Norman Douglas (1868-1952), despite a comparatively slender output, was one of the most distinguished modern writers. South Wind, his most successful book, has lasting qualities; and Old Calabria remains one of the really enthralling travel books of the present century. Although Douglas's first book did not appear until after he was forty, he lived long, seldom wrote below his best, and when he died was recognized generally as the master of a rich and individual style.

Ian Greenlees knew Norman Douglas well and travelled with him in many parts of Italy, a country of which Douglas was fond, and which he came to know better than many Italians. 'Douglas', says Greenlees, 'succeeded in remaining a humanist in an age which grew increasingly hostile to humanism.' His analysis and summary of Douglas's work will attract many readers, not least among his own countrymen, who relish self-criticism. Such attacks as Douglas makes in his books on national assumptions and prejudices will induce many to re-examine them, and perhaps get them into better focus.