Book Description

This 20th-century fiction by Bennet Copplestone circles Madame Gilbert's various travels during the first world war. Her war service ended when Austria fell out, and now she shares the experiences of her several journeys and the social life and customs of the people of the places she has visited. From a historical point of view, it seems intended as a tribute to the simplicity and virtue of a noble race of islanders and a mocking criticism of 'modern civilization.' The language used throughout the work is graceful, and storytelling exciting. Excerpt from Madame Gilbert's Cannibal "The war satisfactorily won, Madame Gilbert sped home to revel in the first holiday which she had known since August, 1914. She always seems to travel with fewer restrictions and at greater speed than any except Prime Ministers and commanding Generals. In Italy she is an Italian and in France a Frenchwoman—a dazzling Italian and a very winning Frenchwoman."