Talk: Tourists - How the British went abroad to find themselves. by Lucy Lethbridge

n 1815 the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to the Napoleonic Wars and the European continent opened again for British tourists. Lucy Lethbridge examines in detail two centuries of tourists’ experiences. Based on extensive research she examines the effects of this dynamic expansion of foreign travel on class, traditional cultures and cuisine.
Lucy is a journalist and author, and her book about ‘Tourists’, was published in 2022 to critical acclaim. Writing for The Sunday Times, Dominic Sandbrook said: “in six gloriously colourful chapters, she explores everything from guidebooks to souvenirs, retelling these first tourists’ tales with gleeful relish”.