Discovering Britain and Ireland in the Romantic Period - 9781108842693

Discovering Britain and Ireland in the Romantic PeriodGrand Tours\nAuthor(s): James Watt, Alison O'Byrne\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781108842693, 978-1108842693\nSynopsis\nEven as members of the social elite participated in the European Grand Tour, travellers, writers, and readers increasingly recognized that Britain and Ireland might offer sights and experiences to rival the continent. This collection examines the practice and representation of tourism on 'home' ground during the period when modern Britain was invented and became a powerful and prosperous imperial nation. Interdisciplinary essays explore the diverse variety of tours and tourist agendas artistic, industrial, leisure, scientific and they address the ways in which travellers' 'discovery' of Britain and Ireland was an active and often self-critical process that potentially encompassed encounters with the alien and unfamiliar..