Classic travel writing Books

Book SynopsisIn June of 1922, Marguerite Harrison, and American journalist and spy embarked from North America on what was to be an epic journey to Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia and Siberia. It was in Siberia that she was arrested by the Bolsheviks, sent 4,000 kilometres to Moscow and imprisoned there, first in the notorious Lubyanka and later in Butrykra Prison. She was threatened with a charge of espionage which could carry the death sentence or at a minimum, ten years' exile in Siberia. Ultimately, the US Government interceded and she was released. Red Bear or Yellow Dragon is one of the finest sources on Japanese society and culture in the 1920s and also offers a rare glimpse into life in the Asian steppes. Harrison undertook a highly dangerous 1,400 km trip from Beijing to Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, through the Great Khingan Mountains and over the Gobi Desert to Chita in Siberia. She wrote: 'Most of the roads I followed were bloodstained road - some grim reminders of the World War and Revolution, others with fresh traces of blood shed since the peace.' Marguerite undertook this arduous journey to chronicle the peoples and politics of what she sensed as a stirring of new movements in Asia - the eternal sphinx - that were to severely challenge the West in the coming decades and which continue to do up to the present age.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. A Hanging, the ninth in the Orwell’s Essays series, tells the story of the execution of an unnamed convict in Burma. With the veracity of the story unknown, but thought to be loosely based on Orwell’s own experiences in Burma, the haunting tale leaves the reader contemplating the heavy topic of colonialism, and the right of one to take the life of another.Trade Review'One of Orwell’s earliest essays, but already a demonstration of his superb and subtle craftsmanship.' (Los Angeles Times)

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Book SynopsisThe foremost account of Ireland's cultural and spiritual heritageIn 1907 J. M. Synge achieved both notoriety and lasting fame with The Playboy of the Western World. The Aran Islands, published in the same year, records his visits to the islands in 1898-1901, when he was gathering the folklore and anecdotes out of which he forged The Playboy and his other major dramas. Yet this book is much more than a stage in the evolution of Synge the dramatist. As Tim Robinson explains in his introduction, If Ireland is intriguing as being an island off the west of Europe, then Aran, as an island off the west of Ireland, is still more so; it is Ireland raised to the power of two. Towards the end of the last century Irish nationalists came to identify the area as the country's uncorrupted heart, the repository of its ancient language, culture and spiritual values. It was for these reasons that Yeats suggested Synge visit the islands to record their way of life. The resuTable of ContentsThe Aran IslandsPlace/Person/Book: Synge's The Aran IslandsAcknowledgmentsA Note on the TextThe Aran IslandsIntroductionPart IPart IIPart IIIPart IVNotes

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Book SynopsisLose yourself in this classic travelogue evoking the idyllic South of France by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu. ''Full of stories, landscapes, comedy, history, heresies, animals, food, drink, and songs of the Midi.' Patrick Leigh Fermor ''A richly characteristic bouillabaisse by our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean, our old Prospero of the south.'' Richard Holmes Provence, Southern France. Celebrated writer and poet Lawrence Durrell made the Midi his home for more than thirty years: and in his final book, he shares his most evocative, dazzling memories of life as a local. A seductive blend of travelogue, poet''s notebook, and intimate autobiography, Durrell guides us through the rich layers of human history that lie beneath the region''s legendary landscapes. From stories of magic and mythology infusing the rolling vineyards and vivid lavender fieldsTrade Review'Full of stories, landscapes, comedy, history, heresies, animals, food, drink, and songs of the Midi.' - Patrick Leigh Fermor

