author
lieutenant-colonel (Ninian) Pinkney
1776–1825
A Maryland soldier and traveler, he left behind a vivid account of southern France in the years just after the Napoleonic era began to reshape Europe. His writing mixes personal observation with a strong sense of curiosity, giving modern listeners a firsthand glimpse of early 19th-century travel.
1 Audiobook
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808
by lieutenant-colonel (Ninian) Pinkney
About the author
Born in 1776 and dying in 1825, Ninian Pinkney was an American lieutenant-colonel and travel writer. He is best known for Travels through the South of France and in the Interior of the Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808, a detailed narrative drawn from his journey through France.
Pinkney's book follows a route he presented as unusual for English-language travelers of the time, taking readers along major rivers and through towns and countryside in southern France. The result is part travel diary, part cultural snapshot, with descriptions of landscapes, local customs, and the experience of moving through a country marked by recent political upheaval.
Reliable biographical detail about his personal life is limited in the sources reviewed, so the clearest picture of him comes through his writing itself. For listeners interested in historical travel, his work offers an engaging on-the-ground view of France in the early 1800s.