Travel writing Books

Book SynopsisThe original Boogie, reluctant hero of the South West Peninsular Path, was the Mongrel from hell. Mark Wallington''s New Boogie, like New Labour, appears a much trendier and more wholesome incarnation -until, that is, Mark gets him on the Pennine Way. This is the big one in every sense. Clearly Boogie will do fine -but will Mark be up to the task?

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Book SynopsisA modern classic on exploring and understanding the Antarctic, the most uncharted place on our planet. Terra Incognita is a meditation on the landscape, myths and history of one of the remotest parts of the globe, as well as an encounter with the international temporary residents of the region - living in close confinement despite the surrounding acres of white space - and the mechanics of day-to-day life in extraordinary conditions. Through Sara Wheeler, the Antarctic is revealed, in all its seductive mystery.''Antarctica could hope for no better chronicler: spirited, humorous and highly intelligent, she is also a writer of rare talent'' ObserverTrade ReviewAntarctica could hope for no better chronicler: spirited, humorous and highly intelligent, she is also a writer of rare talent * Observer *Penetrating, vivacious and often amusing, Wheeler's record has a sharp authenticity * The Times *She writes with a consistent wry wit... she never lacks empathy, compassion or generosity for people whose values, background and gender were the polar opposite of hers...What she has done could not be done better * Independent *Her book is an impressive achievement, one genuinely brushed by the ghosts of the past -- Beryl Bainbridge * Literary Review *Terra Incognita deserves to be a bestseller...a wonderful book and terrific corrective to the polar bulldust periodically emitted by Sir Ralph Wotsisname and others of his ilk * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisRedmond O''Hanlon describes his extraordinary three-week trip on an Orkney trawler as it journeys far into the north Atlantic in search of its catch. Young skipper Jason Schofield has a 2 million pound overdraft on his boat, the Norlantean, which is why he has to go out in a Category One Force 12 hurricane when the rest of the Scottish fleet has run for shelter. O''Hanlon may not be much help when it comes to seamanship - in the words of one of the crew, he doesn''t know his arse from his tit - but he is able to wax lyrical on the amazing deep-sea fish to be found north of the Wyville Thomson Ridge: greater argentine, flying squid, blue ling, the truly disgusting hagfish and many other exotics.Combining humour with erudition, O''Hanlon has written a vivid and compulsively readable account of a journey that for sheer terror beats all his previous adventures.

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Book SynopsisThe reissue of a Simon Winchester classicIn 1985 Simon Winchester, struck by a sudden need to discover exactly what was left of the British Empire travelled 100,000 miles back and forth from Antarctica to the Caribbean to visit the far-flung islands that are all that remain of what once made Britain great. His adventures in these distant and forgotten ends of the earth make compelling and often funny reading. With a new introduction and additional material in many of the chapters, this revised edition tells us what has happened while the author''s been away.Table of ContentsThe plan; British Indian Ocean territory and Diego Garcia; Tristan; Gibraltar; Ascension Island; St Helena; Hong Kong; Bermuda; The British West Indies; The Falkland Islands; Pitcairn and other territories; some reflections and conclusions.

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Book SynopsisHenry Miller (1891-1980) is one of the most important American writers of the 20th century. His best-known novels include Tropic of Cancer (1934), Tropic of Capricorn (1939), and the Rosy Crucifixion trilogy (Sexus, 1949, Plexus, 1953, and Nexus, 1959), all published in France and banned in the US and the UK until 1964. He is widely recognised as an irreverent, risk-taking writer who redefined the novel and made the link between the European avant-garde and the American Beat generation.

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Book SynopsisWho formed and shaped the English language? David and Hilary Crystal take us on a journey through Britain to discover the people who gave our language its colour and character; Saxon invaders, medieval scholars, poets, reformers, dictionary writers. Part travelogue, part history, this beautifully illustrated book is full of unexpected delights.Trade ReviewWhat makes this book stand out is Crystals narrative which is chatty and colloquial... I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I have an interest in language and history, so this ticked all the boxes for me, but it reaches across a range of interests meaning that geographers, historians, linguists, archaeologists and those with an interest in the origins of the country would get a lot out of it. * Sonya Lipczynska, Reference Reviews *An absorbing read * The Good Book Guide *an attractive and digestible book * Shropshire Star, Toby Neal *An original idea, enjoyably realised, this is an entertaining, handsomely illustrated guide * Independent, Christopher Hirst *sparkling new book * The Press (York) *Table of Contents1. Pegwell Bay: arrival ; 2. Caistor St Edmund: the earliest known English word ; 3. Undley Common: the first recorded English sentence ; 4. Jarrow: Bede and the origins of English ; 5. Lindisfarne: glossaries and translations ; 6. Ruthwell: the finest runic inscription ; 7. Stourton and Edington: King Alfred and the birth of English ; 8. Maldon: the ultimate warrior wordsmith ; 9. Winchester: the first standard English ; 10. Cerne Abbas: Aelfric and the first English conversation ; 11. Ely: Wulfstan and Old English style ; 12. Peterborough: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ; 13. Battle and Normans Bay: the French connection ; 14. Bourne: Orrm and English spelling ; 15. Areley Kings: Layamon's English Chronicle ; 16. Chester and Berkeley: Higden, Trevisa, and the rise of English ; 17. Rhuddlan: the English language in Wales ; 18. Manorbier: little England beyond Wales ; 19. Dunfermline: the birth of Scots English ; 20. Talbot Yard, London SE1: Chaucer and Middle English ; 21. Canterbury: from ancient to modern ; 22. Cursitor Street, London EC4: Chancery and standard English ; 23. Tothill Street, London SW1: Caxton and printing English ; 24. St Albans: Juliana Berners and collective nouns ; 25. Paston: a family of letters ; 26. Lutterworth: John Wycliffe and Bible translation ; 27. North Nibley: William Tyndale and the English Bible ; 28. Chichester: William Bullokar and the first English grammar ; 29. Suffolk Lane and St Paul's, London EC4: Richard Mulcaster and the status of English ; 30. Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare and English idiom ; 31. Park Street, London SE1: Shakespeare and linguistic innovation ; 32. Oakham: Robert Cawdrey and the first dictionary ; 33. Willoughby: John Smith and new Englishes ; 34. East India Dock, London E14: the East India Company and global English ; 35. Hampton Court Palace: King James and his Bible ; 36. Black Notley: John Ray and English proverbs ; 37. Aldwincle: John Dryden and an English Academy ; 38. Old Broad Street, London EC2: the Royal Society and scientific English ; 39. Rochdale: Tim Bobbin and local dialect ; 40. Lichfield: Johnson and the dictionary ; 41. Old St Pancras Church, London NW1: John Walker and pronunciation ; 42. York: Lindley Murray and English grammar ; 43. Alloway: Robert Burns and Scots ; 44. Peebles and Edinburgh: the Chambers brothers and encyclopedic English ; 45. Grasmere: William Wordsworth and poetic language ; 46. West Malvern: Roget and the thesaurus ; 47. Bath: Isaac Pitman and English shorthand ; 48. Oxford: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary ; 49. Winterborne Came: William Barnes and speech-craft ; 50. Higher Bockhampton: Thomas Hardy and Wessex dialect ; 51. Saltaire: Joseph Wright and English dialects ; 52. Hinton St George: Henry Fowler and English usage ; 53. Ayot St Lawrence: George Bernard Shaw and spelling reform ; 54. Laugharne: Dylan Thomas and Welsh English ; 55. Tilbury: the Empire Windrush and new dialects ; 56. University College, London WC1: Daniel Jones and English phonetics ; 57. University College, London WC1: the Survey of English Usage ; Regional Grouping ; Index of Places ; General Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A delightful and immersive guide to the city of Rome and the philosophical tradition it embodies concerning the good life, or as we would say today, the meaning of life. Travelers seeking ancient wisdom among the city’s famous buildings and works of art could ask for no better companion.” * Donald Robertson, author of 'How to Think Like a Roman Emperor' *“I have been a Roman for over half a century, but I’ll be sure to use Samuelson’s Guide the next time I visit my native city. I will look at it quite differently!” * Massimo Pigliucci, author of 'How to Be a Stoic' *“Rome as a Guide to the Good Life immerses us in glorious works of art and architecture. But in Rome, every aspect of life, from Raphael to food to gesticulation, is an art. Rather than guiding us through the labyrinth of the city’s streets, Samuelson guides us through the labyrinth of life, more daunting than any streetscape.” * Ingrid D. Rowland, author of 'Giordano Bruno' and 'The Collector of Lives' *“In this elegantly written book, Samuelson takes us by the elbow and leads us to his favorite places and works of art in the Eternal City, spinning stories about their history, pointing out their beauties and contradictions, and reflecting on their philosophical meanings. Whether you travel to Rome with this book as your guide, or read it from the comfort of an armchair, Samuelson teaches us ancient lessons that can enrich our modern lives.” * Lori Erickson, author of 'Holy Rover,' 'Near the Exit,' and 'The Soul of the Family Tree' *"A stimulating, thoroughly readable mix. . . For the seasoned Romanist as well as a first-time visitor, this is an excellent vade mecum for our times. All will read it with profit and enlightenment: it will certainly accompany my next trip." -- Sir Michael Fallon * Classics for All *"A breezy and eclectic tour of the Eternal City in which [Samuelson] introduces readers to both physical and philosophical delights.” * WORLD *"The book stands out in its dual appreciation for Rome as a locus for the sweet life and the life of the mind. . . . The author’s wit, enthusiasm, and willingness to turn his head and squint his eyes while looking at what seemingly has been picked over by centuries of cicerones makes reading Rome as a Guide like being on the most engaging of walking tours." * ClassicalEd Review *"As he leads us through the city, Samuelson introduces the largest philosophical questions and shares what the legacy of Roman culture has to teach us by way of answer. The result is an erudite guide to the city’s heritage that offers eloquent instruction on how to conduct ourselves and make meaning in the face of life’s enduring uncertainties.”​ -- James Mustich * In the Company of Books newsletter *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Philosophy as a Guide to la Dolce Vita I Build Not Thereon 1 Die on Your Journey: The Question of Rosa Bathurst’s Tombstone 2 Build on Tragedy: The Humility of Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath 3 Put Down Roots in the Uprooted: The Piety of Bernini’s Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius II Remember Death 4 Be Not for Yourself Alone: Cicero in the Ruins of the Forum 5 Take the View from Above: Marcus Aurelius in the Saddle III Reap the Day 6 Conquer Your Fear: Lucretius versus the Roman Triumph 7 Dare to Be Wise: Horace’s View of the City IV Love and Do What You Will 8 Hold Humanity Sacred: Seneca or Augustine versus the Colosseum 9 Crash through the Floor: The Mysteries of the Basilica of San Clemente 10 Make a Golden Ass of Yourself: The Metamorphoses in Agostino Chiti’s Villa V Make a Palace of Your Memory 11 Be the Conversation: The Philosophy of Raphael’s School of Athens 12 Unlock the Soul in Your Soul: Giordano Bruno in the Campo de’ Fiori Conclusion: What Resists Time Is What’s Ever Flowing Acknowledgments Appendix: Rome by Way of the Winged Eye Notes Index

