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Travel Guides & Books > By Interests > Travelling
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Hidden mountain lakes,
dramatic coastlines, or
unforgettable national
forests: Moon Pacific
Northwest Camping has a
spot for you. Inside
you`ll find:* A Campsite
for Everyone: A variety
of campgrounds and RV
parks, from
family-friendly car
camping to secluded
hike-ins, including
dog-friendly and
wheelchair accessible
options* Ratings and
Essentials: All campsites
are rated on a scenic
scale and marked with
amenities like restrooms,
trailhead access,
picnic areas, laundry,
piped water, showers,
and playgrounds*
Recreation Highlights:
Discover nearby hiking,
swimming, fishing,
water-skiing, whitewater
rafting, hot springs,
and options for winter
sports* Maps and
Directions: Easy-to-use
maps and detailed driving
directions for each
campground* Trusted
Advice: Expert
outdoorsman Tom Stienstra
is always on the move,
having travelled more
than a million miles
across Washington,
Oregon, and California
over the past 25 years*
Tips and Tools:
Essentials like
equipment, food and
cooking, first aid, and
insect protection, as
well as background
information on the
climate, landscape, and
history of the campsites*
In-Depth Coverage: Moon
Pacific Northwest Camping
covers the Olympic
Peninsula and the
Washington Coast,
Seattle and Puget Sound,
the Northern and Southern
Cascades, Northeastern
Washington, the Columbia
River Gorge and Mount
Rainier, Southeastern
Washington, the Oregon
Coast, Portland and the
Willamette Valley, Mount
Hood, and Northeastern
and Southeastern
OregonWhether you`re a
veteran or camping for
the first time, Moon`s
comprehensive coverage
and trusted advice will
have you ready to head
out on your next
adventure.Sticking to the
RV? Try Moon West Coast
RV Camping. Can`t get
enough of the Northwest?
Try Moon Washington
Camping or Moon Oregon
Camping.
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The fast-track guide for
the smart traveller
Wallpaper* City Guides
present a tightly edited,
discreetly packaged list
of the best a location
has to offer the design
conscious traveller. Here
is a precise,
informative, insider`s
checklist of all you need
to know about the world`s
most intoxicating cities.
Whether you are staying
for 48 hours or five
days, visiting for
business or a vacation,
we`ve done the hard work
for you, from finding
the best restaurants,
bars and hotels
(including which rooms to
request) to the most
extraordinary stores and
sites, and the most
enticing architecture and
design. Wallpaper* City
Guides enable you to come
away from your trip,
however brief, with a
real taste of the city`s
landscape and the
satisfaction you`ve seen
all that you should. In
short, these guides act
as a passport to the best
the world has to offer.
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What makes the English
English? Is it their
eccentricity, their
passionate love (or,
indeed, hatred) of
Marmite - or is it
something less easily
defined? Beginning at the
top of a muddy
Gloucestershire slope at
the Coopers Hill
cheese-rolling contest
and traversing a
landscape of lawns and
queues, coastlines and
sporting arenas, Ben
Fogle takes us on a
journey through the
peculiarly English: a
country of wax jackets,
cricket, boat races and
jellied eels, by way of
national treasures such
as the shipping forecast,
fish and chips and the
Wellington boot. Not to
mention the Dunkirk
spirit of relentless
optimism in the face of
adversity, be it the
heroic failure of Captain
Scott`s doomed Antarctic
expedition, or simply
the perennial hope for
better weather.The
archetypal Englishman -
lover of labradors and
Land Rovers yet holder of
two passports - Ben
applauds all things
quintessentially English
while also paying tribute
to the history, culture
and ideas adopted with
such gusto that they have
become part of the fabric
of the country. Written
with Ben`s trademark
warmth and wit, this is
a light-hearted yet
touching tribute to all
things English.
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This is your guide to the
10 best of everything in
Iceland. This book helps
you to discover the best
of everything Iceland has
to offer with this
essential, pocket-sized
DK Eyewitness Top 10
Travel Guide: Iceland
with pull-out map. Top 10
lists showcase the best
things to do in the
country from visiting the
Blue Lagoon and Gullfoss
to the best time to visit
Iceland for festivals.
Nine easy-to-follow
itineraries explore all
the highlights - from the
majestic sights of the
Golden Circle to
unmissable things to do
in Reykjavik - while
reviews of Iceland`s best
shops, restaurants and
hotels will help you plan
your perfect trip. See
what other guides only
show you with DK
Eyewitness Top 10 Travel
Guide: Iceland.
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`I stood on the beach
truly alone for the first
time. I would not see
another person for sixty
days. I was on an
uninhabited tropical
island and I had nothing
with me to help me
survive. No food, no
equipment, no knife and
not even any clothes. All
I had was my camera kit
so that I could
intimately record my
self-inflicted sentence.`
What if you were
abandoned on a tropical
island with no food or
water, no basic
equipment, not even a
knife, and no clothes -
could you survive?
Extreme adventurer Ed
Stafford isn`t sure, but
he`s about to find out as
he pushes himself to the
limit in this gripping
and inspirational test of
human survival. For sixty
days, with only his
explorer`s instinct and a
video camera to record
his experiences, Ed
faces the ultimate feat
of physical and mental
endurance. He confronts
blazing heat and brutal
loneliness; eats snails
to escape starvation and
battles illness,
dehydration and fatigue
in what is his most
dangerous, and at times
life-threatening,
challenge to date. This
epic story of survival,
full of exhilarating
highs and devastating
lows, is told with raw
emotion and captivating
honesty. This book will
leave you amazed and
exhausted.
