Catharine Mee is an independent researcher. She completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2009, writing her thesis on French and Italian travel writing.

‘This book brings together some of the best known names of the French and Italian postwar traditions with a new generation of writers whose work is still waiting to be discovered in the Anglophone world. It illuminates aspects of travel writing which go well beyond any specific writer or national context.’ —Loredana Polezzi, University of Warwick

• Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; 1. ENCOUNTERING, TRAVELLING, WRITING: 1.1 Encounter; 1.2 Travel Writing and Tourism; 1.3 Voyage/Viaggio; 1.4 Chapters; 2. STRATEGY, AUTHENTICITY, ETHICS: 2.1 Strategy; 2.2 Authenticity; 2.3 Ethics; 3. GUIDING: 3.1 Authenticity and Mediation; 3.2 Translation and Voice; 4. HOSTING: 4.1 Hospitality and Authenticity; 4.2 Freedom; 4.3 The Nature of Encounters; 5. STARING: 5.1 The Stare of the Travellee; 5.2 Photography and Encounter; 6. CHALLENGING: 6.1 Economic Power; 6.2 Justification: Rickshaw Riders; 6.3 Distancing: Prostitutes; 6.4 Dilemma: Beggars; 7. ACCOMPANYING: 7.1 Absent Friends; 7.2 Alter Ego or Mirror?; 7.3 Chance Companions; 8. CONCLUDING; Notes; Bibliography; Index