The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean

In this modern Grand Tour, Theroux sets off from Gibraltar on a journey around the Mediterranean Sea. It is a long, lively, and occasionally dangerous trip, up the coast of Spain, along the Riviera, by ferry to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and beyond. By foot, train, bus, and cruise ship, Theroux travels around Italy and the Greek islands, to Albania in a state of near anarchy and to war-torn Croatia. He sails into Istanbul, its minarets and mosque domes beckoning him to the Levant. Ahead are Damascus and the villages of Syria, shrouded in the cult of Assad; Israel, besieged by suicide bombers; Egypt, Morocco and Paul Bowles' Tangier. Exploring wild coastlines, probing through layers of tradition and culture, ancient and modern, tawdry and splendid, Theroux weaves the legends and siren calls of civilizations as old as time into a story about life on the Mediterranean today.--From publisher description.