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Book SynopsisDeals with the author's journeys in the Levant, the exotic land that stands at the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa. Part travelogue, part field guide, and part literary appreciation, this title assembles six interlinked essays that explore the seaboard of the Levant and its deserts.Trade Review"Gabriel Levin offers a privileged glimpse into otherwise closed worlds, and he does this with brio, wit, and a gently ironic sensibility. Each essay in The Dune's Twisted Edge is distinctive and memorable, but taken together they form a compelling pattern that arises from Levin's strong affinity for landscape. This isn't only because he is so good at evoking the varied terrains in which he moves, but also because of the central and abiding insight of the book: that landscape and language are mysteriously conjoined." -Eric Ormsby, author of Ghazali: The Revival of Islam"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A thoughtful, beautifully photographed book that will be enjoyed as much as a cover-to-cover read as a cookbook." -- Mark Diacono * Delicious Magazine *

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Book SynopsisDavid Hockney reflects upon life and art as he journeys through lockdown in rural Normandy.Trade Review'Hockney and Gayford … make a good double act: Hockney’s questing vision, Gayford’s clear-eyed prose. They share an irrepressible interest in just about everything ... This book is not so much a celebration of spring as a springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light ... scholarly, thoughtful and provoking' - The Times'Gloriously illustrated … It’s a book about many things – Hockney’s love of France and French painting, his reflections on many other artists among them. But at its heart is this octogenarian’s adoration of nature, his belief that art is rooted in love, and a restless gusto for life' - Andrew Marr, The Spectator'Hockney and Gayford’s exchanges are infused with their deep knowledge of the history of art … This is a charming book, and ideal for lockdown because it teaches you to look harder at the things around you' - Lynn Barber, The Spectator'Designed to underscore [Hockney’s] original message of hope, and to further explore how art can gladden and invigorate ... meanders amiably from Rembrandt, to the pleasure principle, andouillette sausages and, naturally, to spring' - Daily Telegraph'Lavishly illustrated… Gayford is a thoughtfully attentive critic with a capacious frame of reference' - Guardian'A burst of springtime joy ... delightfully unfocused, a wide-ranging ramble through art, history, culture and food' - Daily Telegraph'Peppered with his colourful work and insightful conversations with art critic Martin Gayford, this book shows that, though the pandemic cancelled many things, spring cannot be stopped – and neither can David Hockney' - Daily Mail'A warm and candid peek into Hockney’s thought process and the friends’ relationship, visually peppered with hundreds of images... Overall the book acts as Hockney’s manifesto for how a reconnection with art and nature could get society through much of its tribulations' - It's Nice That'A series of conversations punctuated with pictures that you can dip into as you please. There are fascinating discursions about studios, about line, about art outbidding photography, about colour – he’s interesting on the varieties of black, for instance. Gayford talks about Hockney turning up the colour dial in his works during his career; right now, it’s high volume' - Evening Standard'Optimistic … demonstrate[s] the artist’s constant fascination with the world around him' - The Arts Society'Beautifully written. Just the tonic for the lockdown blues' - Jessica Fahy, RTE Arena radio'A highly personal and engaging insight into the latest stage of Hockney’s life and work' - The Art Newspaper'What emerges from the writing, snippets and sketches is a manifesto of sorts: a paean to the promise of art and the capacity of nature to heal, renew and offer answers in difficult times… The subjects on every page burst forth like spring bulbs, covering everything from the sight of raindrops on a pond to the work of great artists and the rhythm of daily life' - Monocle Weekend'Ranging across subjects, from colour and perspective, to sunsets, fame and the effects of aging, the book amounts in the end to something between a memoir and a collection of musings from a man who thinks deeply and widely, and communicates with ease. Whether he is talking about drawing, or Proust or Wagner, Gayford writes that it is “with such simplicity and ease that almost everything he says, journalistically speaking, is highly quotable' - The New European'Hockney’s amanuensis provides the framework and armature for Hockney’s discussion of his own painting … In these trying times, Hockney, in recharging his own art in such persuasive ways, conveys somehow a belief in the power of hope and the inevitability of recovery' - Artlyst'Lushly illustrated … the talk flows effortlessly. The conversations take in everything from Hockney’s fondness for tripe and cigarettes, and Van Gogh and Monet, to music and iPad pictures. Hockney is always interesting on art, possibly because he is both unusually thoughtful and exceptionally lucid, so the chats, seamlessly directed by Gayford, are full of fascinating detail about a range of painters rather than just this displaced Yorkshireman' - New Statesman'Reveals – and this lies behind the pictures and their apparently effortless clarity – Hockney as the broad-ranging intellectual … When Hockney talks, for example, of his admiration for Ad Reinhardt’s blacks in the same breath as Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales and his own 1981 Metropolitan Opera designs for The Nightingale, you understand the Moon pictures as enchanted stage-sets informed by modern abstraction' - Financial Times'Gayford records what the artist saw, thought, read, remembered, during lockdown in his French cottage, as reported by email and phone; their conversations read easily and optimistically, spanning nature, food, art, opera, fairy tales' - Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times'My recommendation would be - because we all need some cheering up - that bright, colourful, informative and intriguing book Spring Cannot be Cancelled. It’s full of Hockney’s musings on art, as well as being gorgeous to look at' - Andrew Marr, The Art Newspaper'The conversation between painter and critic with reference to his work and the work of other artists is always absorbing and invaluable for all admirers of his drawings and paintings' - Mature Times'Far more than an accompaniment to the lovely exhibition at the Royal Academy in the summer, this is an engaging record of life and thought during Hockney’s lockdown year' - Financial Times'Hockney’s palette is always vibrant with the glorious, acid promise of fresh new leaves. If you love his work, this set of uplifting ‘conversations’ between artist and critic-friend will rekindle your passion; if you are indifferent to the Hockney style, you will surely find yourself converted … A feast for eye, mind and soul' - Daily MailTable of Contents1 An unexpected move 2 Studio work 3 La vie française: French life in a Bohemian style 4 Lines and time 5 A merry Christmas and an unexpected New Year 6 Locked down in paradise 7 A house for an artist and a painter’s garden 8 The sky, the sky! 9 Sumptuous blacks and subtler greens 10 Several smaller splashes 11 Everything flows 12 Rippling lines and musical spaces 13 Lost (and found) in translation 14 Picasso, Proust, and pictures 15 Being somewhere 16 Full moon in Normandy

