Alessandro Gallenzi is the founder of Hesperus Press, Alma Books and Alma Classics, and the successor of John Calder at the helm of Calder Publications. As well as being a literary publisher with fifteen years of experience, he is a translator, a poet, a playwright and a novelist. His collection of poetry Modern Bestiary - Ars Poetastrica was published in 2005 to critical acclaim. He lives in Richmond with his wife and two children.

When Francesco decides to embark on his first trip outside his native Italy, he leaves behind a difficult relationship with his father, the narrow vistas of a small provincial town and the stifling atmosphere of a country he feels has become degraded. All he brings with him are a change of clothes, a map of Europe and the desire to discover new places, new people and, perhaps, a new life. But a chance encounter in Munich takes him off course, on an incredible journey that will see him fall in love in Sweden, lose all his money in Amsterdam, sleep rough in the streets of London, win big in Monte Carlo and get caught up in an international imbroglio.

InterRail is delightful, frothy and sweet as a well-sugared cappuccino. It slips down a treat.

Conveying the wonderful youthful sense of the great possibilities of life all being in front of you, and freshness and openness to... experiences.