As a young man Hillaire Belloc took off for a personal pilgrimage from Toul, France to Rome, Italy -- and he didn't want to take an easy way. If he had a choice of going around a mountain or over it, he wanted to go over it. His book--the story of his journey--is truly a delightful read. A good story teller, Belloc writes from a Catholic viewpoint and paints a picture of Europe before World War 1 before the lights went out for 30 years of constant strife and destruction. Along with various colorful characters along the way, some long forgotten fortresses, and the Italian Alps, Belloc weaves his travels with personal anecdotes and observations. Written at the turn-of-the-century, Belloc's words flow magically and playfully to form a description not only of one writer's determined passage, but of a time already long gone.