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Book SynopsisWhat started out as an innocent board game inspired Rich Smith to undertake a daring crime spree across the United States - a journey to break the dumbest American laws on the statute books.In the Land of the Free, it is illegal to:- Lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory (South Dakota)- Play a trumpet with the intention of luring someone to a store (California)- Catch a fish with a lasso (Tennessee) Rich''s first problem was narrowing down the huge choice of laws to just twenty-five. The second was persuading his mate Bateman to come along, to do some of the driving - and possibly provide bail money. The third was finding someone who was willing to help him break his first law: one of San Francisco''s oldest statutes, which related to oral sex. No, Bateman couldn''t help with that one.Join Rich as he attempts his one-man crime wave - almost as difficult as a one-man Mexican wave.Trade ReviewBrilliant and funny...An outrageous romp of a book that feels like it's been waiting for someone to write it forever * Sunday Sport *Smith and a friend go on a mission to break 25 of America's dumbest laws, such as falling alseep in a cheese factory and catching fish with a lasso. Hilarious * Nuts magazine *Opinion is divided in the office on this one... half of us (the girl half) has fallen in love with this student joker and think traversing America while breaking its ridiculous laws is a funny idea...The other half is full of bravado about how they did this sort of thing all the time while at university, too. Either way, it's good for a titter on a long-haul flight * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisAs Islam and the West prepare to clash once again, Jason Webster embarks on a quest to discover Spain''s hidden Moorish legacy and lift the lid on a country once forged by both Muslims and Christians. He meets Zine, a young illegal immigrant from Morocco, a twenty-first century Moor, lured over with the promise of a job but exploited as a slave labourer on a fruit farm. Jason''s life is threatened as he investigates the agricultural gulag, Zine rescues him, and the unlikely pair of writer and desperado take off on a rollercoaster ride through Andalucía. While Jason unveils the neglected Arab ancestry of modern Spain - apparent in its food, language, people and culture - Zine sets out on his own parallel quest, a one-man peace mission to resolve Muslim-Christian tensions by proving irresistible to Spanish señoritas.

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Book SynopsisThe point of all this has nothing to do with finding yourself. It's about what you can do to lose what you don't need.'It's a dark rainy afternoon on Dublin's jammed M50 motorway. The rain is hammering on the windscreen of Daniella Moyles' car. She is 26, a highly successful radio presenter, model and influencer, but panic is building in her head and chest, the internal state of affairs she has been trying to ignore finally spilling over into something undeniably physical. She is frozen, petrified, looks to her boyfriend and says, I don't know who or where I am.'This day changed Daniella's life. It derailed almost everything she had worked to achieve and set her on a new path.Jump is the story of what happened when Daniella quit her job to backpack around the world for two years, and how freedom from the trappings of what society considers success leads to true contentment, strength and authenticity.

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Book SynopsisI love Anna''s writing, and I adore stories of adventuring women'' Dolly Alderton''Humorous, emotional and useful'' Grazia''A beautiful memoir'' Dawn O''Porter''Warm, witty and gorgeously written'' The Pool ''Even armchair travellers will get a vicarious thrill from Departures'' Red***************A call-to-action for adventurers everywhere, Departures is about the power of travel to transform us, heal us, challenge us and turn us into everyday adventure-seekers even after we return to the grind back home.Have you ever turned up on a post-heartbreak holiday hopelessly unprepared and been forced to sleep on the floor wrapped up in a curtain? How about that eagerly-awaited solo adventure when you had to be airlifted home? Or what about the time you went to a fascinating European cultural capital and neglectedTrade Review[Anna's] stories of growing up via far-flung adventures and eye-opening city breaks are so warm, witty and gorgeously written that it's hard not to find yourself on Skyscanner within half an hour of cracking the book open. Plus she has the most helpful advice, from how to 'prescribe' yourself a hotel to the real secret to beating jet lag. Perfect snow-week escapism * The Pool *A beautiful memoir about travel and letting go -- Dawn O'Porter * Sunday Telegraph *We defy anyone to read intrepid journalist Anna Hart's travel memoir and not resolve to dust off their passport and embark on some new adventures. A call to action for women everywhere, Hart writes about the transformative and healing power of travel - and how its effect can last way past touchdown at Heathrow * Smallish *Just in time for the summer holidays is this great book from travel writer Anna Hart, which is part memoir, part how-to guide on making any holiday an adventure and having the same adventures back home. From Bali to LA, New Zealand to er, Margate, even armchair travellers will get a vicarious thrill from Departures * Red *Having worked with and been friends with Anna for years, it was fun to read about her globe-trotting adventures. I could hear her laugh behind the tales of some of her crazier adventures and thought it was brave to share some of the scarier and rougher parts of traveling alone as well as an insight in to trying to do it all in the grips of depression. I read it in one day and look forward to experiencing the next chapter with her. -- Jamie Klingler * iNews *

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Book SynopsisFor fourteen years, critic Joe Queenan walked past the Winter Garden Theater in New York City without once even dreaming of venturing inside to see Cats. One fateful afternoon in March 1996, however, having grown weary of his hopelessly elitist lifestyle, he decided to buy a half-price ticket and check out Andrew Lloyd Webber''s record-breaking juggernaut. No, he did not expect the musical to be any good, but surely there were limits to how bad it could be. Here, Queenan was tragically mistaken. Cats, what Grease would look like if all the cast members were dressed up like KISS, was infinitely more idiotic than he had ever imagined. Yet now the Rubicon had been crossed. Queenan had involuntarily launched himself on a harrowing personal oddyssey: an 18-month descent into the abyss of American popular culture. At first, Queenan found things to be every bit as atrocious as he expected. John Tesh defiling the temple of Carnegie Hall reminded him of Adolf Hitler goose-stepping in the shadow

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Book SynopsisFeatures, perhaps the most fashionable, talked about, photographed city in Africa, which is home to Yves St Laurent, the Bransons and others.

