Among the Brigands

In Short

This is a picaresque adventure centered on an American uncle and his nephews traveling through late 19th-century Italy. As they move from Naples to Pompeii and beyond, the party is perpetually beset by misunderstandings, from aggressive street beggars to a supposed "brigand" kidnapping. The humor arises from the stark gap between the boys’ romantic, overly dramatic expectations and the reality of their situation. It remains a classic example of travel literature from the era, capturing the collision between American wide-eyed curiosity and the rugged, often misinterpreted landscape of Southern Italy.

The Story

The journey begins in Naples, where Uncle Moses and his nephews—Frank, Clive, Bob, and David—hire a local guide named Michael Angelo to navigate the countryside. From the start, the group is prone to agitation. David, a budding pedant with a weakness for historical trivia, cannot resist picking at ruins and shrines to secure "relics," an impulse that frequently rouses the ire of local residents. These minor territorial disputes with townspeople are almost immediately interpreted by the boys as signs of sinister intent.

The central conflict escalates when the group’s carriage driver disappears, leaving them stranded. Convinced that the driver is a treacherous agent of local bandits, the boys descend into a state of high-strung panic. This fear proves contagious, particularly for Bob, who eventually finds himself separated from the party. He is "captured" by locals who happen to live in a dilapidated building near the mountains. While Bob experiences this as a terrifying abduction by a "hideous old crone" and her cohort of brigands, the reader sees the reality: they are simply impoverished, curious, and perhaps slightly menacing rural folk who have taken in a lost boy.

The rest of the party spends their time in a fever of apprehension, convinced that their companion is in the clutches of a criminal enterprise. They move through the region—visiting Salerno, Paestum, and Albano—with their nerves frayed, constantly misreading the local culture as a series of threats. Even when they are simply trapped in a room by their own fears, they arm themselves with knives and furniture, preparing for a siege by "brigands" that turns out to be nothing more than their own driver returning with a new carriage.

The cycle of "threat and anticlimax" continues until the very end. Even in the shadow of the great monuments of Pompeii, the boys find themselves in a tense standoff over their illegal collection of historical fragments. This, too, is resolved through the quiet, pragmatic intervention of their guide, who settles the matter with a bribe. The story concludes with the group moving on toward Rome. Uncle Moses, ever the voice of caution, delivers a long-winded sermon on the dangers of their behavior, warning them that their luck must eventually run out. The boys, however, are far more interested in their next destination than in his moralizing, eager to continue their tour despite the chaotic, often self-inflicted nature of their journey.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The party arrives in Naples with high spirits, immediately setting off on a tour that takes them to the Grotto of Posilipo and the ancient site of Baiae. They are quickly besieged by persistent beggars, an experience that sets the tone for their future interactions with the locals.

The relic-hunting catastrophe David’s obsession with collecting keepsakes leads him to commit a social transgression at a cathedral, turning the local populace against the group. This incident fuels the boys' growing suspicion that they are surrounded by enemies rather than neighbors.

The missing driver After their driver abandons them, the party is convinced they have been sold to brigands. They spend a frantic, sleepless night in a state of terror, completely misinterpreting the quiet Italian countryside as a den of outlaws.

The separation and the "hideous household" Bob is separated from the others and encounters a local family whose poverty and rough appearance terrify him. He views the mother, the children, and the crone as a band of criminals, while the rest of the group fruitlessly hunts for him.

The siege at the inn The boys hole up in a dilapidated building they are certain is a brigand lair. They prepare for a violent confrontation, only to discover that the "brigands" are their own driver and associates, making their elaborate defenses seem absurd.

The resolution at Pompeii The group faces a final confrontation with authorities over their pilfered relics. Through the clever intervention of their guide, the dispute is resolved, and they depart for Rome with their treasures intact.

The People

Uncle Moses acts as the group's financier and primary worrier. He is a man of genuine, if easily manipulated, kindness who constantly laments the decision to travel in such a "benighted" land. His arc is one of recurring, baffled anxiety; he hopes for a peaceful tour but finds himself constantly shelling out money to soothe the conflicts his nephews incite.

David is the intellectual of the group, a student of the classics whose penchant for pedantry and "relic-hunting" acts as the primary catalyst for the group's troubles. He is fundamentally an observer who believes he can understand Italy through the lens of history, failing to realize that his actions have modern, tangible consequences.

Bob represents the most vulnerable member of the party. When he is separated from the group, his transformation from a boy to a "captive" highlights the gap between imagination and reality. His fear is a mirror for the collective anxiety of the group, and his eventual return serves to confirm their skewed perspective.

Frank is the most proactive and "manly" of the boys, constantly playing the role of the protector. He is the first to grab a knife or chair when he senses danger, embodying the stubborn, aggressive refusal to back down that keeps the group in a constant state of alert.

Clive possesses a poetic, romantic sensibility. He is the most concerned with the aesthetics of their journey, often trying to frame their squalid surroundings as ruins of a "baronial hall," showing his desire to find glory even in misery.

In Its Own Voice

"O, that's all very well," said Uncle Moses; "but who's goin to pay for all that thar furnitoor? The goat can't."

Uncle Moses reminds the boys that their impulsive, destructive behavior has real-world financial consequences.

"I felt it a comin over me yesterday, when the mob chased us; but now--our hour hev come!"

Uncle Moses expresses his constant, wearying conviction that every minor disagreement in Italy is a prelude to their imminent demise.

"The pitcher that goes often to the fountain is broke at last, and depend upon it, if you go for to carry on this way, and thrust yourselves in every danger that comes in your way--somethin'll happen--mind I tell you."

At the end of their travels, Uncle Moses delivers a final, futile warning to his nephews about their reckless, drama-filled behavior.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the subjectivity of experience—specifically, how a traveler’s preconceived notions can distort their perception of a foreign culture. The boys go to Italy looking for the romance of the classics and the thrill of danger, and they find both in abundance because they project them onto everything they encounter. The book argues that the "brigands" they fear are largely products of their own anxiety and cultural ignorance. By framing their mishaps as "anticlimaxes," the narrative exposes the vanity of the tourist who expects the world to act as a backdrop for his own internal drama, rather than engaging with the actual people and places he visits.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy a lighthearted, humorous look at historical travel—and the specific, often comical, arrogance of the 19th-century American tourist—will find much to appreciate here. The prose is energetic and rhythmic, and the interplay between the boys' frantic, heightened emotions and the mundane reality of the Italian countryside remains consistently funny.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the period-specific attitudes on display. The book relies heavily on tropes of the "exotic" and "dangerous" foreign other, and the boys’ perspective is consistently filtered through a lens of American superiority. The dialect used for Uncle Moses and the guide can be a hurdle, as it is written with a heavy phonetic emphasis that might feel jarring or difficult to parse at first.

What stays with you is the sheer, relentless absurdity of the group’s journey. There is a strange, enduring pleasure in watching a party of people so determined to be victims of a grand, dramatic adventure that they refuse to let the boring reality of a safe, ordinary trip get in their way. It is a reminder that travelers often bring their own monsters with them, and that the most "dangerous" encounters are often just a matter of perspective.