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Book SynopsisIn the Footsteps of a Roman Legion - Walking the Via Egnatia (2021) On a blistering September morning in 2016, intrepid friends in their sixties – Kim and Pat – set off on foot from Durrës, Albania towards Istanbul, Turkey. Tracing the route of a Roman road, the Via Egnatia, they dedicate their endeavour to raising funds for refugee relief. Owing to a guidebook that overstates amenities, the trek becomes more challenging than expected. As they negotiate hurdles, test their endurance, and encounter human smugglers and feral dogs, an indomitable sense of humour, a personified GPS, and an imagined Roman legionnaire see them through daily adventures. The Via Egnatia holds over two thousand years of stories - of soldiers, merchants, farmers, refugees and travellers. And this is a gripping one – two travellers (sometimes three?) meet both generous hospitality and surprising hostility with resilience, cold beer and hot coffee. Atlas in one hand and this book in the other - I was transported! Evelyn Gillespie, owner Laughing Oyster Bookshop, Comox Valley. Fun, funny, and endlessly thought-provoking, Kim Letson pulls no punches as she explores some of the bumpier corners of humanity, all while finding the time to celebrate life’s small, simple pleasures. If you like the idea of lacing up your shoes to embark on a grand adventure from the comforts of your favourite reading chair, you couldn’t pick a more capable guide than Letson. Brimming with passion for the road less travelled, Kim Letson has written a page-turner. Joshua Levy, CBC/QWF Writer in Residence 2018, winner of the CBC/QWF Fiction Prize, Prairie Fire Nonfiction Prize, CNFC/Carte Blanche Nonfiction Prize, Grain Fiction Prize, and SLS Nonfiction Prize, poet. Kim Letson first presented her Via Egnatia journey in various draft forms to our writing group. Now, in this compelling book, we accompany her and Pat as they tramp through three Balkan states on their way to Turkey. Readers will learn about Albania’s concrete bunkers as the adventurers endure blisters, encounter poisonous vipers, vicious dogs, human traffickers and armed helicopters before finally relaxing in a steaming Istanbul hammam. Thank you, Kim, for including us on your intrepid walk. Janet Miller, past-president Comox Valley Writer’s Society, author.

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Book SynopsisA Waterstones Travel Book of the Year 2023 A funny, warm and timely meditation on identity and belonging, following the scenic route along the England–Wales border: Britain’s deepest faultline. Trade Review‘I loved this book. Mike Parker weaves together a great deal of wide reading, hard thinking and soulful tramping in his funny, thoughtful and evocative investigation of the Welsh–English border.’ Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession and Peep Show ‘Delightful and perceptive … Poses searching questions about identity, culture and political power.’ Waterstones Books of the Year ‘A joyful canter through the Marches. Delightfully engaging. Blending history, literature and personal anecdote, Mike Parker writes with energy and wit.’ TLS ‘No-one maps the secrets of the UK quite like Mike Parker.’ Ayesha Hazarika ‘A brilliant, fascinating book; Parker is funny and lyrical whilst always choosing brutal truth over sentimentality.’ Miles Jupp 'Classic Parker – a delicious, learned tour through a fascinating place.' Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen ‘Genuinely great.’ Adrian Chiles 'I gobbled this up.' Jude Rogers ‘A beautifully written journey through the history and landscape of the border country and a clear-eyed analysis of its physical and psychological dividing line – the best kind of travelogue.’ Richard King, author of Brittle with Relics: A History of Wales, 1962–97 ‘This enthralling journey beautifully celebrates our ancient frontier land and is a present-day reminder of its’ enduring duty.’ Tudur Owen, BAFTA winning comedian and presenter ‘I was often overcome by “fierce wonder”. Fine writing indeed.’ John Sam Jones, author of The Journey is Home ‘Engaging, entertaining and very readable.’ Nation.Cymru ‘A likeable, highly literate companion.’ New Welsh Review ‘A kind of mini-biography of the British psyche emerges from Parker's work, its learning lightly worn and its tales well told, full of interest and incident’ Horatio Clare

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Book SynopsisThis first-hand account of a 1948 journey to a treacherous valley in northern India in search of a mysterious creature is both a classic travel adventure and a graphic record of an amazing expedition. The book chronicles the group''s movement into a remote valley in Assam, where the inhabitants had only recently given up headhunting, on a quest for the Buru, an elusive, monstrous reptile well documented by those native to the area. The Buru, like the Yeti, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster, has captured the imagination of adventurers around the world, and remains a popular subject of cryptozoology -- the study of animals yet to be discovered by science. Recalled in vivid detail are treks through hazardous swamplands filled with cobras and leeches, and campaigns through perilous jungle where thumbnail-sized ticks and wild boar are indigenous, all in the hunt for the legendary saurian.

