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Lucy Lethbridge

Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to Find Themselves

Venue: Temple Church

15 September 2022 10:00 am

‘It is the paramount wish of every English heart, ever addicted to vagabondizing, to hasten to the Continent...’ In the early 1800s, a new social phenomenon was born in Britain. The exploration of Europe, previously the preserve of the wealthy and aristocratic, began to be taken up by the British middle classes. The era of the lofty Grand Tour was over; here instead was the advent of tourism as we know it today. The journalist and social historian brings the voices of ordinary British travellers vividly to life, charting the rise of guidebooks and the connection between tourism and mass production, shines a light on the evolving public attitudes towards leisure, and why so many of us love to pack our bags and our passports and head for the queues at the airport. Talking to Tim Hubbard

Event Type:

Live

Category:

Adults