Dear Friend and Traveler,

Classicist Bruce Thornton (CSU Fresno/Hoover Institution) and Political Scientist Ken Jowitt (UC Berkeley/Hoover Institution) are distinguished students of European history and culture, modern and ancient, Western and Eastern. They are accomplished public lecturers and published scholars. I have asked these two once again to offer lectures during our four-nation tour of southern Europe, from Milan along the Mediterranean coast to Lisbon, with a historical survey of the great cities marked by both onsite and more formal lectures about the culture, literature, and military history of northern Italy, southern France, eastern Spain, and Portugal-especially the coastal battles of the continent that have changed the course of Western Civilization - from the expansion of, and subsequent wars with Islam in the Iberian peninsula, to the religious conflicts of early Europe to the fighting in the Mediterranean during World War II and the current chaos in southern Europe.

Our formal evening and luncheon lectures include ten addresses that range widely in content and chronology-Gaul and Hispania in the Roman Empire, The Renaissance in Northern Italy, Galley Warfare on the Mediterranean, Reformation and Reaction in France, the Reconquista, Fortress Gibraltar, The Spanish Civil War, Axis, Neutrals and Allies in World War II, the EU and the Collapse of the Southern European Economies, and Immigration, Islam, and Mediterranean Europe.

As was true of our past six scholarly tours, our trip organizer, Al Philipp, has ensured that our visit will be enhanced by luxurious cruise accommodations while on the Mediterranean, and at top hotels and restaurants in Milan and Lisbon. Once more, Al and I invite you to join us, and in the manner of our prior six visits to the battlefields of Western Europe, and the vanquished civilizations of Italy, Sicily, Crete, Greece, and the Tyrrhenian Sea-we look forward to conversations with you during meals and our joint talks about the great moments - and daily visits to the great scenes - of European history along the Mediterranean coast of Europe, from Italy to Portugal.

Sincerely,

Victor Davis Hanson