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Book SynopsisThe Grand Tour was the classical continental trip to France and Italy, undertaken by young aristocratic men in early modern Europe, ostensibly for educational purposes. Using amusing stories and vivid quotations collected from travellers'' writings, Arturo Tosi charts the rise of modern vernaculars and the standardisation of European languages. The travellers'' writings provide a valuable source of information about language contact, and illuminate how socialisation with the locals led, on the one hand, to conscious borrowings from prestigious foreign peers and, on the other, to linguistic disorientation when confronted with lower-class speech and rural vernaculars. The first of its kind to approach the Grand Tour from a linguistic perspective, this book is a timely addition to this burgeoning area of study, presenting a unique case study of population movement, language change and education in early modern Europe.Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; Part I. Attitudes and Aptitudes: 1. Images and stereotypes; 2. Attractions, affections, aberrations; 3. Linguistic training at home; Part II. Encounters and Exchanges: 4. Language acquisition and learning abroad; 5. Aids, strategies and facilitators; 6. Latin and other lingua francas; Part III. Contrasts and Collisions: 7. Perceptions of linguistic diversity; 8. Instances of language contact; 9. Women travellers and gender issues; 10. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIn 1810, the orientalist scholar Charles Stewart translated and published an extraordinary travel narrative written by a Persian-speaking Indian poet and scholar named Mirza Abu Talib Khan. At the turn of the century, Abu Talib travelled from India to Africa, and on to Ireland, England, and France, where he recorded his observations of European culture with wit and precision. The narrative’s vital and controversial account of British imperial society is one of the earliest examples of a colonial subject addressing the cultural dynamics of metropolitan Britain, and its complex critique of empire challenges many preconceptions about intercultural relations during this era. Following his European sojourn, Abu Talib’s remarkable Shi'ite pilgrimage through present day Turkey and Iraq further enhances his meditation on the encounter between Islam and European modernity.This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and chronologies of the lives and works of Mirza Abu Talib and Charles Stewart. The appendices offer contemporary reviews of the narrative, selections of British orientalist discourse, and examples of proto-ethnographic writing from the period.Trade Review“Eighteenth-century readers were so familiar with the fiction of ‘reverse ethnography’ (the record of travels to Europe by a traveller from a different culture) that reviewers were at first suspicious about the authenticity of these learned, witty, and often satirical writings. As they did for contemporary readers, they have much to tell us now―about political cultures, social interactions, the colonial context, and the attractions as well as fears of the European metropolis. Translated with sympathy by the distinguished early nineteenth-century orientalist Charles Stewart, the first-person account of Abu Talib’s travels and residency in London offers a subtle ironic commentary on the expectations and prejudices of the period―to which Daniel O’Quinn’s expert introduction and selection of contextual material draw the modern reader’s attention.” ― Ros Ballaster, Mansfield College, Oxford University“The Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan is perhaps the most significant ‘reverse travelogue’ published in Europe during the Romantic era, and one of the first published accounts of Britain by an Asian author. Abu Talib casts a fresh eye on the sites and personalities of Georgian London, combining a sense of wonder at the technical and aesthetic achievements of Britain at the dawn of the nineteenth century with a sharp social and moral critique of the new masters of Bengal. Daniel O’Quinn’s edition brings this sparkling narrative to life, complete with a new introductory essay, footnotes, and appendices that make this long-forgotten book accessible to both students and the general reader.” ― Nigel Leask, University of GlasgowTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionMirza Abu Talib and Charles Stewart: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextTravels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa, and Europe, during the years 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803Appendix A: The Social Context Mirza Abu Talib Khan, “Poem in Praise of Miss Julia Burrell” (1807) The Duchess of Devonshire’s Gala Breakfast, Morning Post and Gazetteer (7 and 8 July 1800) The Lord Mayor’s Feast, Oracle and Daily Advertiser (11 November 1800) Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews The Quarterly Review (August 1810) The Eclectic Review (August 1811) Appendix C: Persia: Orientalist Translations and Essays From Sir William Jones, “A Persian Song of Hafiz” (1772) From Sir William Jones, “Essay on the Poetry of the Eastern Nations” (1772) From John Nott, Select Odes from the Persian Poet Hafez (1787) Sir Willam Jones, “The Sixth Discourse; on the Persians” (1790) Appendix D: Comparative Ethnographies From Montesquieu, Persian Letters (1762) From Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters (1763) From Charles Grant, “Observations on the State of Society among the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain” (1792) Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA spirited 1950s travelogue that takes the reader around the world during a time when two independent young women travelling alone was considered almost revolutionary.Renate Belczyk was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1932. When she was three years old her family moved to Berlin, where they settled into a small apartment building on the outskirts of the city. It was in this building that she met another adventurous girl, Sigrid, with whom she would travel around the world as young women after the Second World War.Having spent most of their childhood and teenage years climbing trees, swimming, cycling, hiking, and adventuring around Germany the two young women attended a talk by the German writer Heinrich Böll. During his presentation the renowned author suggested to the crowd that they all travel to different countries and make friends with the locals whenever they could, as this would help prevent another war. Renate and Sigrid took this advice to heart, and from that point their adventures together took flight.Starting in 1955 and travelling for three years to England, France, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Japan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Egypt, Turkey, Macedonia, and Greece, their adventures together culminated with their joint return to Germany in 1958. In 1959 Renate returned to the Canadian Rockies to work in the backcountry, and in 1960 she married mountaineer Felix Belczyk and settled in Castlegar, BC, where they raised three children.Our Trip Around the World is an endearing snapshot of the postwar era when adventure travel mountaineering, hiking, hitchhiking, and cycling was enticing those with adventurous spirits to experience the world like never before.