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Book SynopsisA woman I won't forget ... a book that people will love. Diana Athill, Jean Rhys' publisher and award-winning biographer. My aunt's love of Dominica and its people is as freshly painted as if it happened yesterday. Katie Fforde, novelist. Elma Napier's remarkable memoir chronicles her love affair with the wild Caribbean island of Dominica. It began in 1932 when she turned her back on London's high society to build a home in Calibishie, a remote village on Dominica's north coast. There are tales of literary house parties, of war and death, smugglers and servants and, above all, of stories inspired by her political life as the only woman in a colonial parliament. She writes deftly about the island's turbulent landscapes and her curiosity about the lives and culture of its people. Elma Napier was born in Scotland in 1892, the daughter of Sir William Gordon Cumming, who was accused of cheating while playing cards with the Prince of Wales. After living in Australia for nine years, Nap

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Book SynopsisIntrepid presenter Nicholas Crane investigates eight epic journeys, following in the footsteps of our greatest indigenous explorers.Trade ReviewThis began as a television series, but the printed version, generously illustrated, is sparkling, and in many ways much more rewarding * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *wonderfully written and superbly illustrated with photos, maps, and prints * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *This began as a television series, but the printed version, generously illustrated, is sparkling, and in many ways much more rewarding * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *wonderfully written and superbly illustrated with photos, maps, and prints * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *

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Book SynopsisWinner - Edward Stanford Travel Memoir of the Year 2019.Shortlisted - Rathbones Folio Prize, RSL Ondaatje Prize, and Somerset Maugham Award 2019.In 2013 Guy Stagg made a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem. Though a non-believer, he began the journey after suffering several years of mental illness, hoping the ritual would heal him. For ten months he hiked alone on ancient paths, crossing ten countries and more than 5,500 kilometres. The Crossway is an account of this extraordinary adventure.Having left home on New Year’s Day, Stagg climbed over the Alps in midwinter, spent Easter in Rome with a new pope, joined mass protests in Istanbul and survived a terrorist attack in Lebanon. Travelling without support, he had to rely each night on the generosity of strangers, staying with monks and nuns, priests and families. As a result, he gained a unique insight into the lives of contemporary believers and learnt the fascinating stories of the soldiers and saints, missionaries and martyrs who had followed these paths before him.The Crossway is a book full of wonders, mixing travel and memoir, history and current affairs. At once intimate and epic, it charts the author’s struggle to walk towards recovery, and asks whether religion can still have meaning for those without faith.A BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week' in 2018.Trade ReviewThe Crossway is in many ways classic travelogue, so classic indeed that early admirers have drawn parallels with Patrick Leigh Fermor. Stagg certainly has a way with words . . . But in addition – and unlike the rather stiff-upper-lipped Leigh Fermor – Stagg allows an emotional honesty to filter through the golden prose . . . a luminous and occasionally (almost in spite of itself) numinous account . . . moving and thought-provoking -- Peter Stanford * Observer *Having finished this account, I felt dazed. Dazed at the thought of all that I’d learnt from its pages about 2,000 years of Christianity, dazed at how immediate its author had made so many centuries-old stories feel, and dazed at the strangeness and brilliance of this extraordinary travelogue. -- Rebecca Armstrong * i newspaper *The journey as redemptive recovery is a well-worm trope, but there is no glib ending here. I really enjoyed this book. -- Sara Wheeler * Spectator *Such pitch-perfect prose that he has already attracted comparisons with Patrick Leigh Fermor’s celebrated accounts of his youthful travels * The Tablet *A sublime, intense, and intimate account of a journey that becomes a kind of dream in search of solace and, perhaps, even a kind of faith. As the author walks on, across a continent, through history, time, the natural and human world – and the spaces in between – it is hard not to believe you are there, by his side. Beautifully written, filled with strange encounters and extraordinary language, The Crossway is a meditation, an escape, a confrontation, a losing and a finding. It is a timely antidote to our disconnected times. -- Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan and RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTARThe extraordinary story of a pilgrimage to find out the meaning of pilgrimage. Completely absorbing, personal, often funny, and full of fascinating encounters - an enlightening book from an exciting new writer. -- Sarah Bakewell, author of At The Existentialist CaféThe journey is remarkable – a hike of thousands of miles across Europe, undertaken with rare bravery and stamina. But what is really extraordinary about Guy Stagg’s The Crossway is the writing – acutely sensitive, hyper-alert and unflagging in its exploration of the strange depths and by-ways of human belief -- Philip Marsden, author of Rising GroundI loved it. Odd that a journey made to find salvation (a kind of 5,500 kilometre Stations of the Cross taking almost a year to walk) should turn out to be such a page turner. The reason is Stagg himself – an engaging, challenging, endlessly interesting companion who just happens to write formidably well. Travel writing has a bright new star. -- Alexander Frater, author of Chasing the MonsoonGuy Stagg makes a pilgrimage across Europe, into history and, most powerfully, the (troubled) interior of his soul. He takes us on a journey full of wonder and woe, poetry and pain; writing in prose that’s as sure-footed as it is unsettling in its honesty. A brave and beautiful account of a man’s search for meaning -- Rhidian Brook, author of The AftermathA gorgeous and moving book -- Jamie Quatro, author of Fire SermonA marvellous book. There’s a lovely plainsongish immediacy to the telling that I found hugely beguiling, and (unusually) Stagg is as effective on people as he is on place. It’s also a generous piece of self-reckoning -- William Atkins, author of The MoorThe Crossway is moving and unique, with the sense that no one else can write like this about such places as the abbeys of France, the cities of Rome and Istanbul or the daunting landscape of pilgrimage and the often astonishing people whom Guy Stagg meets. At the book’s heart is his own story; troubled, he seeks redemption and hope. Does he find them? He makes his search into a story that is gripping and uplifting -- Max Egremont, author of Forgotten Land: Journeys Among the Ghosts of East PrussiaGuy Stagg has bared his soul and soles in this epic account of walking from England through Italy, the Balkans, Istanbul, Cyprus, Lebanon and on to Jerusalem. His fabulously open hearted account easily bears comparison with the great walking and monastery books of Patrick Leigh Fermor, except he goes further in revealing the damage, and how it might be repaired . . . solvitur ambulando indeed! -- Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile and Angry White Pyjamas After suffering years of severe mental illness, Stagg embarks on a journey from Canterbury to Jerusalem, hoping that the 5,500km walk along medieval pilgrim paths will heal him. Travelling alone, and relying on shelter provided by churches, monasteries and nunneries en route, he faces down many demons along the way, getting caught up in violent snowstorms, the demonstrations in Istanbul's Taksim Square, and a terrorist attack. A BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" at publication, it's one of the most compelling travel books I've read in a long time, as well as a thought-provoking meditation on what it means to have faith in our turbulent contemporary world * Bookseller *Behind the cliché of the most important journey in life being the one taken inside oneself lies a timeless and powerful and vital truth: that the goal of such a quest, with all its anguish and revelation and excruciating realisations, is a place of great and lasting calm. This is the core of Guy Stagg’s necessary and beautiful book. -- Niall Griffiths, author of GritsThe Crossway is a gentle, kind, generous-spirited book, rich in detail, encounter and history. But most importantly, this is the story of a young man, from a secular world, who undertakes a pilgrimage to try and mend himself – a courageous inner journey. -- Neil Griffiths, author of As a God Might BeWhat a privilege it's been to read this compelling and moving book, to travel with a writer who records everything he sees and feels with such care and passion. The writing is beautiful and his voice so engaging, so unflinchingly honest, throughout. I finished The Crossway and just wanted the author to keep walking. -- James Macdonald Lockhart, author of RaptorStagg poignantly recounts not just his own journey as a spiritually-charge Paddy Leigh Fermor but that of the saints, soldiers and pilgrims who trod the path centuries before him. * New Statesman *He writes beautifully, he really does . . . And he has this extraordinary honesty; he lays himself bare for the reader . . . It's wonderful, it really is wonderful. -- John Maytham's Book Review * CapeTalk Radio *Poignant and poetic . . . an extraordinary journey . . . much of the book is taken up with absorbing accounts of saints and pilgrims, crusaders and revolutionaries . . . the narrative contains some captivating imagery * Times Literary Supplement *The Crossway is eventful, engaging, and often beautiful. But it is the author’s inner journey – how his pilgrimage heals him, or fails to – that hooks the reader . . . The Crossway defies easy summary because it refuses easy consolation * Theo's Think Tank *Stagg’s walk and the book that has resulted from it, is a brave, even bravura, performance. * Catholic Herald *Stagg set off on a journey hoping to heal years of mental illness and the result of his travelogue is a moving and thought-provoking insight into the minds – and often homes – of modern day believers. * Judges of the Edward Stanford Travel Awards 2019 *

