The explorations of eighteenth-century travellers to the 'European
frontiers' were often geared to define the cultural, political, and
historical boundaries of 'European civilization.' In an age when
political revolutions shocked nations into reassessing what separated
the civilised from the barbaric, how did literary travellers contemplate
the characteristics of their continental neighbours? Focusing on the
writings of British travellers, we see how a new view of Europe was
created, one that juxtaposed the customs and living conditions of
populations in an attempt to define 'modern' Europe against a 'yet
unenlightened' Europe.