Blaise Pascal famously said that ‘all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”.
In 1790 a young French aristocrat living in Turin is confined to a house arrest for 42 days as a punishment for his involvement in a duel. He deals with his predicament by writing a wonderfully witty response to it; what ensues is a travel book unlike any other. The second part, written years later, A Nocturnal Expedition around My Room, is equally droll, learned and entertaining. This edition has a foreword by Alain de Botton.