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Book SynopsisThe classic travel narrative of a Don Quixote-of-the-seas – the first man to circumnavigate the world singlehandedly. Joshua Slocum’s autobiographical account of his solo trip around the world is one of the most remarkable – and entertaining – travel narratives of all time. Setting off alone from Boston aboard the thirty-six-foot wooden sloop Spray in April 1895, Captain Slocum went on to join the ranks of the world’s great circumnavigators – Magellan, Drake, and Cook. But by circling the globe without crew or consorts, Slocum would outdo them all: his three-year solo voyage of more than 46,000 miles remains unmatched in maritime history for its courage, skill, and determination.Sailing Alone around the World recounts Slocum’s wonderful adventures: hair-raising encounters with pirates off Gibraltar and savage Indians in Tierra del Fuego; raging tempests and treacherous coral reefs; flyinTable of ContentsSailing Alone Around The WorldList of IllustrationsIntroduction by Thomas PhilbrickSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the Text and IllustrationsSailing Alone around the WorldChapter IA blue-nose ancestry with Yankee proclivitiesYouthful fondness for the seaMaster of the ship Norhtern LightLoss of the AquidneckReturn home from Brazil in the canoe LiberdaleThe gift of a "ship"The rebuilding of the SprayConundrums in regard to finance and calkingThe launching of the SprayChapter IIFailure as a fishermanA voyage around the world projectedFrom Boston to GloucesterFitting out for the ocean voyageHalf of a dory for a ship's boatThe run from Gloucester to Nova ScotiaA shaking up in home watersAmong old friendsChapter IIIGood-by to the American coastOff Sable Island in a fogIn the open seaThe man in the moon takes an interest in the voyageThe first fit of lonelinessThe Spray encounters La VaguisaA bottle of wine from the SpaniardA bout of words with the captain of the JavaThe steamship Olympia spokenArrival at the AzoresChapter IVSqually weather in the AzoresHigh livingDelirious from cheese and plumsThe pilot of the PintaAt GibraltarCompliments exchanged with the British navyA picnic on the Morocco shoreChapter VSailing from Gibraltar with assistance of her Majesty's tugThe Spray's course changed from the Suez Canal to Cape HornChased by a Moorish pirateA comparison with ColumbusThe Canary IslandsThe Cape Verde IslandsSea lifeArrival at PernambucoA bill against the Brazilian governmentPreparing for the stormy weather of the capeChapter VIDeparture from Rio de JaneiroThe Spray ashore on the sands of UruguayA narrow escape from shipwreckThe boy who found a sloopThe Spray floated but somewhat damagedCourtesies from the British consul at MaldonadoA warm greeting at MontevideoAn excursion to Buenos AiresShortening the mast and bowspritChapter VIIWeighing anchor at Buenos AiresAn outburst of emotion at the mouth of the PlateSubmerged by a great waveA stormy entrance to the straitCaptain Samblich's happy gift of a bag of carpet-tacksOff Cape FrowardChased by Indians from Fortescue BayA miss-shot for "Black Pedro"Taking in supplies of wood and water at Three Island CoveAnimal lifeChapter VIIIFrom Cape Pillar into the PacificDriven by a tempest toward Cape HornCaptain Slocum's greatest sea adventureReaching the strait again by way of Cockburn ChannelSome savages find the carpet-tacksDanger from firebrandsA series of fierce williwawsAgain sailing westwardChapter IXRepairing the Spray's sailsSavages and an obstreperous anchorA spider-fightAn encounter with Black PedroA visit to the steamship ColombiaOn the defensive against a fleet of canoesA record of voyages through the straitA chance cargo of tallowChapter XRunning to Port Angosto in a snow-stormA defective sheet-rope places the Spray in perilThe Spray as a target for a Fuegian arrowThe island of Alan ErricAgain in the open PacificThe run to the island of Juan FernandezAn absentee kingAt Robinson Crusoe's anchorageChapter XIThe islanders of Juan Fernandez entertained with Yankee doughnutsThe beauties of Robinson Crusoe's realmThe mountain monument to Alexander SelkirkRobinson Crusoe's caveA stroll with the children of the islandWestward ho! with a friendly galeA month's free sailing with the Southern Cross and the sun for guidesSighting the MarquesasExperience in reckoningChapter XIISeventy-two days without a portWhales and birdsA peep into the Spray's galleyFlying-fish for breakfastA welcome at ApiaA visit from Mrs. Robert Louis StevensonAt VailimaSamoan hospitalityArrested for fast ridingAn amusing merry-go-roundTeachers and pupils of Papauta CollegeAt the mercy of sea-nymphsChapter XIIISamoan royaltyKing MalietoaGood-bye to friends at VailimaLeaving Fiji to the southArrival at Newcastle, AustraliaThe yachts of SydneyA ducking on the SprayCommodore Foy presents the sloop with a new suit of sailsOn to MelbourneA shark that proved to be valuableA change of courseThe "Rain of Blood"In TasmaniaChapter XIVA testimonial from a ladyCruising round TasmaniaThe skipper delivers his first lecture on the voyageAbundant provisionsAn inspection of the Spray for safety at DevonportAgain at SydneyNorthward bound for Torres StraitAn amateur shipwreckFriends on the Autralian coastPerils of a coral seaChapter XVArrival at Port Denison, QueenslandA lectureReminiscences of Captain CookLecturing for charity at CooktownA happy escape from a coral reefHome Island, Sunday Island, Bird IslandAn American pearl-fishermanJubilee at Thursday IslandA new ensign for the SprayBooby IslandAcross the Indian OceanChristmas IslandChapter XVIA call for careful navigationThree hours' steering in twenty-three daysArrival at the Keeling Cocos IslandsA curious chapter of social historyA welcome from the children of the islandsCleaning and painting the Spray on the beachA Mohammedan blessing for a pot of jamKeeling as a paradiseA risky adventure in a small boatAway to RodriguezTaken for AntichristThe governor calms the fears of the peopleA lectureA convent in the hillsChapter XVIIA clean bill of health at MauritiusSailing the voyage over again in the opera-houseA newly discovered plant named in honor of the Spray's skipperA party of young ladies out for a sailA bivouac on deckA warm reception at DurbanA friendly cross-examination by Henry M. StanleyThree wise Boers seek proof of the flatness of the earthLeaving South AfricaChapter XVIIIRounding the "Cape of Storms" in olden timeA rough ChristmasThe Spray ties up for a three months' rest at Cape TownA railway trip to the TransvaalPresident Kruger's odd definition of the Spray's voyageHis terse sayingsDistinguished guests on the SprayCocoanut fiber as a padlockCourtesies from the admiral of the Queen's navyOff for St. HelenaLand in sightChapter XIXIn the isle of Napoleon's exileTwo lecturesA guest in the ghost-room at Plantation HouseAn excursion to historic LongwoodCoffee in the husk, and a goat to shell itThe Spray's ill luck with animalsA prejudice against small dogsA rat, the Boston spider, and the cannibal cricketAscension IslandChapter XXIn the favoring current of Cape St. Roque, BrazilAll at sea regarding the Spanish-American warAn exchange of signals with the battle-ship OregonOff Dreyfus's prison on Devil's IslandReappearance to the Spray of the north starThe light on TrinidadA charming introduction to GrenadaTalks to friendly auditorsChapter XXIClearing for homeIn the calm beltA sea covered with sargassoThe jibstay parts in a galeWelcomed by a tornado off Fire IslandA change of planArrival at NewportEnd of a cruise of over forty-six thousand milesThe Spray again at FairhavenAppendixLines and Sail-Plan of the "Spray"Her pedigree so far as knownThe lines of the SprayHer self-steering qualitiesSail-plan and steering-gearAn unprecedented featA cheer to would-be navigatorsNotes

