The Path to Rome
by Hilaire Belloc, Martin Hayes
2005Description and travelFrance, description and travelSwitzerland, description and travelItaly, description and travelJourneys
4.0
Open LibraryAbout this book
<p><i>The Path to Rome</i> is British-French writer and historian <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/hilaire-belloc">Hilaire Belloc’s</a> first travelogue. It describes the pilgrimage he took to Rome as the result of a vow he made while visiting his hometown of Toul, in Lorraine, France. In his own copy of the book, dated May 29, 1904, he notes: “I wrote this book for the glory of God.”</p> <p>Belloc walked “two and a half hundred leagues” to Rome, over twenty-two days, and arrived in time to hear Mass on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. As he walks, he quickly discovers the difficulty of keeping every vow he made before starting, as the days are long, the mountains steep, and his finances stressed. But the book is far more than a simple travelogue; alongside the narrative of the journey, Belloc wanders into topics as varied as the art of writing, life in the military, his Catholic faith, the middle class, literary criticism, music, poetry, and more. His unique politics and personality shine in his many digressions and asides.</p> <p><i>The Path to Rome</i> sold very well, and many critics have viewed it as the book that made Belloc’s name. His great friend <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton">G. K. Chesterton</a> said of it in <i>The World</i>: “<i>The Path to Rome</i> is the product of the actual and genuine buoyancy and thoughtlessness of a rich intellect. …”</p>
Themes & subjects
Description and travelFrance, description and travelSwitzerland, description and travelItaly, description and travelJourneysTravel
First published 2005Characters & people
Setting
EuropeFranceItalySwitzerland
About the author
Hilaire Belloc
27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, the son of a French father, who was an attorney, and an English mother, who was an author. In 1872, his father died in 1872, leaving the family destitute, and his mother moved with Belloc to Slindon, West Sussex, where he spent most of his childhood. He was educated at John Henry Newman's Oratory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and then volunteered to serve in the French Army. He was posted in an artillery regiment near Toul in 1891. After his release from the military, he studied history at Oxford University, graduating in 1895. In 1896, he married Elodie Hogan, an American, and published his first book, a book of …
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