John Brewer investigates the Romantics’ complex relationship with Mount Vesuvius, from being a prized travel destination to using the volcano as a political metaphor
The Romantics were obsessed with Mount Vesuvius, climbing up to peer into its bubbling depths, and even using it as a metaphor to describe some of the tumultuous changes revolution was wreaking in Europe at the time. Rhiannon Davies spoke to John Brewer to learn more about this fascinating historical episode.
John Brewer is the author of Volcanic: Vesuvius in the Age of Revolutions (Yale University Press, 2023)