Calabria. A dramatic peninsula of rugged mountains & windswept coastlines facing Sicily
- the most beautiful kilometre in Italy
- wrote Gabriele d Annunzio of its coastline. Though steeped in a rich & ancient past Calabria had been lost from view when Norman Douglas visited in the early 1900s. Long familiar with southern Italy the region captivated him & the wild & unspoilt landscape inspired him. Tracing a typically adventurous route from the promontory of Gargano in the north
- linked in ancient times with Byzantium
- to the southern tip of Aspromote he scaled vast mountain ranges trekked through dense forest & crossed remote & often dangerous countryside. Within Douglas vibrant account of his adventures is woven the rich history
- from Greek settlers & Roman conquerors to the powerful Ndrangheta organized crime family
- that has shaped the land language culture & people of a place that Douglas grew to adore. Witty erudite & elegant Old Calabria" is a literary classic acclaimed as much for its sparkling prose as for its exquisite portrait of Italys most unpredictable & colorful province."