Traveling Europe Between the World Wars

Traveling Europe between the World Wars is a study of “armchair” travel writers who journeyed to Europe during the interwar period of 1919–1939. They traveled the continent for two main reasons: to chronicle the political and social upheavals of the age through encounters with “ordinary” Europeans and to revel in the legendary, idyllic Europe of their earthly dreams. As post-World War I traumas, the Great Depression, and the sudden rise of fascist and communist ideologies wracked the continent, the writers were struck by how many people felt another world war was inevitable. This study focuses on travel conversations writers experienced on trains, along roadsides, or in cafés, homes, and inns as they sought the real Europe stripped of press reports and government propaganda. What they found was a continent in transition—where a cherished past was colliding with an ominous future.

Author Biography

Jeffrey N. Dupée is a professor of history at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. He received his B.A. in history from Walla Walla University and his Ph.D. in European history from Claremont Graduate University. His disciplinary concentrations include modern Europe and nineteenth and twentieth century imperialism, with a research emphasis on Western travel writers. He is the author of British Travel Writers in China: Writing Home to a British Public, 1890–1914 and Traveling India in the Age of Gandhi.