Travel writing Books
Microcosm Publishing This Is Shanghai: What it's Like to Live in the
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£7.99
Avalon Travel Publishing Travel as a Political Act (Third Edition)
Book SynopsisExploring the world through travel is a vital way to shape our political views and our social awareness. These days, it's more important than ever to engage in travel as an activist.In this fully revised edition of his award-winning book Travel as a Political Act, acclaimed author and activist Rick Steves explains how to travel thoughtfully and honestly, and to come home with a better understanding of how our nation fits into a universal puzzle. In Rick's own words, travel connects us with nature, with culture, and most importantly, with people. When we experience the rest of the world, instead of fearing its diversity, we can learn to celebrate it.With entirely new chapters focused on the far-reaching impact of global events such as Brexit, Trump, and so much more, Rick shows readers how to travel with intention and an open mind. In times of political and cultural turmoil, his ardent philosophy rings truer than ever: beyond new experiences, great art, and tasty cuisine, travel emboldens us to become better citizens of this planet.
£13.29
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America,
Book SynopsisA memoir of one young man's coming of age on a journey across America--told through the stories of the people of all ages, races, and inclinations he meets along the way. Life is fast, and I've found it's easy to confuse the miraculous for the mundane, so I'm slowing down, way down, in order to give my full presence to the extraordinary that infuses each moment and resides in every one of us. At 23, Andrew Forsthoefel headed out the back door of his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, with a backpack, an audio recorder, his copies of Whitman and Rilke, and a sign that read "Walking to Listen." He had just graduated from Middlebury College and was ready to begin his adult life, but he didn't know how. So he decided to take a cross-country quest for guidance, one where everyone he met would be his guide. In the year that followed, he faced an Appalachian winter and a Mojave summer. He met beasts inside: fear, loneliness, doubt. But he also encountered incredible kindness from strangers. Thousands shared their stories with him, sometimes confiding their prejudices, too. Often he didn't know how to respond. How to find unity in diversity? How to stay connected, even as fear works to tear us apart? He listened for answers to these questions, and to the existential questions every human must face, and began to find that the answer might be in listening itself. Ultimately, it's the stories of others living all along the roads of America that carry this journey and sing out in a hopeful, heartfelt book about how a life is made, and how our nation defines itself on the most human level.
£17.09
Counterpoint Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the
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£21.24
Counterpoint The Great Clod: Notes and Memoirs on Nature and
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£14.39
Ulysses Press Moshi Moshi: A Travelogue: A Colorful Journey of
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£15.29
Catapult Every Day The River Changes: Four Weeks Down the
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£14.39
Catapult My Pisces Heart
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£17.37
The New York Review of Books, Inc The Bad Side of Books: Selected Essays of D.H.
Book SynopsisYou could describe D.H. Lawrence as the great multi-instrumentalist among the great writers of the twentieth century. He was a brilliant, endlessly controversial novelist who transformed, for better and for worse, the way we write about sex and emotions; he was a wonderful poet; he was an essayist of burning curiosity, expansive lyricism, odd humor, and radical intelligence, equaled, perhaps, only by Virginia Woolf. Here Geoff Dyer, one of the finest essayists of our day, draws on the whole range of Lawrence’s published essays to reintroduce him to a new generation of readers for whom the essay has become an important genre. We get Lawrence the book reviewer, writing about Death in Venice and welcoming Ernest Hemingway; Lawrence the travel writer, in Mexico and New Mexico and Italy; Lawrence the memoirist, depicting his strange sometime-friend Maurice Magnus; Lawrence the restless inquirer into the possibilities of the novel, writing about the novel and morality and addressing the question of why the novel matters; and, finally, the Lawrence who meditates on birdsong or the death of a porcupine in the Rocky Mountains. Dyer’s selection of Lawrence’s essays is a wonderful introduction to a fundamental, dazzling writer.
£17.95
addoil Publishing Bicycle Touring Taiwan: Roads above the Clouds
£21.09
ECW Press,Canada Off the Tracks
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£16.19
Orion Publishing Co Mail Obsession: A Journey Round Britain by
Book Synopsis'FASCINATING' Daily Mail'FULL OF AMAZING FACTS' The QI ElvesEach of the United Kingdom's 124 postcode areas has a story to tell, an unexpected nugget to dust off and treasure. Mark Mason has embarked on a tour of the country, immersing himself in Britain's history on a roundabout journey from AB to ZE. On the lookout for interesting place names and unusual monuments, along the way he discovers what the Queen keeps in her handbag, why the Jack Russell has a white coat and how Jimi Hendrix got confused by the M1. At the same time Mason paints an affectionate portrait of Britain in the 21st century, from aggressive seagulls in Blackpool to 'seasoned' drinkers in Surrey. And his travels offer the perfect opportunity to delve into the history of the Royal Mail, complete with pillar boxes, posties and Penny Reds - plus Oscar Wilde's unconventional method of posting a letter. A playful mix of fact, anecdote and overheard conversation, MAIL OBSESSION pays homage to Britain's wonderful past and its curious present.Trade ReviewAn entertaining read * DAILY EXPRESS *Beginning his adventure at the Watford Gap service station - the very first such station on one of the country's first motorways, the M1, [Mason] set off in the pleasant pursuit of idle trivia ... this book a source of endless delight. -- Jane Shilling * DAILY MAIL 'Must Reads' *Awesome - full of amazing facts -- The QI ElvesFascinating * DAILY MAIL *Turns up trivia at every stop * BBC RADIO 4 *Fantastic stuff * BBC LONDON *Almost every page contains at least one thing that you'll be itching to startle your friends with * READER'S DIGEST *Mason is an entertaining companion * WANDERLUST *All sorts of knowledge * CHOICE *Intriguing tales * EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES *
£9.99
Eland Publishing Ltd Among the Faithful
£11.69
Eland Publishing Ltd Ethiopia: Through Writers' Eyes
Book SynopsisThere are only a handful of destinations left in the world that have retained their ability to shock the traveller with their unique perspective. These places still awaken a sense of deep wonder as they offer the rare opportunity to observe the world from a different angle. Ethiopia is one of those rare countries. This book is the perfect companion to any exploration of Ethiopia, be it in the precarious saddle of an Abyssinian pony, or from the folds of an armchair. A compendium of all things Ethiopian, the book throws wide open precious windows of understanding, allowing you to gaze deeper into the landscape and people with additional wonder. As well as peopling the land with its own caste of priest kings descended from Solomon and Sheba, Ethiopia has long attracted the attentions of eccentric adventurers, Jesuit explorers, foolish would-be conquerors, as well as saints and sinners in equal measure ...and the keen interest of writers of all stripes. What you have here is quite literally the best bits from whole libraries of past travel accounts, hand-picked by Yves-Marie Stranger, a long time Ethiopia resident, trilingual interpreter and writer.