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Book SynopsisPausanias, the Greek historian and traveler, lived and wrote around the second century AD, during the period when Greece had fallen peacefully to the Roman Empire. While fragments from this period abound, Pausanias'' Periegesis (description) of Greece is the only fully preserved text of travel writing to have survived. This collection uses Pausanias as a multifaceted lens yielding indispensable information about the cultural world of Roman Greece.Trade Review"The stimulating, thoughtful, and well-written essays of this volume will inspire still further work on Pausanias.... For anyone undertaking such work this book will be essential background reading, and it will also be rewarding reading for anyone interested in the era of the Second Sophistic and in the reception of antiquity in the modern age."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Book SynopsisMoney as a weapon. Money as revenge. Money as a substitute for sex and love. Money as status ... This intriguing and extraordinarily well-written book is cheering for those of us who aren''t rich, and will go happily to our graves without ever pulling down 300,000 per annum'' Simon Hoggart, LITERARY REVIEW''How we chase Mammon defines us. Because, like it or not, we are what we earn,'' CHASING MAMMON is the first travel book ever written about the uses of money and the attitudes of the wheelers and dealers in the international marketplace. Douglas Kennedy spent a year loitering with intent in six very disparate financial realms, including the Casablanca bourse (where stocks and bonds are listed on a blackboard), the squeaky-clean Singapore money markets, the Sydney futures market and the first Hungarian stock exchange to open since 1948. From the ''New Age'' City folk in London, unsure whether greed really is good for you, to the tireless toilers of Wall Street, Knnedy''Trade ReviewA sparkling international excursion along the route of all evil * Lloyd Grossman, SUNDAY TIMES *A series of strangely poignant life-accounts from those who wait at the banquet but do not sit at the feast * NEW STATESMAN AND SOCIETY *A travel writer of witty talent and originality, who steers a risky but well-plotted course away from the obvioius .. a timely and engaging book * DUBLIN SUNDAY TRIBUNE *Fascinating and funny * TODAY *