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Book SynopsisThrough the centre of China’s historic capital, Long Peace Street cuts a long, arrow-straight line. It divides the Forbidden City, home to generations of Chinese emperors, from Tiananmen Square, the vast granite square constructed to glorify a New China under Communist rule. To walk the street is to travel through the story of China’s recent past, wandering among its physical relics and hearing echoes of its dramas. Long Peace Street recounts a journey in modern China, a walk of twenty miles across Beijing offering a very personal encounter with the life of the capital’s streets. At the same time, it takes the reader on a journey through the city’s recent history, telling the story of how the present and future of the world’s rising superpower has been shaped by its tumultuous past, from the demise of the last imperial dynasty in 1912 through to the present day.Trade Review‘Filled with insights, observations and anecdotes, Chatwin brings to life the past – and present – of one of the world’s great cities in an account that is as thoughtful as it is informative.’Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History, Worcester College, Oxford'Bringing together past and present, personal and political, Jonathan Chatwin gives readers a thoughtful and deeply-informed account of modern China through the marvellous device of a stroll down Beijing's longest avenue - and all in lucid and compelling prose.'Rana Mitter, Director of the University China Centre, University of Oxford'Even the most dedicated flâneur has to work hard to find the charm in Chang’an Avenue, the main thoroughfare of, as Jonathan Chatwin rightly describes it, the "glorious mess of Beijing". Industrial relics, bankrupt theme parks, rabbit hutch housing, paranoid Communist Party elite boltholes and Tiananmen’s ghosts all loom large. But Chatwin walks the walk and, along the way dissects the street, its denizens and its enduring role in China’s history and collective modern traumas. 'Paul French, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Peking and City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir'Jonathan Chatwin offers a distinctive window onto Beijing's past and present by taking readers along with him on a long trek down an important thoroughfare. An appealing mix of anecdotes from a journey and digressions backward in time make Long Peace Street a novel addition to the rich literature on China's sprawling capital.' Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor's Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, coauthor of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know'This three-dimension, moving timeline along the heart of imperial and contemporary Beijing made me want to head out the door and follow Chatwin's flaneur footsteps. "Long Peace Street" seamlessly blends history and reporting, shining a light on both the capital's neglected bookends and its dense core. I couldn't put it down.'Michael Meyer, author of The Last Days of Old Beijing, In Manchuria, and The Road to Sleeping Dragon'Long Peace Street is a brilliant achievement. To read this book is to travel with an engaging writer as he explores the China of today and the raw pathos of its past. Long Peace Street gives its readers an insight essential for a sophisticated understanding of Chinese society today.'M. A. Aldrich, author of The Search for a Vanishing Beijing: A Guide to the Capital of China through the Centuries'As a dive into Beijing’s history and an excursion through its present, Long Peace Street is entertaining, informative, well-written and companionable.'Post Magazine -- .Table of ContentsIntroductionDay one: Shougang Iron and Steel to Tiananmen1 Capital Iron and Steel – origins – the Great Leap Forward – a bad neighbour – future plans2 New suburbia – the city in history – the hutong – Shijingshan Amusement Park3 Change – ring roads and the New Beijing – Great Olympics4 Babaoshan ghosts – the cemetery – the life of Peng Dehuai – return to Hunan5 A diversion – straightness – the road as metaphor6 Military markings – Tomb of the Princess – new regime, new capital? – the Military Museum7 Diaoyutai State Guesthouse – December 1980 – ‘To Rebel is Justified’ – Chairman Mao’s dog8 Big roofs – Capital Museum – pailou – some history9 Muxidi Bridge – petitions and protests – May Fourth – Democracy Movement – 1976 – 1978 – 1989 – the aftermath10 Rainbows – walls, walls, and yet again walls – breaches – New Year’s Day in Xi’an – demolition – socialist core values11 A hungry refrain – little grey streets – reform and opening-up – state owned enterprises12 An assassination – Middle and Southern Seas – imperial pretensions – Xinhuamen – paranoia – hidden places – Mao at ZhongnanhaiDay two: Tiananmen to Sihui Dong subway station13 The middle of the Middle Kingdom – hidden tales of Tiananmen – the Great Helmsman14 A walk to Tiananmen – into the Forbidden City – intruders15 Four days in the Forbidden City16 Out of the Forbidden City – scholar trees – dislocation – destruction – impressions of Beijing – going native – Legation Street today – fireworks over Tiananmen17 The man who died twice – Wangfujing – a literary traveller – the end of the Qing – Morrison and Yuan Shikai – a sad coda – Palm Sunday in Sidmouth18 Oriental Plaza – walking in cities – the Imperial Observatory – origins of the Chinese calendar – the Jesuits – the Republican calendar – time in modern China19 Outside the wall – the Grand Canal and the eastern suburbs – 22nd August 1967 – all palaces are temporary palaces – Forsan et haec olim – red20 One city – the east is rich – weird architecture – mall life – underground21 G103 – the story of a nation – the endEpilogueIndex

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Book SynopsisFrom childhood, Charles Dickens was fascinated by tales from other countries and other cultures, and he longed to see the world. In Dickens and Travel, Lucinda Hawksley looks at the journeys made by the author - who is also her great great great grandfather. Although Dickens is usually perceived as a London author, in the 1840s he whisked his family away to live in Italy for year, and spent several months in Switzerland. Some years later he took up residence in Paris and Boulogne (where he lived in secret with his lover). In addition to travelling widely in Europe, he also toured America twice, performed onstage in Canada and, before his untimely death, was planning a tour of Australia. Dickens and Travel enters into the world of the Victorian traveller and looks at how Charles Dickens's journeys influenced his writing and enriched his life.

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Book Synopsis'Elegantly written, full of wit and charm, this is travel writing at its very best' Orlando FigesIn the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy's legendary revolutionary hero, fled Rome and led 4,000 of his men hundreds of miles through Umbria and Tuscany, then across the Apennines, Italy's mountainous spine, toward the refuge of the Venetian Republic. After thirty-two exhausting days of skirmishes and adventures, only 250 survivors reached the Adriatic coast.This hair-raising journey is brought vividly to life by bestselling author Tim Parks, who in the blazing summer of 2019, followed in Garibaldi's footsteps. A fascinating portrait of Italy past and present, The Hero's Way is a celebration of determination, creativity and desperate courage.Trade ReviewA single page might contain a delightful mix of history, referencing accounts of the original journey...together with accounts of incidents that bring a smile to the reader's face... Tim Parks will remain a favourite author of mine * Writing Magazine *

