable books of its genre
- Mark Holloway in his introduction to " Siren Land"."