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Book SynopsisIn the 1930s, the discourse of travel furthered divergent and conflicting ideologies and travel writers of the time revealed as much in their texts. This study explores both the intentional political rhetoric and the more oblique, almost unconscious subtexts of Waugh, Orwell, Greene and West.

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Book SynopsisAbu Abdalla Ibn Battuta (1304-1354) was one of the greatest travelers of pre-modern times. He traveled to Black Africa twice. He reported about the wealthy, multi-cultural trading centers at the African East coast, such as Mombasa and Kilwa, and the warm hospitality he experienced in Mogadishu. He also visited the court of Mansa Musa and neighboring states during its period of prosperity from mining and the Trans-Saharan trade. He wrote disapprovingly of sexual integration in families and of hostility towards the white man. Ibn Battuta's description is a unique document of the high culture, pride, and independence of Black African states in the fourteenth century. This book is one of the most important documents about Black Africa written by a non-European medieval historian.Trade Review"In its animated picture of African and Islamic civilization and the world system in which they function, Ibn Battuta in Black Africa is a sure antidote to the eurocentricity of most American and European medieval historians.” — Journal of World History

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Book SynopsisThis is the first English translation of the famous risala, letters by the tenth-century traveler Ibn Fadlan, one of the great Medieval travelers in world history, akin to Ibn Batutta. Ibn Fadlan was an Arab missionary sent by the Caliph in Baghdad to the king of the Bulghars. He journeyed from Baghdad to Bukhara in Central Asia and then continued across the desert to the town of Bulghar, near present Kazan. He describes the tribes he meets on his way and gives an account of their customs. His is the earliest account of a meeting with the Vikings, called Rus, who had reached the Volga River from Sweden. His description of the Rus, or Rusiya as he calls them, has produced much discussion about their origins, shockingly free sexual morals standards, customs, treatment of slaves and women, burial traditions, and trading habits, all explained in detail by Ibn Fadlan. The story of his travels has fascinated scholars and even prompted Michael Chrichton to write the popular novel ""Eaters of the Dead,"" which was made into a film entitled ""The 13th Warrior.

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Book Synopsis"One has to applaud the stylish confidence of the Blue Guide to Albania by Balkans expert James Pettifer. The guide provides a comprehensive account of the country's splendid archaeological sites and Ottoman heritage as well as less obvious points of interest" The Independent. NOTE that this is a print-on-demand edition, delivery may take approx. 3 weeks depending on the shipping address.

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Book SynopsisIn 1925, Fernando Pessoa wrote a guidebook to Lisbon for English-speaking visitors, and wrote it in English. The typescript was only discovered amongst his papers long after his death, but has not hitherto been made available in the UK or the USA. The book is fascinating in that it shows us Pessoa's view of his native city - and Pessoa, as an adult, rarely left Lisbon, and it figures large in his poetry. The book can still be useful to visitors today, given that the majority of the sights described are still to be found. A fascinating scrap from the master's table...

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Book SynopsisA compelling travel book based on fieldnotes and diaries and a landmark study of Greek island life in the mid 1960s on the eve of changes that would transform Greece by mass tourism., In this new edition, Kenna returns to Anafi to find the world she observed almost gone but not quite yet.

