In PICTURES FROM ITALY, Charles Dickens brings his quirky perspective to a tour of the country in the mid-1840s, looking askance at the domination of the Catholic church, but always alive to the beauty of the place and to the rich traditions of Italian culture. He did not, however, fail to be outraged by the poverty that greeted him in such cities as Naples, and by its contrast with the obliviously carefree lifestyle of the wealthier Italians. Interestingly, two of Dickens's favorite "tourist" sights were cemeteries and prisons--settings that, of course, occur frequently in his novels.

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