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Book SynopsisSunday Telegraph's FIVE BEST BOOKS FOR FOODIES this Christmas - 'a must read... packed full of nostalgic food memories, weaving in family, friendship and love.' "Are you hungry darling, shall I make you an omelette?"My mother's omelettes are slightly overdone but always generous in cheese and well-seasoned. My omelettes are just the same, though more often slightly underdone and less carefully considered. And like my stories, they come in many forms. You might get one late at night, after a little too much wine and alongside a little too much information. I might spend a long time on one that's just a touch extravagant. And many are for the people I care about most, thrown together and with more cheese than is strictly necessary.Collected here are things I've done, things I've seen, things I've thought, and most importantly, things I've tasted. They're slices of parts of my life. Call them omelettes, if you like. I hope you enjoy them.'Jessie's life seems to have seamlessly brought her forth on a magic carpet of food, peppered by lots and lots of laughs. Her stories are a joy to read, although probably not as much fun as they are to live. Deliciously entertaining'. - Yotam Ottolenghi'Gobbled this up in 90 minutes. A dreamy food memoir which is stuffed full of warmth and feeling and fun. If you love Table Manners you'll adore this book by Jessie Ware. Now I'm gagging for some hot buttered toast.' - Bella Mackie'Love it, laughed cried in parts.... I so enjoyed reading about Jessie's life through food .... Childbirth and Bolognese forever imprinted on my mind.' - Angela Hartnett'Joie de vivre is the bass note throughout the pages of Omelette' - Harper's Bazaar'A delicious fusion of memoir and ode to food.' - Grazia'A charming and funny memoir ... you want to eat everything she describes' - Daily Mail'A must read' - Stella Magazine'A great one for foodies who live for nostalgia' - GQ'A charming and funny memoir' - Irish Daily Mail'A love letter to friends, first loves, faith and family, but most importantly - to food' - ReactionTrade ReviewJessie's life seems to have seamlessly brought her forth on a magic carpet of food, peppered by lots and lots of laughs. Her stories are a joy to read, although probably not as much fun as they are to live. Deliciously entertaining. -- Yotam OttolenghiJoie de vivre is the bass note throughout the pages of Omelette * Harper's Bazaar *A delicious fusion of memoir and ode to food * Grazia *A charming and funny memoir ... you want to eat everything she describes * Daily Mail *A great one for foodies who live for nostalgia * GQ *A love letter to friends, first loves, faith and family, but most importantly - to food * Reaction *A charming and funny memoir * Irish Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisINTRODUCED BY PAUL KINGSNORTH, Booker-shortlisted author of The Wake'I thought that there were two rules in life - never count the cost, and never do anything unless you can do it wholeheartedly. Now is the time to live.' Artist and wanderer Everett Ruess left home at the age of sixteen to immerse himself in the harsh desert landscapes of the American Southwest. With only his donkeys for company, driven by an insatiable longing for beauty and experience, he ventured ever further from civilisation and into the wilderness of Navajo country. In 1934, at the age of twenty, he vanished without trace in Utah, a disappearance that remains unsolved to this day. Through letters, diary excerpts and poems - charting not only his rugged adventures and his exquisite nature writing but his progression as a writer, and into adulthood - and with commentary by W. L. Rusho, A Vagabond for Beauty tells his remarkable story.

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Book SynopsisAlthough spare, sweeping landscapes may appear “empty,” plains and prairies afford a rich, unique aesthetic experience—one of quiet sunrises and dramatic storms, hidden treasures and abundant wildlife, infinite horizons and omnipresent wind, all worthy of contemplation and celebration.In this series of narratives, photographs, and hand-drawn maps, Tyra Olstad blends scholarly research with first-hand observation to explore topics such as wildness and wilderness, travel and tourism, preservation and conservation, expectations and acceptance, and even dreams and reality in the context of parks, prairies, and wild, open places. In so doing, she invites readers to reconsider the meaning of “emptiness” and ask larger, deeper questions such as: how do people experience the world? How do we shape places and how do places shape us? Above all, what does it mean to experience that exhilarating effect known as Zen of the plains?

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Book SynopsisTeddy Roosevelt once exclaimed,"When I am in California, I am not in the West. I am west of the West,” and in this book, Mark Arax spends four years travelling up and down the Golden State to explore its singular place in the world. This is California beyond the clich&eacutes. This is California as only a native son, deep in the dust, could draw it. Compelling, lyrical, and ominous, his new collection finds a different drama rising out of each confounding landscape."The Summer of the Death of Hilario Guzman” has been praised as a"stunningly intimate” portrait of one immigrant family from Oaxaca, through harrowing border crossings and brutal raisin harvests. Down the road in the"Home Front,” right-wing Christians and Jews form a strange pact that tries to silence debate on the War on Terror, and a conflicted father loses not one but two sons in Iraq."The Last Okie in Lamont,” the inspiration for the town in the Grapes of Wrath , has but one Okie left, who tells Arax his life story as he drives to a funeral to bury one more Dust Bowl migrant."The Highlands of Humboldt” is a journey to marijuana growing capital of the U.S., where the old hippies are battling the new hippies over"pollution pot” and the local bank collects a mountain of cash each day, much of it redolent of cannabis. Arax pieces together the murder-suicide at the heart of a rotisserie chicken empire in"The Legend of Zankou,” a story included in the Best American Crime Reporting 2009 . And, in the end, he provides a moving epilogue to the murder of his own father, a crime in the California heartland finally solved after thirty years. In the finest tradition of Joan Didion, Arax combines journalism, essay, and memoir to capture social upheaval as well as the sense of being rooted in a community. Piece by piece, the stories become a whole, a stunning panorama of California, and America, in a new century.Trade ReviewCarolyn See, Making a Literary Life "Mark Arax has achieved something truly wonderful. He shows us a California we don't know or haven't yet heard about: Post 9/11 racism and craziness in the Central Valley; dunderhead FBI agents prowling the land; the plight of immigrants as it really pans out; marijuana moguls dealing in stacks of cash that stinks of weed; the disgraceful decline of the once-great LA Times-all of it set in the larger frame of a generation of Armenian immigrants tied to the old country, in love with the new country, struggling to discover the meaning of life with all their might." Kirkus "A lucid, warts-and-all portrait of California by a native son...[W]orthy of a place alongside the works of ... Carey McWilliams and even Joan Didion." James Ellroy, author of The Black Dahlia and the forthcoming Blood's a Rover "West of the West is a dreamscape as much as a landscape-and heart-stirring in its style and acute perception. It could be titled 'Why We Live Here Anyway'-I exhort you to read this book." Jack Miles, author of Publishers Weekly, starred review, February 25, 2009 These swift, penetrating essays from former Los Angeles Times writer Arax (In My Father's Name) take the measure of contemporary California with a sure and supple hand, consciously but deservedly taking its place alongside Didion's and Saroyan's great social portraits. Expect the unexpected from Arax's reports up and down the state: on the last of the Okies, the latest migrants from Mexico, the tree-sitters of Berkeley, Bay Area conspiracy theorists, an Armenian chicken giant's infamous fall or the mammoth marijuana economy of Humboldt County, among much else. For Arax, a third-generation Californian of Armenian heritage who spent years covering the Central Valley as an investigative reporter, the state's outre reputation and self-representation are a complex dance of myth and memory that includes his own family lore and personal history. It's partly this personal connection, running subtly but consistently throughout, that pushes the collection past mere reportage to a high literary enterprise that beautifully integrates the private and idiosyncratic with the sweep of great historical forces.

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Book SynopsisAfter Hurricane Katrina laid bare the fragility and environmental peril of South Louisiana, author Ian McNulty set out on a series of daytrips to delve into the area's diverse cultural landscapes. He explored communities staked up and down the Mississippi River, nestled into the teeming bayous, braced along the edge of the Gulf, and planted out on the golden prairie stretching to the west. Louisiana Rambles is his richly evocative guide to those journeys.McNulty delivers an inimitable take on Cajun and Creole Louisiana-the siren call of zydeco dance halls pulsing in the country darkness; of crawfish ""boiling points"" and traditional country smokehouses; of Cajun jam sessions, where even wallflowers are compelled to dance; of equine gambits in the cradle of jockeys; and of fishing trips where anyone can land impressive catches. In South Louisiana, distilled European heritage, the African American experience, and modern southern exuberance mix with tumultuous history and fantastically fecund natural environments. The territories McNulty opens to the reader are arguably the nation's most exotic and culturally distinct destinations.McNulty quests for the heart of these places and people. Much more than a travel guide or collection of travel narratives, Louisiana Rambles is a seasoned writer's witness to an epic locale that is very often joyous, sometimes heartbreaking, and always vital and stimulating. An extensive, chapter-by-chapter appendix filled with travel tips and notes from the road (or the bayou) will let visitors explore well beyond the beaten tourist paths and help Louisiana residents appreciate their own terrain in a new light.

