Before creating such classics of American literature as The Portrait of a Lady and Daisy Miller, a young Henry James honed his signature style writing essays for The Nation magazine on travels through the Northeastern United States and Europe. (What a life!) This lovely little book presents these pleasantly rambling and incisively witty reflections on the monuments, landscapes, culture, and people ("These children, by the way, were the handsomest little brats in the world") he encountered in New England, France, Germany, Italy, England, and Scotland. Settle into your favorite armchair and embark on a leisurely tour with what New Yorker writer Hendrik Hertzberg deems a "thoroughly seasoned, supremely cultivated, and acutely intelligent companion." You're guaranteed an endlessly entertaining and edifying literary romp filled with delightful surprises.