Riviera Towns

Gibbons, Herbert Adams, 1880-1934Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 232K words
Chapters: 24

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Riviera Towns by Herbert Adams GibbonsAuthor: Gibbons, Herbert Adams, 1880-1934,Language: English, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Jul 4, 2007

Editor's review

Riviera Towns is a work of travel and local-history writing by Herbert Adams Gibbons on the towns of the southeastern French coast and Monaco, belonging to the historical-geography genre. Its value lies not in offering a contemporary travel guide but in showing how an early twentieth-century English author observed the historical layers, architecture and inhabitants' life of Mediterranean coastal towns: it recounts town origins and remnants of the old regime while mixing in the traveller's immediate impressions. For readers who enjoy slowly reading local histories and are interested in the history and geography of southern France, this book offers a sample of observation from a period perspective. It should be read as a historical text rather than a practical guide, noting the gap between the author's period standpoint and present-day reality and watching how towns are compared. This is an English e-book in a fairly formal style requiring some stamina in English reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the history and geography of southern France and Monaco
Readers who enjoy travel literature and local histories and can accept a slow pace
Researchers or enthusiasts wanting to know early twentieth-century English travel writing
Readers with good English willing to read an English e-book

Not a good fit for

Contemporary travellers needing current transport, accommodation and sightseeing information
Readers who prefer plotted narrative and lack patience for local-history exposition
Readers with weak English who struggle with long passages of historical description

Reading tips

Read the table of contents or town headings first and start with the town that interests you most; no need to read straight through.
Use a map to mark town locations as you read, building a sense of spatial relations.
Compare the author's historical account with present-day sources, noting differences of period.
After each town, write a two- or three-sentence summary to avoid piling up information.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this book be used as a travel guide to the Riviera?

Not as a practical travel guide. It dates from the early twentieth century and focuses on history, townscape and the author's impressions, without current transport, accommodation or ticket information. For travel, use it as background reading alongside an up-to-date guide.

Which places does the book mainly cover?

Judging by the title and category, it covers the Riviera towns of the southeastern French coast and the Monaco area, as historical-geography writing on France and Monaco. The specific list of towns should be confirmed from the table of contents, and readers can locate towns of interest there first.

How difficult is the English? Is it suitable for non-native readers?

The text is early twentieth-century English travel writing with fairly long sentences and many historical terms, of above-average difficulty. Readers at university English level can manage with a dictionary; those who only want the content can first consult relevant Chinese material for support.

Comments

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About the author

Gibbons, Herbert Adams, 1880-1934 Author

Herbert Adams Gibbons (1880–1934) was an author known for his work on modern European history and the Ottoman Empire. Public information about him is limited, and details such as his nationality and full biography are not fully recorded in the library's holdings; the present introduction therefore rests mainly on his surviving works. The library holds four of his books, centered on history and geographical observation: The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire traces the early history of the Osmanlis up to a key figure's death; The New Map of Europe and Europe Since 1918 examine the redrawing of Europe's borders and political order around the First World War; and Riviera Towns turns to regional scenery and travel writing. His writing combines historical narrative with geopolitical observation, emphasizing clear chronological and structural exposition, and is suitable for readers interested in modern European and Middle Eastern history.