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Book SynopsisAs a professional travel writer and editor for the past 40 years, Don George has been paid to explore the world. Through the decades, his articles have been published in magazines, newspapers, and websites around the globe and have won more awards than almost any other travel writer alive, yet his pieces have never been collected into one volume. The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George fills this void with a moving and inspiring collection of tales and reflections from one of America’s most acclaimed and beloved travel writers.From his high-spirited account of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on a whim when he was 22 years old to his heart-plucking description of a home-stay in a muddy compound in Cambodia as a 61-year-old, this collection ranges widely. As renowned for his insightful observations as for his poetic prose, George always absorbs the essence of the places he’s visiting.Other stories here include a moving encounter with Australia’s sacred red rock monolith, Uluru; an immersion in country kindness on the Japanese island of Shikoku; the trials and triumphs of ascending Yosemite’s Half Dome with his wife and children; and a magical morning at Machu Picchu.Trade Review“These stories made me fall in love with the world again.” — Isabel Allende“Don George is a legendary travel writer and editor.” — National Geographic“What shines with crystal clarity through all of these wise and wonderful essays is Don George’s irrepressible generosity of spirit. He loves the world he finds, and the world loves him back in equal measure. Those of us lucky enough to know him have long recognized Don as a seriously life-enhancing kind of fellow: this marvelous collection serves amply to reinforce the notion. And no: no favors were sought or offered for this message. Not a one.”— Simon Winchester“Don George is an inveterate adventurer and master storyteller, with the biggest, most generous heart on the open road.” — Andrew McCarthy“Don George describes himself as a ‘travel evangelist’ but he is much more than that. Yes, he loves to talk about the life-changing possibilities of travel, which started for him when he visited Paris in college. But he is also a best-selling author and writer, regarded by many as the preeminent travel writer of his generation.” — Christopher ElliottTable of ContentsForeword by Pico IyerIntroduction by Don GeorgeShort prologues precede each storyPilgrimages1. Climbing Kilimanjaro2. Sunrise at Uluru3. Delos Diary4. Notre-Dame5. Conquering Half Dome6. Japan’s Past Perfect–Shikoku7. Machu Picchu Magic 8. Ryoanji reflections9. Family Adventure in the Galapagos10. A Pilgrim at Stinson Beach11. Thanksgiving in ConnecticutEncounters1. In Love, in Greece, in the Springtime2. Pakistan Karakoram Postcard3. Dubrovnik4. A Day in the Life of Dubbo5. Baja: Touched by a Whale6. Insights into Nice at the Musee Matisse7. Making Roof Tiles in Peru8. Building Bridges in Mostar9. Spin the Globe—El Salvador10. Jordan–Exhilarating Encounters, Enduring Lessons11. Living-history Lessons in BerlinIlluminations1. Pythion2. Japanese Wedding3. At the Musee d’Orsay4. Prambanan in the Moonlight5. Aitutaki–Finding salvation in the South Seas6. Africa–Wildlife Illuminations7. Unexpected Offerings on a Return to Bali8. French Connections–Saint Paul9. Lynn Ferrin10. The Intricate Weave–Italy11. Finding a Sense of Home Abroad Epilogue: Every journey Is a Pilgrimage

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Book SynopsisWell known as a political commentator and the author of sixteen novels, William F. Buckley Jr. was also a superb chronicler of travel. Getting About gathers more than one hundred of his articles about journeys by boat, train, or plane, representing a lifetime of adventure around the world—from Annapolis to Zurich, from the Azores to the Virgin Islands.An elegant jet-setter with a flair for literary journalism, Buckley had few rivals in the art of travel writing. He took first place in the Magazine Article on Foreign Travel category in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition for eight pieces written while “Concording around the world” in 1989. A master storyteller, he adeptly wove devices of fiction together with reportage to craft entertaining pieces full of exuberance and authority. Being a Bach afficionado, he composed his sentences for a well-tuned ear.Buckley’s talent for arranging a mise-en-scène stands out in accounts of riding the Orient Express, skiing at Alta, or vacationing at Barbuda. Though himself a central character in the story, he never dominates it. He wrote candidly about travel misadventures, as when his sixty-foot schooner broke down in the Bahamas and was towed to Miami by a Coast Guard cutter, or when a malfunctioning compass landed his boat on a rocky shoal off Rhode Island and the Coast Guard said, “Sorry, we can’t help you.” He also took a gimlet eye to the travel industry and a discriminating palate to airline food, suggesting that airports sell “a really good box lunch” with celery rémoulade, fresh figs, and a nice Bordeaux.Getting About is pure enjoyment, but it also broadens the significance of Buckley’s œuvre. Along with Bill Meehan’s illuminating introduction, this delightful collection helps preserve Buckley’s legacy as his centenary, in 2025, approaches.Trade Review“Over the course of four decades, I flew, cruised, sailed, slid, chuffed, and sped with Bill Buckley toward various destinations. All of those trips were worth remembering, and I have tried to do so in the normal human way, unspooling the memory file on Saturday nights in classic black-and-white format. Not Wm. F. Buckley Jr. He captured the scenes of his life on the road contemporaneously, and in vivid color, and he remembers them all here in Getting About, Bill Meehan’s glistening new collection of travel writing from the man who invented the so-called working, so-called vacation. Welcome aboard! You’re in for a great ride. Oh, and bring a decent bottle of Alsatian white, chilled, if you would.—Neal B. Freeman, journalist and entrepreneur “He was a man of all longitudes and latitudes, all heights and depths, and all modes of transit. One recalls that famous photo of a young William F. Buckley Jr. navigating Manhattan’s traffic by scooter, and how it captures his cheerful, locomotive essence—but not nearly as well as Bill Meehan does in this extraordinary, marvelously crafted collection. The more you explore the great accomplishment that is Getting About, the more you come to realize it's nothing less than a de facto biography of an exceptional American, a brave sojourner, an unchained spirit.” —Jack Fowler, former publisher of National Review “What a joy it is to travel along with Bill Buckley on his many and various journeys! Those who love high adventure and imaginative prose owe Bill Meehan a debt of gratitude for collecting the best of Buckley’s writings on his lifelong passion, travel, especially via boat. Style, experience, and leisure combine in these writings to offer WFB's unique conservative vision. In Getting About, Buckley’s travel writings are here raised from the deep, just in time to offer a new generation a window into the mind and heart of one of America’s most buoyant conservatives.” —Annette Kirk, president emerita of the Russell Kirk Center “Bill Meehan has performed an extraordinary and important service with this fine collection of William F. Buckley Jr.’s writings. Here, we witness Buckley’s gift for storytelling: his humor, intelligence, wit, and passion for life itself. The pieces in the collection illuminate the importance of imagination, fearlessness, and open-mindedness. Readers will be amused and inspired by Buckley’s adventures, his special and singular way of being an American and a cosmopolitan, and more than anything, the courage to be human.”—Emina Melonic, adjunct fellow at the Center for American Greatness “It would not be an exaggeration (however hyperbolic!) to state that William F. Buckley traveled the world. And, he did so with his world-class English vocabulary, as long and as deep as his travels were plentiful and wide. Bill Meehan has expertly brought together the very best—which is saying a lot—of Buckley’s insights, full of wit and wisdom."—Bradley J. Birzer, author of Russell Kirk: American Conservative, and professor of history at Hillsdale College

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Book SynopsisFood, art and life combine in a lavishly-illustrated book about Turkish cuisine, Turkish village life - and the will to survive a frightening diagnosis. In July 2019, painter and art teacher Eljay Dickins was diagnosed with a Grade 4 inoperable malignant glioblastoma brain tumour. Sufferers have a 1 in 12 chance of surviving six months. Early diagnosis, radio- and chemotherapy, together with a determination that somehow she wouldn't be crushed by it, helped save her life. Published three and a half years later, A Painter's Palate is a result of that dogged drive to live. As a creative person, Eljay responded to her diagnosis her own way - through her rich and vibrant paintings (a selection of which are included in the book) and through writing, drawing upon her years running painting holidays in an old stone house near the Aegean in Turkey. Funny and often touching, the book brings together over 180 recipes of authentic Turkish daily family fare with vivid descriptions of her life as an Englishwoman in Turkey, of the people she met and the food she cooked while she was there. A Painter's Palate is a lighthearted, uplifting and inspirational tale of village life and local food, infused with Eljay's ever-positive attitude, irreverent sense of humour and hope for the future against seemingly insurmountable odds.

