A country of fiddlers and poets, whores and scoundrels”—Nelson’s famous description of Naples—was a world eagerly embraced by a young Irish doctor called James Lowry who went to sea, apparently, for the sheer sense of adventure and a desire for exotic travel. Sent to join Nelson’s victorious fleet after the Battle of the Nile, he experienced more naval action and saw more foreign climes than he had anticipated. What really engaged his interest (and enthusiasm) was the relaxed sexual mores of Italian society. With no thought that his memoirs would be published, he recounted his adventures in rather more detail than might be thought proper. This fascinating account lay hidden in the hands of Lowry's family for two hundred years before its first publication in 2006.