Europe in the Looking Glass

by Robert Byron

[brokentune]

I nearly gave up on this book half way through, but then reconsidered and reminded myself that the book does have redeeming features. Not many, but it does have them:

1. The description of the zeitgeist with which Byron and his friends are experiencing their adventure.

2. The description of Diana, the car. What a marvelous piece of motoring equipment she must have been, and

3. The spirit of the people that the three boys meet along the way.

As I noted along the way I couldn't help but sympathize with the people the three travelers meet, always rooting against Byron and his friends just for being pretentious louts.

Oh, and some of the descriptions of architecture are quite nice - if you're into reading about architecture, rather than looking at it.