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Book SynopsisA River Captured explores the controversial history of the Columbia River Treaty and its impact on the ecosystems, Indigenous peoples, contemporary culture, cross-border politics and recent history of the Pacific Northwest.The Columbia River Basin is a vast region in North America, primarily located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and parts of Canada. It covers portions of seven U.S. states: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia. The basin is defined by the watershed of the Columbia River and its tributaries, making it one of the largest river basins in North America.Long lauded as a model of international co-operation, the Columbia River Treaty governs the storage and management of the waters of the upper Columbia River basin, a region rich in water resources and with a natural geography well suited to hydroelectric megaprojects. The Treaty also displaced more than 2,000 residents of over a dozen communities, flooded and destroyed archaeological sites, and upended once-healthy fisheries.Paying special attention to First Nations history, ecology, economics, politics, and CanadaUS relations, this investigative work weaves from the present day to the past and back again in an engaging and unflinching examination of how and why Canada decided to sell water storage rights to American interests.With one of the Treaty's provisions set to change in 2024 and termination of the treaty requiring a 10-year notice period, this updated edition of A River Captured looks at the destructive mistakes of our collective past in order to save us from an even more difficult future

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Book SynopsisA global quest to comprehend the meaning of Happy Valley on three continents and how these mountain communities continue to survive in a world that constantly challenges the very notion of happiness.Over her 17-year career as a travel writer, Jane Marshall has wandered the planet, always in search of wild, high-altitude, off-the-beaten-track places. During her travels she discovered something profound. On three continents, separated by vast oceans, she found hidden valleys known locally as Happy Valley. Her quest: to discover what makes them happy and learn from their Indigenous keepers.The happy valleys share common characteristics. They are geographically isolated and protected by walls of mountains; they are home to rare and endangered plants and animals; they exist outside of protections zones which gives them autonomy but also makes them vulnerable; their Indigenous populations name the land after human and divine body parts; and women are seen as powerful. Inside these Happy Valleys a balance between humans and nature has been struck. Sleeping on ridges, in caves, and in the traditional homes of local people, Marshall makes gruelling journeys to the heart of the happy valleys as she strives to comprehend the deep peace she feels within them.In a world facing environmental devastation, illness, and unprecedented mental anxieties, Marshall's book offers an alternative. She immerses herself in the land and forms deep connections with its people so she can learn sustainable ways of living their Indigenous populations have honed over millennia. From a goat herder's hut in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, to a Sundance ceremony with the Blackfoot/Soki-tapi people of Alberta, and ultimately to her dangerous pilgrimage in Nepal where she reaches the heart of a sacred land studded with treasures hidden by a famous yogi, Jane Marshall takes readers on the greatest adventure of all: The search for Shangri-La and the wisdom that can save the planet and our own hearts.

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Book SynopsisAn adventurous and thoughtful photographic exploration of Canada and Canadian identity.This collection of images, taken over a decade and in every corner of the country, explores and questions what being a Canadian means. The photographs depict Taylor's poignantly observed, first-person experience, visiting both recognizable and remote places that vary drastically in geography, history, socio-economic status, and overarching lifestyle.Roades intrigues the viewer with images of the cultural threads that hold Canada together, and effortlessly weaves local idiosyncrasies together with iconic landscapes from coast to coast. If you have travelled in any part of Canada, you will see something delightfully familiar, and in a country with so much to explore somewhere new to add to your list.

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Book SynopsisOn a motorcycle trip from Manitoba to southern Chile, Cameron Dueck seeks out isolated enclaves of Mennonites—and himself. “An engrossing account of an unusual adventure, beautifully written and full of much insight about the nature of identity in our ever-changing world, but also the constants that hold us together."—Adam Shoalts, national best-seller author of Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic and A History of Canada in 10 Maps Across Latin America, from the plains of Mexico to the jungles of Paraguay, live a cloistered Germanic people. For nearly a century, they have kept their doors and their minds closed, separating their communities from a secular world they view as sinful. The story of their search for religious and social independence began generations ago in Europe and led them, in the late 1800s, to Canada, where they enjoyed the freedoms they sought under the protection of a nascent government. Yet in the 1920s, when the country many still consider their motherland began to take shape as a nation and their separatism came under scrutiny, groups of Mennonites left for the promises of Latin America: unbroken land and new guarantees of freedom to create autonomous, ethnically pure colonies. There they live as if time stands still—an isolation with dark consequences. In this memoir of an eight-month, 45,000 kilometre motorcycle journey across the Americas, Mennonite writer Cameron Dueck searches for common ground within his cultural diaspora. From skirmishes with secular neighbours over water rights in Mexico, to a mass-rape scandal in Bolivia, to the Green Hell of Paraguay and the wheat fields of Argentina, Dueck follows his ancestors south, finding reasons to both love and loathe his culture—and, in the process, finding himself.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR MENNO MOTO “An engrossing account of an unusual adventure, beautifully written and full of much insight about the nature of identity in our ever-changing world, but also the constants that hold us together."—Adam Shoalts, national best-seller author of Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic and A History of Canada in 10 Maps PRAISE FOR CAMERON DUECK “The New Northwest Passage nicely captures the joys and pitfalls of an Arctic journey.”—Kenza Moller, Canadian Geographic “In the hands of a good writer like Dueck, the story of the trip is engaging and hard to put down.”—Jim Blanchard, The Winnipeg Free Press “Dueck presents an important portrait of a people and place in flux.”—David Leonard, Quill & Quire "Lots of people dream of quitting the rat-race, buying a boat and sailing away to the Caribbean or the South Pacific. But few do the first two and then embark on a voyage through the Northwest Passage. Hats off to Cameron Dueck: he acted, made good, and now he's written a compelling book about it."—Ken McGoogan, author of The Fatal Passage Quartet "The book is an engrossing string of vignettes about life in the real Arctic, not the Arctic of tourism brochures and adventurers' tales. Dueck has a faithful and sympathetic ear for the people of the Arctic and how their lives are changing."—Clive Tesar, World Wildlife Fund "Cameron Dueck's account of this journey makes a wonderful read—exciting, amusing, and above all, interesting."—E.C. Pielou, author of A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic

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Book SynopsisSamuel Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides are widely regarded as among the best pieces of travel writing ever produced. Johnson and Boswell spent the autumn of 1773 touring Scotland as far west as the islands of Skye, Raasay, Coll, Mull, Ulva, Inchkenneth and Iona. Highly readable, often profound, and at times very funny, their accounts of the ‘jaunt’ are above all a valuable record of a society undergoing rapid change. In this pioneering new edition, Ronald Black brings together the two men’s starkly contrasting accounts of each of the thirteen stages of the journey. He also restores to Boswell’s text 20,000 words from his journal which were denied entry to his book because they were intimate, defamatory, or about the islands rather than Johnson. The endnotes incorporate Boswell’s footnotes, translations of Latin passages, a clear summary of pre-existing information on the two texts, and a fresh focus on what the two men actually found on their trip. To the Hebrides also includes contemporary prints by Thomas Rowlandson, seventeen new maps and a comprehensive index.Trade Review'Their shifting view of some events is often hilarious. The story should be of particular interest to the many Canadians with Scots ancestry (as it is to this Welshman, who has none) and, best of all as a reminder of English as She Should be Writ, but Alas No Longer Is' * Toronto Globe and Mail *'It is always pleasurable when a reviewer can recommend a book unreservedly. Congratulations to Ronald Black and Birlinn, To the Hebrides is a stunning achievement' * Northwords Now *

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