In 1763, Tobias Smollett set sail from Folkestone to Boulogne. He would not return to England for two years, during which time he traveled extensively--and in a notoriously ill-tempered fashion--through much of France and Italy. His obvious pleasure in the landscapes through which he passed, his keen eye for colorful, telling details, and the fact that his letters appear virtually as they were written, beautifully illuminate both Smollett's character and the places he visited.