£13.49
Eland Publishing Ltd Travels in a Dervish Cloak
Book SynopsisSince 9/11 the reader has been inundated with academic volumes about radical Islam, the geo-political alliances of Pakistan and the identity of the Taliban. What has been lacking is Travels in a Dervish Cloak, an affectionate, hashish-scented travel book, full of humour and delight, written by a young Irish foreign correspondent living on his wits, on the contacts from his grandmother s address book and with a kidney given to him by his brother. Others might have conserved this gift of a life-saving kidney by living a sober and quiet life, but it had the opposite affect on Isambard Wilkinson, who took to the adventurous life of a Daily Telegraph foreign correspondent like a cat assured of nine lives. His rich and wonderfully intimate picture of Pakistan describes the country in all its exuberant, colourful, contemporary glory. It s a place where past empires, be they Mughal or Raj, continue to shine like old gold beneath the chaotic jigsaw of Baluch, Punjabi, Sindi and Pashtun peoples, not to mention warlords, hereditary saints, bandit landlords, smugglers and party-mad socialites. The only way to understand the contradictions is to plunge into the riot of differences, and to come out grinning.
£16.96
Eland Publishing Ltd Warrior Herdsmen: Life with the Dodoth of
Book SynopsisThis is the personal journal of a young American woman, living for six months amongst the Dodoth cattle-herdsmen in Northern Uganda. It is also an adventure story, for during this period the Dodoth were caught up in an escalating cycle of violence with their age-old rivals, the Turkana tribe. The animating tension of this feud was the tradition of cattle raiding, but it escalated to unprecedented levels of violence when the new nation states of Uganda and Kenya were drawn in to police these ancient clan frontiers. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas s total immersion in the life of this tribe in 1961 takes us with her, as with clarity and a lyrical eye for detail she brings their whole culture alive. For though she was not an academic herself, she had spent much time in the field with her mother, who was the world s leading authority on the Bushman of the Kalahari. So it was natural for Elizabeth Marshall Thomas to take her own young children on this adventure, where she proves herself such a brave, humane and unshockable witness to the life of the warrior herdsmen.
£11.69
Eland Publishing Ltd Saints of Sind
£15.29
Oneworld Publications Gold Fever: One Man's Adventures on the Trail of
Book SynopsisHave you ever imagined giving up your day job and heading for the hills in search of gold? Journalist Steve Boggan decided to do just that when the price of the precious metal scaled dizzying heights in the wake of the global financial crisis. Clueless, and with neither equipment nor experience, Boggan flew to California and followed in the footsteps of the '49ers', miners who fuelled the original Gold Rush of 1849. Along the way, terrified of bears, bubonic plague and rattlesnakes, he met a cast of colourful characters, including a former Navy Seal who risked his life every day and a man who once went on the run for five years in the mistaken belief that he was wanted by the law. In charming and witty prose, gold-fevered Boggan recaptures the excitement, the hopes and disappointments of the hunt, going beyond the story of modern prospectors to give a moving insight into the birth of modern America.Trade Review'Entertaining, informative and interesting…Carefully researched, funny and inspiring'. * The Sun *'Among his fellow miners [Boggan] found acceptance, comradeship and a wealth of personal stories, many tragic but most concealing a golden glimmer of hope beneath the sadness'. * Daily Mail *'A really fascinating, and funny, cautionary tale of the unexpected allure of lives spent in search of "the colour"'. * World Travel Guide *‘The expectation of the prospecting, the excitement of the panning, the thrill of the find… conveys powerfully the extent to which gold transformed America… moving’ * Daily Telegraph *‘A lively narrative history… Boggan is a hugely likeable companion… this book is a romp’ * Spectator *‘[Boggan] has a wonderful time, respectful of men prepared to give up everything in return for very little, but roguish enough to drop the wink on their ornery, old-fashioned optimism’ * Saga *'A perfect mixture of travelogue, history and down and dirty experience, leavened by rich veins of humour and pathos. A gem, or should I say a nugget.' -- Mick Conefrey – author of Everest 1953'Terrific. Pack your bag, grab your pick, and set out with master storyteller, Steve Boggan, for a trip in this highly original travelogue.' -- Daniel Klein – Sunday Times bestselling author of Travels with Epicurus‘Gold Fever is a wonderful mix of history, journalism and good old-fashioned adventure. It is this last aspect that really lends the book a unique appeal; Boggan is not afraid to get his hands dirty, and he shares his experiences and findings with great depth, humour and charisma.' -- Leon McCarron, author of The Road Headed West: A Cycling Journey Through North America‘A well-crafted story with heady fast-forward momentum. A dogged investigator’s obsessive quest for Californian gold, and the backstory of the gold fields.' -- Iain Sinclair, author of London Orbital‘Boggan does a good job relating this story’ * Independent *"Steve Boggan takes the reader on an exciting adventure and proves that prospecting is as much about digging for humor and hope as it is finding gold." * Jennifer Pharr Davis, author of Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail *
£10.44
Poetry Wales Press Island of Lightning
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£999.99
Poetry Wales Press The Road to Zagora
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£9.49
Poetry Wales Press The Edge of Cymru
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£10.44
Quercus Publishing A Journey to Nowhere: Among the Lands and History
Book SynopsisCourland is an entity that no longer exists. With the Gulf of Riga to the north, the Baltic to the west and Lithuania at its southern border, and now part of modern Latvia, the region was occupied by Nazi Germany and returned to Soviet Russia after the war, remaining largely inaccessible until 1991. It is now a nowhere land of wide skies and forests, deserted beaches, ruined castles and ex-KGB prisons. For years Jean-Paul Kauffmann has been irresistibly drawn to this buffer between the Germanic and Slav worlds. His digressive travels at the wheel of a Skoda become an investigation into the whereabouts of a former lover, a search for an excavator of tombs, and a journey in the footsteps of Louis XVIII, for whom Courland was once a place of exile.Trade Review'A seductively exciting historical exploration of a country that no longer exists ... Kauffmann is the ideal literary detective' Irish Times. * Irish Times *'A triumph ... superbly translated by Euan Cameron, provides a vivid amalgam of opinion, history and travelogue; I was absorbed from start to finish' Financial Times. * Financial Times *'Curiously engaging and even tantalising book ... this book is something of a tour de force' Spectator. * Spectator *'Kauffmann is a gripping narrator. The minute he lands in Riga ... you're hooked' The Lady. * Lady *'This wonderful writer has come up with another winner' Giles Foden. * Giles Foden *Table of ContentsMaps. Prologue. I - THIRTY YEARS LATER: Mara from Canada. The 'Grand Oral'. Circe. Where Is Courland? The Resurrector Appears. II - THE JOURNEY TO COURLAND: A Red Skoda Favorit. The Lecturer from Liepaja. Gwenaelle K. The Polytonal Rocker. The Battle of Tsushima. Manor House or Palace? III - THE PROFESSOR: In the Corridor. The Sabile Vineyard. Fluffy Soviet Blankets. Moricsala. Gambia and Tobago. The Courland Cap. Romantic Courland. The Venus of Blankenfeld. Madame Royale's Tree. IV - THE HOUSE ON THE LAKE: Winter. The Resurrector is a Painter. Encounter with the Resurrector. Crocodile Dundee. The Survivor. 'It's a German Name'. Mythological Courland. The Cemetery. The Stranger. V - THE RETURN: Revenge. A Letter. Index. Chronology. Notes. Suggest Reading. Acknowledgements.
