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When trying to record a moment, it is often difficult to determine what makes it significant, which detail to note, which conversation to record.  We see through lenses of prejudice, and it is often not until years later we realize the significance of the words written before.  Travel writers face the same challenges, as they interpret for us what they see, hear, and experience, and a strong travel book can be read decades later for a taste of life as it was.  Herbert Kubly, a University of Illinois professor, traveled to Italy after World War II.  His out-of-print 1955 book, American in Italy, reminds us that picking up an old travel book should not be limited to Graham Greene, Mark Twain, and Patrick Leigh Fermor. Continue reading →