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Book Synopsis'As I studied the maps, one thing about them captured my imagination - Across this blank space was written one challenging word, "Unexplored"' In 1937 two of the twentieth century's greatest explorers set off to explore an unknown area of the Himalaya, the breath-taking Shaksgam mountains. With a team of surveyors and Sherpas, Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman located and mapped the land around K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. It was their greatest venture, and one that paved the way for all future mountaineering in that area of the Himalaya. For Shipton and Tilman, exploration was everything, with a summit a welcome bonus, and Blank on the Map is the book that best captures their spirit of adventure.With an observant eye and keen sense of humour, Shipton tells how the expedition entered the unknown Shaksgam mountains, crossing impenetrable gorges, huge rivers and endless snow fields. There's a very human element to Shipton's dealings with his Sherpa friends, and with his Balti porters, some of whom were helpful, while some were less so. The expedition uncovers traces of ancient cultures and visits vibrant modern civilisations living during the last days of the British Empire. Only when all supplies are exhausted, their clothes in tatters and all equipment lost do the men finally return home. A mountain exploration classic.

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Book SynopsisIsabella Bird was one of the greatest travelers and travel writers of all time, and this is her last major book, a sympathetic look at inland China and beyond into Tibet at the end of the 19th century. In describing the journey, Isabella provides a rich mix of observations and describes two occasions when she is almost killed by anti-foreign mobs. It many ways, Isabella created the model for travel writing today, and this one of her greatest works.Trade ReviewOne of the most formidable, intelligent and intrepid human beings I have ever come across. Isabella's account of her trip through China is a classic of travel writing.A" -Graham Earnshaw, author, The Great Walk of China

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Book Synopsis`Simple congratulations are in order at the outset, to the editors and publisher [...] of the projected Collected Works of James Hogg. It has taken a long time for Hogg to be recognised as one of the most notable Scottish writers, and it can fairly be said that the process of getting him into full and clear focus is still far from complete. That process is immeasurably helped by the provision of proper and unbowdlerised texts (in many cases for the first time), and in this the ongoing Collected Works with be a milestone [..] we have an author of unique interest, force, and originality.''Edwin Morgan, Scottish Literary Journal`Edinburgh University Press are also to be praised for the elegant presentation of the books. It is wonderful that at last we are going to have a collected edition of this important author without bowdlerisation or linguistic interference [...]. These books of Hogg have been wonderfully presented and edited. Hogg''s own idiosyncratic style has been left untouched.''Ian Crichton Smith, Studies in Scottish Literature`It may take some time, but when the current Collected Works reaches its culmination, Hogg''s great novel should seem a little less oddly unique, and some other astounding books [...] may receive their share of belated glory.''Liam Mcillvanney, London Review of Books`[T]he Stirling/South Carolina edition of Hogg''s works is proving one of the major scholarly publishing events of the decade.'' Penny Fielding, Studies in Hogg and his World`A quiet revolution in Scottish literary studies has been going on over the past 10 years. The Stirling/South Carolina research edition of the collected works of James Hogg has been steadily forcing a reassessment of one of our best-known but least-read authors.''James Robertson, The HeraldHogg left a written record of three of his many journeys to the Highlands, those of 1802, 1803 and 1804. Here he vividly depicts his experiences, including a narrow escape from a Navy press-gang, and the scene during preparations for Sacrament Day with one minister preaching in English and another in Gaelic. Hogg also explains aspects of Gaelic culture such as the waulking songs, and he describes the trade in kelp, lucrative to the landowners but back-breaking and ill-paid for the workers. Hogg had hoped to become a sheep-farmer on the Isle of Harris. At the same time he was concerned about the depopulation of the Highlands and was critical of negligent or absentee landlords. Highland Journeys makes a refreshing contribution to our understanding of early nineteenth-century travel writing.`Chastity, carnality, carnage and carnivorousness are among his favourite subjects, and dance together in his writings to the music of a divided life. [...] The later-eighteenth century was a time when [Scotland] had taken to producing writers and thinkers of world consequence. One of these - though long disregarded as such, long unimaginable as such - was Hogg.''Karl Miller, Times Literary Supplement`The Ettrick Shepherd [...] was much more comfortable to be with than James Hogg, the author of obsessive, experimental fictions which either satirised or ignored the decencies of polite letters. To some degree even these could be bowdlerised and domesticated, as many of them were in the Victorian collections of Hogg''s fiction published after his death, and passed off as written by `the Ettrick Shepherd''. But one in particular, and for my money the best of them---TheThree Perils of Woman - was immediately recognised as irredeemable by its first reviewers, and until last year had never been reprinted. [...] [The new] collected edition [...] will eventually run to some thirty volumes. The first three came out last year [in 1995], and are magnificent: spaciously designed, scrupulously edited and thoughtfully introduced, with Antony Hasler''s Introduction to The Three Perils of Woman especially illuminating. The two volumes published along with The Three Perils of Woman are much less disturbing than that book but immensely engaging. The Shepherd''s Calendar is a volume of anecdotes and sketches or rural life in the Borders [...]. A Queer Book is a volume of poems. [...] There is a strangeness about some of these poems that recalls the self-consciousness of Hogg''s best fiction.'' John Barrell, The London Review of Books`Everything about the Edinburgh-Scott is clear, and coherent; when one argues with its premises, one does so at least from a position of confident understanding of their rationale. The same can be said of the exemplary Stirling/South Carolina Edition of the Collected Works of James Hogg. The case is both similar and different, here, however: a major Scottish writer whose work has never been subject to serious editorial scrutiny is being put on the map internationally (it can be no surprise that both editions have received co-sponsorship and substantial funding from the United States); in complete contrast to the Edinburgh Waverley, in Hogg''s case we have a collected edition containing works some of which have never previously been reprinted, and for which there is no complex textual evolution to be encountered and negotiated. Unlike other volumes in the Stirling/South Carolina Edition, the Lay Sermons are textually very simple [...]. This is a welcome addition to the series, essential to its completeness, but not one of the most exciting of the volumes. It is hard to see it arousing the same level of critical discussion as has followed the re-publication of The Three Perils of Woman under the joint editorship of David Groves, Antony Hasler, and Douglas Mack, for example, or Gillian Hughes''s previous volume, Tales of the Wars of Montrose. Even here, some of Hogg''s characteristic narrative complexities surface, however. [...] It is a little hard to know what to do with such apparently wanton and provocative narratorial disturbance, the more so as it does not seem to issue in corresponding equivocation in the body of the Sermons themselves. The editor, wisely it seems to me, refrains from attempting a resolution of the inconsistency at this point; it is a notable example of the restraint and good judgment which characterizes her work, a measuredness that keeps it well clear of the strain of over-ingenious interpretation which has accompanied Hogg''s just re-positioning at the centre of nineteenth-century Scottish literary-critical scrutiny over the past few years.'' Susan Manning, Eighteenth-Century ScotlandTrade ReviewThis publication of the original texts in full, with further details and themed essays, throws fascinating new light on the area and our understanding of 18th-century travel writing. -- Country Life Magazine This publication of the original texts in full, with further details and themed essays, throws fascinating new light on the area and our understanding of 18th-century travel writing.