£12.34
Quercus Publishing Tragic Shores: A Memoir of Dark Travel
Book Synopsis'I have come to thank dark places for the light they bring to life.'Thomas Cook has always been drawn to dark places, for the powerful emotions they evoke and for what we can learn from them. These lessons are often unexpected and sometimes profoundly intimate, but they are never straightforward.With his wife and daughter, Cook travels across the globe in search of darkness - from Lourdes to Ghana, from San Francisco to Verdun, from the monumental, mechanised horror of Auschwitz to the intimate personal grief of a shrine to dead infants in Kamukura, Japan. Along the way he reflects on what these sites may teach us, not only about human history, but about our own personal histories.During the course of a lifetime of traveling to some of earth's most tragic shores, from the leper colony on Molokai to ground zero at Hiroshima, he finds not darkness alone, but a light that can illuminate the darkness within each of us. Written in vivid prose, this is at once a personal memoir of exploration (both external and internal), and a strangely heartening look at the radiance that may be found at the very heart of darkness.Trade ReviewA fascinating, troubling memoir from a fine writer -- Mick Herron * Geographical Magazine *Cook writes movingly, perceptively, fulfilling his assertion that "there is much to be gained where much has been lost" * Irish Times *Cook writes with a tender precision . . . a stunning and revelatory book that will haunt you for months to come * Catholic Herald *Cook can achieve a palpable, vivid sense of place, often in a few sentences, sometimes in a few words, while smoothly integrating the factual background data into his narrative * Bookbag *
£12.34
John Blake Publishing Ltd Life Cycles: A London Bike Courier Decided to
Book SynopsisJulian Sayarer grew up riding a bicycle. Working as a bike courier in London, he learned the world record for a circumnavigation by bike had been broken, and that cycling into the sunset had been bought by banks and big business. Determined to do things differently, Julian set out to take back the record for the people. Life Cycles is his story of that record, riding 110 miles every 24 hours for 6 months on only GBP8.84 a day - a route through jungles, snow and 20 different countries. He found himself stranded without money in the deserts of Kazakhstan, held up by insurrections in northwest China, and sleeping under motorway bridges in America's Deep South. Taken by life on the road and a spirit of adventure, he loved every minute of it. A tale of excitement and world politics by bicycle, travelling at 12mph, Julian found that the Tartars of Central Asia aren't so different to the trailer families of Louisiana. This book is a reminder that the world is out there - and it's waiting for us.
£13.74
Bradt Travel Guides An An Educational Journey
Book SynopsisEducation expert Raphael Wilkins, author of Accidental Traveller, recounts his travels around the world as a visiting expert, where he set up and advised on several educational projects, all very different from each other, and all providing challenges in working across languages and cultures. He battles with unenthusiastic school principals in Dammam, a volatile project manager in Mexico and awkward hosts in Lucknow. Among other adventures, he visits a navy school in Karachi, completes a fulfilling project in Jeddah, secures a valuable contract with the Colombian government in Bogota, and enjoys a tender reunion in Cyprus. Combining informative and thought-provoking insights on education with personal reflections from a lifetime of travel, An Educational Journey is an inspirational book about the importance of broadening horizons, both physical and personal.
£9.49
Bradt Travel Guides West with the Light: My Life in Nature
Book Synopsis'Don't send him to Torremolinos; it's not his kind of tundra.' Such was the mantra of The Sunday Times when considering assignments for Brian Jackman, for whom deserts, rain forests and mountain ranges have always been more enticing habitats. After decades spent travelling and writing about the places and wildlife that have inspired him, one of the world's most experienced naturalists has turned his focus onto the story of his inspirational life. 'This is no ordinary autobiography', he says. West with the Light sweeps through Jackman's wartime evacuation, grammar school, Soho jazz clubs of the '50s and the navy to a career in travel journalism to which his first marriage gave way before he found a new, true and more lasting love that abides to this day in his beloved rural Dorset. Beginning with memories of Edwardian London and the growth of suburbia, it provides a vivid portrayal of post-war travel and the rise of a new sort of tourism - ecotourism - set against the background of the most turbulent decades the world has ever known. Through it all shines Jackman's lifelong love of nature, instilled by childhood holidays in the West country and the stories that led to his passion for Africa and the big cats that that still walk through his life and dreams. Rippling across continents with Jackman's natural charm and hallmark stylish prose, his recollections include lively first-hand encounters with pioneering wildlife conservationists like George and Joy Adamson, Iain and Saba Douglas-Hamilton, Richard Leakey, Gavin Maxwell and Jonathan Scott. Travellers, wildlife enthusiasts, writers and anyone with a love of adventure will adore this book.Trade Review"Evocative, personal and authoritative, with terrific pace and narrative flow - everything a reader could ask for. Jackman at his very finest." Richard Girling, author and environmental journalist "There is love on every page. I was borne along with it on a warm current of beautiful writing." Peter Hughes "A beautifully written book". Tony FitzjohnTable of ContentsPART ONE SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS PART TWO TO AFRICA AND BEYOND PART THREE THE GIRL WITH THE NORTH SEA EYES EPILOGUE
£9.49
Bradt Travel Guides Three Stripes South: The 1000km thru-hike that
Book SynopsisIn 2016, desperate for a drastic change, Bex Band decided to walk the length of Israel with her husband: a 1000km trek including a dangerous crossing through the vast Negev desert. She'd never done anything like it before and the experience changed her life, building back her confidence and self-esteem. Three Stripes South tells the story of this transformative adventure - battling heat, exhaustion, self-doubt and prejudice - and the new life Bex built for herself when she got home, founding the Love Her Wild women's adventure community. 'Lacking confidence is something that a lot of women can relate to' says Bex. 'For me personally, it began at school with undiagnosed dyslexia and bullying. This fed into my adult years where I found myself in a vicious cycle of unhappy jobs and bouts of depression. I had low self-esteem and a belief that I really wasn't capable of achieving much in life.' Fast forward to today and Bex has transformed her life, tackling gender inequality in adventure travel, and championing women in the outdoors through regular talks, blogging and leading women on adventures all over the world. Nominated for multiple awards for her work advocating women in adventure, her story is an inspiration.
