“Naples the glorious and Naples the ghastly have always been one place,” writes Benjamin Taylor. And then he proves this by taking readers on a meandering excursion through the city that was once considered an essential stop on any European itinerary. Naples has fallen on hard times in the past century or so, and many of today’s tourists associate it more closely with the Camorra than with Rick Steves. Taylor doesn’t want to tell readers which hotel to stay in should they venture to Naples, nor does he insist that it’s safer than they think. But he does take readers on a learned and leisurely stroll through the city and its history. By the time he’s done, readers are compelled to agree that – ragged or not – Naples has a unique and very splendid allure.
