An account of Charles Dickens's experiences in Italy in which he portrays a nation of great contrasts: between grandiose buildings and squalid poverty, and between past and present. Combining travelogue with social commentary, this book is depicts an exciting and disquieting journey. Pictures from Italy is a travelogue by Charles Dickens, written in 1846 and illustrated by Samuel Palmer. The book reveals the concerns of its author as he presents, according to Kate Flint, the country "like a chaotic magic-lantern show, fascinated both by the spectacle it offers, and by himself as spectator"