£9.49
Eye Books Baghdad Business School: The Challenges of a
Book SynopsisHeyrick Bond Gunning was on the first civilian plane into Baghdad after the airport had been secured following the fall of Saddam Hussein. Armed with a camp bed, some baked beans and $25,000 in cash, his mission was to establish a foothold for one of the world’s largest logistics businesses in one of the world’s most inhospitable markets. Baghdad Business School charts the challenges, the characters and the comedy of trying to do business in a war zone. It also provides a unique perspective on the Iraq conflict and is proof of the adage that, the more you put into life, the more you get out of it.Trade Review"Vividly describes how it feels to be thrown in at the deep end" – The Economist
£9.49
Icon Books The 50 Greatest Walks of the World
Book SynopsisBarry Stone, author of 1001 Walks You Must Experience Before You Die, delves into some of the lesser-known aspects of the world's most famous - and not-quite-famous-yet - trails.The perfect accompaniment to practical guidebooks, Stone relates how slings and carabiners kept him from falling headlong off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and reports on the progress of the continental-wide monster, the Trans Canada Trail, gaps in which are still being filled by countless grass-roots communities.With walks that will appeal to everyone regardless of ability, The 50 Greatest Walks of the World includes British classics such as the Pennine Way, Offa's Dyke Path, and the Old Man of Hoy as well as personal favourites such as Italy's Cinque Terre Classic and the Isle of Skye's Trotternish Ridge, one of Britain's finest ridge traverses with almost 2,500m of ascents. Whether it's a climb, a stroll, or a life-changing slog, this book has the walk for you.
£7.64
Icon Books Adrift: A Secret Life of London’s Waterways
Book SynopsisJourneying along London's waterways on a canal boat called Pike, Helen Babbs puts down roots for two weeks at a time before moving on. From Walthamstow Marsh in the east to Uxbridge in the west, she explores the landscape in all its guises: marshland, wasteland, city centre and suburb.From deep winter to late autumn, Babbs explores the people, politics, history and wildlife of the canals and rivers, to reveal an intimate and unusual portrait of London - and of life.Trade ReviewAdrift is an engaging introduction to living on a narrow boat, held together with atmospheric descriptions of reconnecting with life's simple pleasures ... It is at its best when capturing the transition from a life on land to a life on board, as well as mapping the evolving relationship between urban building developments and the canal's ecology. -- Times Literary SupplementBabbs is an excellent nature writer, evoking the lives and emotions tied to the water. Charming -- Steven Cooper * Waterstones Events Manager, The Bookseller *A compelling exploration of river living * Homes and Gardens *One of the best waterways books for decades * Waterways World *A treat ... Babbs's effortless prose is tight and lyrical, moseying along at a calm, steady pace, but there are moments both barbed and cutting ... A serious and fascinating book * Hackney Citizen *Chapter after chapter of utterly captivating prose * Caught by the River *Waterways writing at its finest: the breathtaking, boat-eulogising Adrift. -- @TheBookBarge
£7.19
Atlantic Books In A Time Of Monsters: Travels Through a Middle
Book SynopsisReturning to the UK in September 2010 after serving in Iraq as the political adviser to the top American general, Emma Sky felt no sense of homecoming. She soon found herself back in the Middle East travelling through a region in revolt. In A Time of Monsters bears witness to the demands of young people for dignity and justice during the Arab Spring; the inability of sclerotic regimes to reform; the descent of Syria into civil war; the rise of the Islamic State; and the flight of refugees to Europe. With deep empathy for its people and an extensive understanding of the Middle East, Sky makes a complex region more comprehensible. A great storyteller and observational writer, Sky also reveals the ties that bind the Middle East to the West and how blowback from our interventions in the region contributed to the British vote to leave the European Union and to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.Trade ReviewA fascinating account by someone who both knows the region and cares. -- Christina Lamb * Sunday Times *Sky's clear, unadorned and unpretentious style is a reflection of her intellectual and emotional commitment to a region that she evidently loves and understands... Accounts of the complexities of the parts of the region she knows best are riveting. -- Jason Burke * Guardian *Table of Contents0: Prologue: What had it all been for? 1: Hold your head up, you're an Egyptian! 2: Dégage! 3: 'Assad - or we burn the country' 4: They are all thieves 5: Zero neighbours without problems 6: Better sixty years of tyranny than one night of anarchy 7: . to the hill of frankincense 8: We have no friends but the mountains 9: ... but surely we are brave, who take the Golden Road to Samarkand 10: The Islamic State: A caliphate in accordance with the prophetic method 11: What happens in the Middle East does not stay in the Middle East 12: And even though it all went wrong 13: Epilogue: The sun also rises
£11.39
Atlantic Books The Age of Islands: In Search of New and
Book Synopsis'Extraordinary... A fascinating and intelligent book.' Sunday TimesNew islands are being built at an unprecedented rate whether for tourism or territorial ambition, while many islands are disappearing or fragmenting because of rising sea levels. It is a strange planetary spectacle, creating an ever-changing map which even Google Earth struggles to keep pace with. In The Age of Islands, explorer and geographer Alastair Bonnett takes the reader on a compelling and thought-provoking tour of the world's newest, most fragile and beautiful islands and reveals what, he argues, is one of the great dramas of our time.From a 'crannog', an ancient artificial island in a Scottish loch, to the militarized artificial islands China is building in the South China Sea; from the disappearing islands that remain the home of native Central Americans to the ritzy new islands of Dubai; from Hong Kong and the Isles of Scilly to islands far away and near: all have urgent stories to tell.Trade ReviewExtraordinary... Bonnett writes with an acerbic charm... A fascinating and intelligent book. It brings geography to life in a way that felt-tip drawings of Dutch polders never could. * Sunday Times *Fascinating... Man-made territories provide the most interesting moments in Alastair Bonnett's tour of our planet's many islands. * Daily Mail *A knowledgeable world tour of different types of islands, much enhanced by self-deprecating accounts of his own often shoestring visits... Bonnett expertly covers the different kinds of islands... and rightly points out the ecological consequences of human building projects worldwide. -- James Hamilton-Paterson * Literary Review *A beguiling, fact-filled account of the world's headlong dash to build artificial islands. * TLS *As well as being a love letter from a geographer to his subject, it serves as a whistle-stop tour of a world in flux and crisis. * Newcastle Evening Chronicle *In The Age of Islands, Alastair Bonnett combines a deep knowledge of history and contemporary geopolitics with a seasoned travel writer's eye for the telling detail, as he gives us a tour of our terrifying but often beautiful new world. -- Joshua Keating, author of Invisible Countries: Journeys to the Edge of NationhoodAlastair Bonnett's reporting of islands new and ancient: from trash islands to military islands to brand-new, environment-trashing 'ultra-star' islands to approaching-extinction islands is a well-researched and open-handed cautionary tale for our times. -- Dan Boothby, author of Island of Dreams: A Personal History of a Remarkable PlaceAn ambitious journey by wing, sail, rubber and road to find the lost, emerging, off-limits and artificial islands of our fast-changing world. Once again, Bonnett respectfully drags geography back to its roots. -- Brad Garrett, author of Bunker: Building for the End TimesSheer vulnerability and bold architecture live cheek by jowl in this Age of Islands. If islands did not exist, we would have to invent them. And now we do. This book helps us understand how and why. -- Godfrey Baldacchino, University of Malta; President, International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA)A great primer on the concept of islands in the modern age. . . . Engagingly written. * Library Journal *Table of Contents0: Introduction Part One: Rising 1: Why We Build Islands 2: Flevopolder, The Netherlands 3: The World, Dubai 4: Chek Lap Kok, Airport Island, Hong Kong 5: Fiery Cross Reef, South China Sea 6: Phoenix Island, China 7: Ocean Reef, Panama 8: Natural, Overlooked and Accidental: Other New Islands 9: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, Tonga 10: The Accidental Islands of Pebble Lake, Hungary 11: Trash Islands Part Two: Disappearing 12: Disappearing Islands 13: The San Blas Islands of Guna Yala, Panama 14: Tongatapu and Fafa, Tonga 15: The Isles of Scilly, UK Part Three: Future 16: Future Islands 17: Seasteading 18: Dogger Bank Power Link Island, North Sea 19: East Lantau Metropolis, Hong Kong 20: Not an Ending
£9.49
Cinnamon Press The Hazelnut Grove
Book SynopsisOn the surface a young professional couple, Sarah and Luke craved a different, more self-sufficient life. They traded the comfort of a two-bedroom English cottage for a derelict house in northwest Italy. The Hazelnut Grove explores the joys and demands of daring to live in search of a dream. Sarah and Luke’s chosen life is part fairy tale, part story of courage and self-reliance, as their new neighbour, nicknamed il Cattivo, the nasty one, decides to make war over the desolate hazelnut grove, a two metre strip of land behind their house. Their story is interspersed with anecdotes drawn from the author’s family’s holiday cottage in rural France. As events unfold that might have driven them away, especially Sarah, who does not share Luke’s Italian heritage, a picture emerges not only of how the Italian life has tested Sarah, but also of how she discovered in herself both a grand obstinacy and a respect for the materials and objects of that life. A chunk of rusting metal becomes, in Sarah’s eyes, an artefact with potential. Sarah becomes an artist. Set in Piedmont, renowned for its wine and food, a story of abundance and thriving slowly emerges against the challenges of a menacing neighbour, the deaths of beloved animals and the loneliness of getting to grips with an unfamiliar language and culture. When asked by English friends:‘Would you ever move back home again?’ Luke and Sarah can only answer:‘We are home.’
