Along with his famous novels, short stories, criticism, and biographies, Henry James was known for writing about his many travels. These 21 essays of New England, Britain, and the Continent—variously brimming with charm, wit, and biting criticism—were culled from collections published in the decades before and after the turn of the 20th century. "To travel with James in these pages is to take an unhurried vacation with a thoroughly seasoned, supremely cultivated, acutely intelligent companion," writes Hendrik Hertzberg in his foreword. "Our guide is a curious, engaged observer not only of landscapes and streets and cathedrals but also of paintings and plays and the characteristics—national, social, and individual—of the people we encounter at his side. This is a book to be read slowly, the better to absorb its sights and sounds, its insights and reflections."

"No writer in history was a better describer than James, and nobody could get more mileage from a word like 'physiognomically.' These essays, full of the sweet enthusiasm of the great man's youth, offer vista after vista and delight after delight."—Ian Frazier