Twilight in Italy

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), novelist, poet, playwright, painter, critic, is an icon of 20th century literature. His hatred of militarism, openly expressed during the First World War, sparked a wave of vilification that forced him to leave England and embark on what he called his 'Savage Pilgrimage'.He spent the remainder of his life travelling - to America, Italy, Austria, Mexico, the South of France and Sri Lanka - and it was during this time that he wrote such classics as Sea and Sardinia, The Plumed Serpent and Lady Chatterley's Lover.With the exception of E.M. Forster, who called him 'the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation' and friends such as Aldous Huxley, Lawrence's obituarists were dismissive and hostile. It was not until The Lady Chatterley trial thirty years after his death and the subsequent publication of the book that Lawrence was finally recognised as one of the great writers and thinkers of his age.

• IntroductionThe Crucifix across the MountainsPart I On the Lago Di Garda1.The Spinner and the Monks2. The Lemon Gardens3. The Theatre4. San Gaudenzio5. The Dance6. Il Duro7. John Part II Italians in Exile8. Italians in ExilePart III The Return Journey9. The Return Journey

If this is travel writing, it is travel writing in excelsis - beyond the spectacle, beyond the experience, beyond even the interpretation, into profound conclusions of the spirit,