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Colour of the Sky After Rain
Book SynopsisAn extraordinary memoir of one woman's experiences in China. ******************************** Tessa Keswick first travelled to China in 1982 and immediately fell in love with its history, culture and landscape. Over the next thirty years, she travelled extensively in China, visiting its temples and landmarks, the sites of its most famous battles, and the birthplaces of its best-known poets and philosophers. She also witnessed China's transformation, as hundreds of millions were lifted out of poverty and the country emerged as an economic superpower in waiting. Keswick's observations of life in China are perceptive and full of insight. Her narrative is rich in microhistories of people encountered and places visited. By presenting a colourfully woven tapestry of contrasting experiences and localities, she allows the reader to glimpse the sheer diversity of China and its vast population. A multi-textured and revealing survey of the world's largest country, as seen through one woman's eyes, The Colour of the Sky After Rain offers a compelling portrait of China in an age of radical change, and charts the key staging posts in its recent, remarkable history. ******************************** 'Tessa Keswick provides joyous insights into her life with husband Sir Henry Keswick' Sunday Times. 'Keswick is an engaging, lively guide and she is at her best when writing about the Chinese landscape' Daily Mail. 'At precisely the time that we need to understand China more than ever, along comes a book that is incisive, honest, witty, and beautifully written which explains the Chinese people and society to a Western audience superbly. Impossible to categorize, The Colour of the Sky After Rain is part-memoir, part-travelogue, part-history, part-thoughtful musing, and packed with insights into the Chinese state and soul that forces us to look afresh at the world’s thrusting new superpower' Professor Andrew Roberts. 'If you want an enthralling read about China and to learn a lot about that extraordinary country at the same time, read Tessa Keswick's The Colour of the Sky After Rain. I derived so much pleasure and excitement from the story that I hardly noticed all the history I was imbibing. The Colour of the Sky aAter Rain is both serious and seriously entertaining. It is strongly recommended' Lady Antonia Fraser. 'The Colour of the Sky After Rain made me want at once to leap on to a plane and travel to Zhongdian, to Jiayuguan, to Suzhou, to Xinjiang (and on and on)... I learnt a great deal from this book about the history of China over the millennia and especially over the last fifty years' Neil MacGregor.Trade ReviewTessa Keswick provides joyous insights into her life with husband Sir Henry Keswick * Sunday Times *Keswick is an engaging, lively guide and she is at her best when writing about the Chinese landscape * Daily Mail *At precisely the time that we need to understand China more than ever, along comes a book that is incisive, honest, witty, and beautifully written which explains the Chinese people and society to a Western audience superbly. Impossible to categorize, The Colour of the Sky After Rain is part-memoir, part-travelogue, part-history, part-thoughtful musing, and packed with insights into the Chinese state and soul that forces us to look afresh at the world's thrusting new superpower -- Professor Andrew RobertsIf you want an enthralling read about China and to learn a lot about that extraordinary country at the same time, read Tessa Keswick's The Colour of the Sky after Rain. I derived so much pleasure and excitement from the story that I hardly noticed all the history I was imbibing. The Colour of the Sky after Rain is both serious and seriously entertaining. It is strongly recommended -- Lady Antonia FraserA gorgeous book... A must if you've been to China, if you're going to China, or if you know of somebody who's done that or who is going to do that... It's a factual book, but it's fascinating, it'll get you a direct 'in' into the culture' * BBC Radio Guernsey *The best parts of this beguiling but unusual book – part memoir, part travelogue and part paean to a people she admires – are those describing how Jardines overcame its opium war stigma and rehabilitated itself with Beijing. The story she tells is both evocative and emblematic of its time * Financial Times *Made me want at once to leap on to a plane and travel to Zhongdian, to Jiayuguan, to Suzhou, to Xinjiang (and on and on)... I learnt a great deal from this book about the history of China over the millennia and especially over the last fifty years' -- Neil MacGregorPart history, part social history, part gossip and part travelogue, her book is in the mode of the late Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor. It sheds more light on the cultural and social history that animates the Chinese mindset, give them their self-reliance, their sense of determination and ability to outwit the obstacles placed in their paths, than a reader could reasonably have hoped for * Catholic Herald *
£25.50
Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd Around the World in 80 Spiritual Places: Discover
Book SynopsisDiscover some of the world’s most awe-inspiring and holy places, from Stonehenge to Uluru, and Walden Pond to Angkor Wat. Humans have always searched for and created meaning in the world around them, whether in breathtakingly stunning natural features and phenomena, acknowledging the ancient home of a particular faith or movement, or honouring the location of a significant event. In this beautifully illustrated guide, Alice Peck discusses what makes a place spiritual – whether reaches of time, geography, the provision of sustenance or inspiration, or mystery and magic – and then explores 80 such locations around the globe. Rather than a comprehensive travel guide, the description of each one includes a detail or tip – something beautiful, strange, relatively unknown or unfamiliar – to allow readers to deepen their focus and perhaps experience the place in a different way than they might expect. If you are unable to travel at this time, this book will help you plan your next adventure. And if you are trying to limit your carbon footprint, each destination is accompanied by a related meditation, prayer, practice or quotation to help you connect to the spirit of it from your own home.Trade ReviewLets seekers immerse themselves in awe - Publishers Weekly The ultimate armchair guide for the spiritual seeker - Spirituality & Health magazine “Peck’s book will surely make people slow down and contemplate the intangibles that make certain places feel so powerful - Inhabitat.com
£12.34
Luath Press Ltd The West Highlands: The Lonely Lands
Book SynopsisInveraray, Oban, Kintyre, Glencoe, Loch Awe, Loch Lomond, Appin, Islay - all the glories of Argyll are described in this book. From Dumbarton to Campletown and north to Loch Etive there is a great wealth of beauty unmatched in Scotland. It is a quiet and lonely land, a land still unspoiled, a land of history and legend, a land of unsurpassed glory. Tom Atkinson describes it all, writing with deep insight into the land he loves. There could be no better guide to its beauties and history. Once Atkinson has taken you there, these lands can never feel lonely.Trade ReviewHere, you will find ‘that curious pastiche of myths and legend and history that the Scots use to describe their heritage... A lively counterpoint to the more standard, detached guidebook... Intriguing. THE WASHINGTON POST
£6.99
The Lilliput Press Ltd Changing the Times: Irish Women Journalists
