Is it time for some tourism? I think so. Back in 2017 I was extremely fortunate to be invited to give a paper at a conference organised by the University of Bologna. Obviously I was looking forward to visiting the home of that famous pasta dish, but it turned out even better because the university’s conference facilities were in a small village well south of the city. That got me into contact with Italy’s violent history of roving gangs of mercenaries (condottieri) and with one of the world’s most famous writers.

My thanks again to Raffaella Baccolini and everyone else involved in the conference. There is now a book of the proceedings. And now, here are some photos (click on one for a slide show and comments).