Non-fiction: Old Calabria

Overview
Old Calabria offers a vivid, conversational tour of the toe of Italy, a region that Norman Douglas treats as both exotic and intimately known. He moves through towns, mountain villages, and coastal hamlets with the eye of a traveler, the curiosity of an antiquarian, and the taste for anecdote of a raconteur. The book stitches together topography, local history, food, and the everyday practices of people whose lives are shaped by geography and a long, tangled past.

Landscape and People
Douglas paints Calabria as a landscape of abrupt contrasts: stony ridges, lemon-scented terraces, high pastures of the Sila, and the vertiginous cliffs of the Aspromonte plunging toward the sea. Travel sketches focus on micro-details , the pattern of olive groves, the color of the sea from a particular promontory, the feel of a peasant's house , that build into a strong sense of place. People are observed closely and sympathetically; peasants, fishermen, priests, and idlers appear in brisk character sketches that mix admiration with gentle irony.

History, Language, and Folklore
Calabria's layered history , Greco-Roman foundations, Byzantine survivals, Norman and Spanish rule , receives frequent, erudite comment. Douglas delights in tracing classical echoes in ruins, local names, and customs, noting how antiquity survives in surprising ways amid modern squalor. He pays special attention to language and ritual: dialects that retain Hellenic traces, peculiar local superstitions, votive practices and saint cults, and a rich oral culture of songs, proverbs, and folktales. Folklore sections combine curiosity and respect, presenting charms, omens, and popular beliefs as windows onto communal life rather than mere exotic curiosities.

Customs, Economy, and Authority
Daily customs and practical livelihoods receive careful description , the harvest of chestnuts and olives, small-scale fishing, the rhythms of market days and religious festivals. Douglas does not shy from the harshness of poverty, the petty injustices of local officials, or the occasional lawlessness of brigandage and smuggling, yet he often frames such phenomena within local logic and honor codes rather than simple moralism. He is fascinated by the interplay between clerical authority and lay practice, by patrons and padrone relationships, and by the persistence of old structures amid creeping modern pressures.

Style and Themes
The prose is urbane, digressive, and knowingly erudite, shot through with a recurring, amiable irony. Douglas balances antiquarian learning with gossip and humorous portraiture, moving from a learned note on a classical inscription to a lively description of a village feast in the next paragraph. Recurring themes include resistance to unsuitable modernization, the endurance of ancient habits, and a sympathy for marginal lives. The tone alternates between affectionate nostalgia and incisive cultural critique, making the book as much a portrait of Douglas's sensibility as it is of Calabria itself.

Significance
Old Calabria functions as both travelogue and cultural study, preserving an early twentieth-century snapshot of a region on the edge of change. Its combination of field observation, historical context, and lively character studies has influenced later travel writing and remains valuable for readers seeking a textured, often witty introduction to a little-known corner of Italy. The book's attentive, sometimes contrarian voice invites readers to look beyond tourist clichés to the complicated humanity embedded in landscape and tradition.