Book SynopsisThis ‘new journalism’ by Irish Times women writers originally appeared on the Women First pages during the 1970s. Together, the pieces reflect the enormous social and political upheaval of the years when, as the first woman’s page editor Mary Maher put it, “Irish women were invented”. The voices of this exciting anthology, diverse, sparkling, irreverent, record with wit and intelligence an Ireland on the brink of transformation. Changing The Times showcases the best of this writing, by Maeve Binchy, Mary Leland, Gabrielle Williams, Christina Murphy, Geraldine Kennedy, Maev Kennedy, Eileen O’Brien, Caroline Walsh, Theodora FitzGibbon, Nell McCafferty, Renagh Holohan, Elgy Gillespie and others. Issues of the day are articulated and explored: pregnancy, fashion, first loves, sexuality, a burgeoning feminism, an imploding Catholic Church, an exploding North. Nell McCafferty profiles a young Ian Paisley, visits New York and talks to the family of a girl tarred and feathered in Derry; Maeve Binchy interviews Samuel Beckett and Iris Murdoch; Mary Holland follows the North, while Renagh Holohan is caught in its explosions; Elgy Gillespie encounters Muhammed Ali, Tyrone Guthrie and Robert Lowell; while Mary Cummins interviews Bernadette Devlin about having her first baby. As the mirror of a confident young nation, and a window onto one of the most eventful decades in recent Irish history, Changing the Times gives these writings the afterlife they richly deserve.
£12.34
The Lilliput Press Ltd The Shannon Navigation
Book SynopsisThe Shannon Navigation traces the history of the River Shannon as a navigation up to the present day from the 1750s when the early works were commenced under the Commissioners of Inland Navigation and subsequently under the Directors General of Inland Navigation from 1800 to 1831. These works, which took many years to complete, were not very successful and were badly maintained. In the 1830s the arrival of steamers focussed attention on the poor state of the navigation, which coincided with the efforts of the government to initiate public works to relieve distress by providing employment. During the 1840s a major scheme was carried out creating the fine navigation that is enjoyed today. The works were designed to address the combined issues of navigation and drainage but only partially improved the extensive problems of flooding. The age of the steamers was cut short by the coming of the railways and a second attempt to provide passenger boats in the early 1900s did not live up to expectations. The subsequent history of the navigation is traced including the harnessing of the river as a hydro-electric scheme, which had a substantial impact on the navigation. The gradual decline in the use of the river for commercial trade saw it entering a trough until recent years, which have seen the growth in the use of the river for tourism and recreation, with the great works of the mid-nineteenth century utilized to their full potential for the first time. This magnificent documentary history is illustrated by over two hundred and fifty photographs, engravings, posters, maps and drawings, and contains invaluable appendices detailing the Acts and parliamentary papers, the works, the tonnage carried, and information about steamers and other boats.
£40.50
Quercus Publishing Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa
Book SynopsisShortlised for the Saltire Society Non Fiction Book of the Year Award Almost every adult and child is familiar with his Treasure Island, but few know that Robert Louis Stevenson lived out his last years on an equally remote island, which was squabbled over by colonial powers much as Captain Flint's treasure was contested by the mongrel crew of the Hispaniola.In 1890 Stevenson settled in Upolu, an island in Samoa, after two years sailing round the South Pacific. He was given a Samoan name and became a fierce critic of the interference of Germany, Britain and the U.S.A. in Samoan affairs - a stance that earned him Oscar Wilde's sneers, and brought him into conflict with the Colonial Office, who regarded him as a menace and even threatened him with expulsion from the island.Joseph Farrell's pioneering study of Stevenson's twilight years stands apart from previous biographies by giving as much weight to the Samoa and the Samoans - their culture, their manners, their history - as to the life and work of the man himself. For it is only by examining the full complexity of Samoa and the political situation it faced as the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, that Stevenson's lasting and generous contribution to its cause can be appreciated.Trade ReviewA bracing amalgam of history, biography and travel . . . Farrell has done his compatriot proud. -- Ian Thomson * Financial Times. *Scholarly, engaging and deeply thoughtful, Joseph Farrell's account of Stevenson's last four years in Samoa has the feel of an instant classic in studies of the writer. The Navigator Islands had fascinated Stevenson for years, but when he went to live there in 1890, frail and famous, the realities of life in on the margins of his own culture, language and society changed him forever. Rarely can a place and a writer have had so much effect on each other: Joseph Farrell's brilliant study takes us further into this fascinating relationship than ever before. -- Claire Harman, author of Robert Louis Stevenson: A BiographyMarvellously done, thanks to the lively fair-mindedness of Farrell's excellent prose. Vivid, scholarly, informative, but above all a really good read. -- Liz Lochhead, Scots Makar 2011-16Joseph Farrell's is the best book I have seen on Stevenson's years in Samoa, the most enviable of any writer's ever. Farrell is fair to both his sunburnt Bohemianism and his unremitting hard work. -- James BuchanStevenson in Samoa is very good indeed . . . It is full of interest and repays the attention it demands. -- Allan Massie * Scotsman. *A sparkling account of the last years of Stevenson's life . . . An emeritus professor at the University of Strathclyde and translator of literary works from Italian, Farrell comes armed with perceptive, elegant prose and a revealing understanding of Stevenson's peculiarly Scottish frame of mind. * Literary Review *A very profound examination of Stevenson's Samoa in light of current and present ideologies. -- Brian Morton * Glasgow Herald. *Farrell provides a welcome service by offering us the fascinating story of Stevenson's last great roll with the dice. -- Peter Carty * Spectator. *By adeptly detailing colonial politics in which Stevenson intervened, Farrell takes us well beyond the image of the romantic exile in Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa. -- Christine Bold * T.L.S. *A warm and intelligent account of the novelist's life and work in his last years in the South Seas. -- Allan Massie * Catholic Herald Books of the Year *
£12.34
Whittles Publishing Halcyon in the Hebrides
Book SynopsisTo celebrate 60 years of sailing Scottish waters, the author single-handedly sailed Halcyon, a 32' wooden yawl, from Fairlie on the Clyde, round the Mull of Kintyre by way of numerous inner islands to Barra in the Outer Hebrides and to the Atlantic side of the islands, not often visited by cruising yachts. Bad weather forced a diversion to explore the sea lochs of the west coast of Harris and Lewis, the islands of Taransay (of the BBC's Castaway series) and Scarp, famed for its ingenious 'Rocket Post' experiment. While visiting these numerous islands, he met local people and experienced the sometimes violent extremes of weather such as when he was storm-bound in Stornoway for several days. There are stories galore about the island people, snippets of interesting history, legends and folklore, tales of the sea and island life, the Hebridean fishermen and lighthouses - thus uncovering another dimension of island life. Bob recounts his travels and tales, some previously unpublished, in a relaxed and highly-readable style. As well as being a unique travel book, it is an insight into the rapidly-changing ways of island life and a useful sailing guide to the Western Isles and anchorages in the Hebrides. It would be of immeasurable help to sailors keen to venture into some of the lesser-known sailing areas of Western Scotland. This vivid and entertaining story of adventurous sailing among Scotland's beautiful but challenging Western Isles will be enjoyed by keen sailors and armchair travellers alike - a truly memorable journey of over 1000 miles!Trade Review'...this book presents its readers with a fine opportunity - to journey with him. ...he reveals encounters, supplies appropiate connections, provides historical insights through anecdotes, but, above all, he is a combination of a skipper and steward who, through his words, embodies the essence of good company.' Scottish Island Explorer '...it is an adventure... ...and ready for sharing. ...a valuable sailing guide for those planning to embark on such an expedition. ... For the less adventurous among us, find a couple of quiet hours, board a comfy armchair, sit back and enjoy the journey.' Whitehaven News 'The Hebridean Islands are not for the faint hearted, but the rewards for the plucky cruiser are great. Bob Orrell delved into 60 years of cruising the area to rediscover the thrill and beauty of this treacherous coastline, this time sailing single-handed.' Sailing Today 'Along the way, the author rejoiced and grimaced through Scotland's changeable weather; met fascinating people and visited places with fabulous stories, enjoyed adventures and described Scotland's amazing western coastline through a sailor's eyes. Bob is a lovely writer and brings to life the atmosphere and sights of his intrepid expedition around one of the most stunning coastal areas of Scotland.' FionaOutdoors '...a wonderful book. Well written, engaging, and unusually compelling for a work of non-fiction, this is a book that reveals the Hebrides in what for many readers will be an entirely new light.' Undiscovered Scotland