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Book SynopsisAnalyzes major concepts in the travel literature of Mark Twain and notes how his ouvre revolves around travel as a central issue. This book focuses especially on his representations of time, place, and identity in works such as: ""Roughing It"", ""A Tramp Abroad"", ""The Innocents Abroad"", ""Life on The Mississippi"", and ""Following the Equator"".

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Book SynopsisHow the Golden Age of transatlantic travel between the wars transformed women's lives across all classes - a vivid portrait of life on-board the iconic ocean liners.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR QUEEN BEES: 'So entertaining' * The Times *The book, like their parties, is "enormous fun" * Guardian *Crammed with fascinating anecdotes * Independent *A whirl of a book, gossipy, light and fun * Times Literary Supplement *PRAISE FOR MAIDEN VOYAGES:In this riveting slice of social history, Siân Evans does a brilliant job of describing the unexpected textures of life at sea...By deep diving into the archives, Siân Evans has discovered a watery in-between world where the usual rules didn't quite apply and a spirited woman could get further than she ever would on dry land * Mail on Sunday *With coronavirus dramatically reducing the appeal of hopping aboard an aeroplane, it's the perfect time to delve into this atmospheric look at transatlantic travel a century ago. * History Revealed *Sian Evans captures the glamour of life on the upper decks (think dance bands, evening gowns and illicit romances with millionaires), alongside the desperation and discomfort of those who gambled everything on a one-way ticket in steerage. * BBC History Magazine *Wonderfully readable... invigoratingly feminist... the book's a treat. * Times Literary Supplement *Like the best salty yarns, Maiden Voyages splices together intriguing personalities in extraordinary settings sailing through dramatic times, a tale well worth the fare. * Air Mail *Gloriously gossipy * Red *

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