Dickens and Italy : Little Dorrit and Pictures from Italy

This book, arising from a major international conference held in Genoa in 2007, focuses primarily on Dickens's two major writings about Italy, namely the travel book 'Pictures from Italy' of 1845, and part II of his great novel 'Little Dorrit', published in 1855-57. It falls into six sections: the first concerns Dickens's enjoyment of leisure in Italy; the second his response to the visual attractions of Italy, both natural and artistic; the third his political stance about Italy in the period of the Risorgimento; the fourth, his preoccupation with death and decay in what he saw and experienced in Italy; the fifth his representation of Italianness in 'Little Dorrit' and elsewhere; and the sixth, his relation to modern and contemporary writers about Italy. It thus aims to fill a vital gap in Dickens studies.