£16.14
Whittles Publishing Mediterranean: A Year Around a Charmed and
Book SynopsisOn 26th April 2014 Huw kayaked away from Anzac Cove at Gallipoli, Turkey, taking the next three months to navigate around the coasts of Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Croatia. Following this, he spent three months walking the full length of the European Alps, taking on Mont Blanc, at 4810m Europe's highest mountain, in the process. Having left the Alps behind, he biked through Southern France and across Spain before paddling his sea kayak along the coast of Andalucia to Gibraltar and across the Straits of Gibraltar, between the Pillars of Hercules, to North Africa. This was a major achievement, a full traverse of Europe in eight months; 7,500 km from Turkey. However, for Huw, this was only the half-way point. During winter, the coldest and stormiest for many years, Huw continued the journey by bike through Morocco, Algeria and into Tunisia. The ever-worsening situation in the region forced him to abandon his bike in favour of an alternative mode of transport. A wonderful set of coincidences and circumstances saw Huw use an ocean rowboat to row, by night and day, the 1,500 km to Turkey with a young Slovenian adventurer. It was the first time he had ever rowed in his life.For the final month Huw kayaked the last 1,000 km to where it all began along a Turkish coast now awash with the flotsam and jetsam of the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. After 363 days Huw arrived back to Gallipoli, in time for the centenary commemoration of Anzac Day. His incredible journey included many memorable events such as being held on a Turkish military island after inadvertently landing to camp, meeting an amazing one-legged hiker while crossing the Alps and arriving dog-tired and starving by kayak to Africa after local kindnesses beat back British and Spanish political differences over Gibraltar to allow a crossing of the Straits of Gibraltar. Huw took in the extraordinary land and seascapes, the rich and varied cultures and peoples and the current state of many of those countries. This is a fascinating story of endurance, and throughout this epic journey Huw raised funds for the children of war-torn Syria, in the process becoming Save the Children Australia's highest-ever individual fundraiser.Trade Review`The reader travels with a man constantly making life-changing choices, whether based on data, rumour or gut instinct; pushing through injury, weather, red tape or sheer bad luck'. Getaway Magazine -------------------- `...an eye-opening journey around some extraordinary land and seascapes... ...a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in travel and Mediterranean culture'. Lifeboat RNLI -------------------- `...forms the engaging and insightful book Mediterranean... This charming book also gives a beautifully written account of the people the author met along the way, and paints an evocative picture of the landscapes encountered. ...is a wonderful example of the steely determination and optimism that sees him pick his end point and move heaven and earth to reach it'. Flybe Flight Time Magazine -------------------- `If you're looking for a great read then you can't go past Mediterranean... ...an inspiring and entertaining read for all armchair adventurers'. Great Walks Magazine - --------------------`...Huw's travel tale becomes a story of human kindness and resilience'. Australia Geographic Outdoor Magazine -------------------- `...this is a must read'. Outer Edge -------------------- `...Huw's many experiences in the countries he visited are both insightful and entertaining. An inspiring read and proof the world is still full of adventure'. Australian Geographic Magazine --------------------- '...if this book doesn't get the travel juices going, then nothing will!' Burnley Express -------------------- 'Charming tale of a maritime adventure. ...engaging and insightful book...a story of enthusiasm... This charming book also gives a beautifully written account of the people the author met along the way, and paints a picture of the wonderful landscapes he encountered'. Nautilus Telegraph -------------------- '...a good read filled with how the 'Aussie' Huw overcame many obstacles in his quest to travel around the littoral of the Mediterranean by human power alone. ...this is a colourful documentary aided by a number of pictures...' Royal Naval Sailing Association -------------------- '...well illustrated...will have you chuckling at the humour. This is very much a book for adventurers, avoiding the tourist hotspots, of which there are plenty, and, instead, meeting a wide range of people off the beaten track'. Canoeist -------------------- 'This book details that journey - and much more. ... As one follows the remarkable journey so the character of the author begins to appear, there is an element of fun...contains excellent photographs highlighting the journey...' The Munro Society Newsletter -------------------- `...dozens of intrepid exploits... have made Huw something of a legend among outdoor adventurers' Highlife Magazine -------------------- `…a well written tale … Presentation is neat and crisp with useful maps in addition to a comprehensive photo gallery of people and places’. Climbers’ Club (CC) Member’s Newsletter -------------------- `…An entertaining page-turner that should not be missed. … excellent colour photographs’. Sea Breezes
£18.99
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Diary of an African Journey: The Return of
Book SynopsisThis is a diary of Sir Henry Rider Haggard's tour of South Africa in 1914. It captures his feelings and perceptions on the change of Southern Africa, and of himself, since his departure in 1881. In 1914, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, returned to South Africa. He had left in 1881, in his mid-twenties, an unknown, he returned a houshold name, after the success of his novels, such as "King Solomon's Mines" and "She". Touring the country as a member of the Dominions Royal Commission, Haggard found it hard to recognise the South Africa of his youth; war and politics had left their mark. Haggard had also changed, he considered himself a "man of affairs" rather than as a novelist. This account of his journey through Southern Africa shows his feelings and views on the changes he encountered and shows his thoughts on the plight of the Zulus and his meeting with John Dube, the first president of the African National Congress.Trade Review'Anyone who is interested in South African history or the British Empire at its zenith will be intrigued by Haggard's descriptions of the country and its leaders shortly after the end of the Boer War. [A...] Haggard's diary is a collection of fading sepia images of another time and another world, full of interesting notes and appendices.' -F.W. de Klerk, The Times, August 2001Table of ContentsFrom youth to age; this land of troubles; a sad story in truth; chief from old! Father!; I felt like one returned from the dead; is it a white man's land?; 400 miles through Zululand; a Zulu of high blood; running along the coast; it is done.
£36.00
Darf Publishers Ltd A Pilgrimage to Nejd: The Cradle of the Arab Race
Book SynopsisThe ''pilgrimage'' alluded to in the title of this work describes a five-month journey undertaken by an Englishwoman, in 1878, to the great central desert region of Arabia. That a woman should venture on such a perilous journey at all was unusual enough in the mid-nineteenth century, and the resulting narrative throws a refreshing and sensitive light on the people and places of those times. Lady Anne Blunt (1837-1917), Arabic scholar, horsewoman, musician, traveller, has left a unique record of her journey. Her narrative contains all the romance of the desert and excels in the portraiture of its inhabitants. Yet also described are the awful hardships she faced in one of the world''s harshest environments. Here reproduced in facsimile, the work was originally published in two volumes edited by the author''s husband, Wilfred Scawen Blunt. Himself an active supported of Muslim aspirations and of nationalism in Arab countries, he accompanied his wife on her travels. The journal remains a sympathetic and worthy account of their adventures.This book recounts the exotic journeys of Lady Anne Blunt to Arabia in 1875. Blunt was a talented artist, author of Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, and the founder of the famous Crabbet Stud of England.
£21.25
Darf Publishers Ltd Morocco and the Moors: Being an Account of
Book Synopsis
£23.80
Darf Publishers Ltd Syria: The Desert and the Sown
Book SynopsisSyria: The Desert and the Sown presents a unique and sensitive picture of the Syrian people whilst under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Originally published in 1907, the book studies the effects of western cultural advancements in the area, as the devastating upheavals of the First World War were yet to come. Syria was then: ''merely a geographical term corresponding to no national sentiment in the breasts of the inhabitants'', Lady Bell writes. Syria was infinitely divided into sects, castes and tribes, each following their own age-old customs and laws. Various Arab-speaking races were prevented from waging constant war on one another only by ''the ragged half fed soldier who draws at rare intervals the Sultan''s pay''.Bell attempts to see deny her orientalist tendencies by envisioning her experience through the eyes of an Arab nomad. She becomes aware that the desert ''is set thicker with human associations than any city. Every line of it took on significance, every stone was like the ghost to a hearth in which the warmth of Arab life was hardly cold, though the fire might have been extinguished this hundred years''.Her sympathy with the people she meets, and her respect for their traditions, raises Syria: The Desert and the Sown well above the ordinary travel book. The strong sense of history conveyed by the writing is reinforced by the author''s own photographs of ruins, including temples and shrines on the ancient roads between Jerusalem and Antioch.
£21.25
Darf Publishers Ltd East of the Jordan: A Record of Travel and
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1881, East of the Jordan recounts the results of an archaeological expedition organised by the American Palestine Exploration Society in 1875-77. In two years the expedition members covered much of the region between Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) and the Dead Sea, in the upper and lower Jordan Valley. Along with meticulous descriptions of the major towns and sites of archaeological interest, the author also records details of the everyday lives of the inhabitants. These seemingly incidental occurrences, combined with the exquisite illustrations, endow the work with a quality of lasting interest, and great historical value. Selah Merrill (1837-1909), the leader of the expedition, was an American Congregational clergyman who combined a love of travel with the authorship of a number of works on the Middle East. He later became American Consul at Jerusalem.
£29.75
Darf Publishers Ltd Travels in Syria and the Holy Land
Book SynopsisTravels in Syria and the Holy Land is a masterpiece in descriptive and scholarly travelogue. It describes the author''s various journeys throughout the Holy Land between 1810 and 1816 win which he records every aspect of the life of the inhabitants, their religion and culture. He also provides fascinating details of topography, natural history and archaeology.John Lewis Buckhardt (1784-1817) is among the most intrepid and veracious o all the early European explorers of the interior of Africa. His many journal, published, after his death, by the African Association are remarkable alike for their interst and evident truthfulness.Having studied and prepared himself for the rigours of the life of an explorer, Burckhardt travelled widely throughout North Africa and Asia, surviving in a hostile Muslim world by passing himself off as a pilgrim. Indeed, so proficient was he in the Arab language and knowledge of their religion that learned Arabs unwittingly commended him as a great Muslim scholar.The present edition is taken in facsimile from the rare first edition of 1822, including its maps and line drawings.
£29.75
Darf Publishers Ltd Travels Through Central Africa to Timbuctoo and
Book SynopsisIn the early decades of the nineteenth century European interest in Africa was reaching its height. Places such as Timbuctoo, seemingly as remote as the moon, were seen as vital links in the establishment of new trade routes to the African interior. In 1822 the Scottish explorer, Alexander Gordon Laing was successful in reaching Timbuctoo but was murdered by Arabs, a fate awaiting any discovered Christian, infidel or traveller.In 1826 the Geographical Society of Paris offered a large prize for the first person to reach and successfully return from Timbuctoo. Rene Caillie, already familiar with trade in North Africa, accepted up the challenge and embarked upon a hazardous year-long journey, reaching the mysterious desert kingdom in April 1828. On his triumphant return Caillie published an account of his travels, a vivid picture of desert life, and the Arabs and their customs.Originally published in 1830, and here republished in facsimile, this two-volume work is a classic among the works of early travellers. Caillie''s eye for detail, along with his description of the perils of travel in a hostile world, provides a fascinating and exciting account of early exploration.
£25.50