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Award-winning author Tom
Stienstra covers more
than 1, 800 RV parks and
campgrounds throughout
Washington, Oregon, and
California in Moon West
Coast RV Camping.
Stienstra provides a
range of outdoor options
that appeal to campers
with kids, pets, or
recreational equipment,
as well as those looking
for a beachfront,
natural springs, or
island retreat. Stienstra
also includes his top
picks for the Prettiest
Lakes, Best Spots for
Wildlife-Viewing, and
Best Locations for
Fishing. With a variety
of RV locations, helpful
hints, and suggestions,
Moon West Coast RV
Camping gives travellers
the tools they need to
create a more personal
and memorable camping
experience.
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A wry and humorous
account of Nahal
Tajadod`s quest to get
her Iranian passport
renewed. She embarks on a
bizarre and circuitous
journey, meeting a
colourful cast of
characters along the way:
two photographers who
specialise in Islamic
portraits, a forensic
surgeon who trades in
human organs and a
grandmother who offers a
live chicken to an
implacable official.
TEHRAN, LIPSTICK AND
LOOPHOLES is a
fascinating look at the
constraints and
contradictions of
contemporary life in
Tehran from the author`s
unique standpoint of
being both a native of
Iran and a foreigner.
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As the lead writer for
BBC Anglophenia, Fraser
McAlpine (a man assembled
from almost every region
of the UK) spends his
life explaining Brits to
foreigners. Now he lifts
the lid on our Marmite
pot of nations and takes
you on a journey from the
Isle of Wight to
Inverness, Belfast to
Bangor, exploring the
joyful enthusiasms (and
pet hates) of an
endlessly multifarious
Britain. `Stuff Brits
Like` celebrates why we
like puns and pedantry,
decorum and drawing
willies on things,
Trainspotting and Downton
Abbey, apologizing
needlessly (sorry) and
cocking a snook. We cheer
both the underdog and the
bad guy, we adore
melancholy types like
Morrissey and grumpy
Eeyore... and we love
being told off by scolds.
Meet mythical beasts from
the Scottish Nuckelavee
to the Cornish Knocker;
the branch of the WI
called the Iron Maidens,
and the British Cheese
Board (yes, it is really
called that); find out
which eccentric Lord
would only eat his meals
in his swimming pool,
why postboxes are bright
red (it`s health and
safety gone mad) and the
origin of weird
traditions such as the
Burning of the Clocks.
You through why Doctor
Who could only have come
from Britain, why
cricket is a form of
siege warfare in whites,
and why we argue about
the best five British
films or what makes The
Great British Guitar
Band...
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Aime Tschiffely had an
unlikely dream: to ride
10, 000 miles from Buenos
Aires to New York City.
In April 1925 he set out
on his epic journey with
two native Argentine
horses called Mancha and
Gato. The trio traversed
the Pampas, scaled the
Andes and struggled
through the
crocodile-infested rivers
of Colombia and the
jungles of Panama. After
two harrowing years, the
man who had originally
been labelled `mad` by
the press was accorded a
ticker-tape parade when
he rode triumphantly
through the streets of
New York. This handsome
new edition of SOUTHERN
CROSS TO POLE STAR will
introduce a
travel-writing classic to
a new generation of
readers.
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In a world of Google
Earth where we think that
the world is fully mapped
out, every discovery and
adventure made, Off the
Map is a journey through
the remaining hidden
geographies - from
disappearing island to
gutterspaces, invisible
cities and floating
landmasses - and is a
stunning testament to how
mysterious the world
remains today. In the
great tradition of
pyscho-geography - the
history of places and
what they tell us about
ourselves - Off the Map
follows Iain Sinclair,
Will Self, Robert
Macfarlane and Judith
Schalansky`s Atlas of
Remote Islands to give
the real-life answer to
Italo Calvino`s Invisible
Cities by weaving
together what we see on
maps to what the world is
really like. It is
celebration of both our
love of places and the
desire to imagine new
places.Whether it is
Sealand, an abandoned
gun platform off the
English coast that a
British citizen claimed
as his own sovereign
nation, making his wife
his princess, or Baarle,
a patchwork of Dutch and
Flemish enclaves where
crossing the road can
involve traversing
multiple national
borders; or moving
villages, unclaimed
deserts, secret cities
or underground
labyrinths, fully
illustrated with original
maps and drawing Off the
Map shows the modern
world from surprising new
vantage points that will
inspire urban explorers,
and armchair travellers
alike to consider a new
way of understanding the
world we live in.
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I`m going to define the
essence of this sprawling
place as best I can. I`m
going to start here, in
this village, and
radiate out like a ripple
in a pond. I don`t want
to go to the obvious
places, either; I want
to be like a bus driver
on my first morning on
the job, getting
gloriously lost, turning
up where I shouldn`t. I`m
going to confirm or deny
the cliches, holding
them up to see where the
light gets in. Yorkshire
people are tight.
Yorkshire people are
arrogant. Yorkshire
people eat a Yorkshire
pudding before every
meal. Yorkshire people
solder a t` before every
word they use...If there
were such a thing as a
professional
Yorkshireman, Ian
McMillan would be it.
He`s regularly consulted
as a home-grown expert,
and southerners comment
archly on his `fruity
Yorkshire brogue`. But he
has been keeping a
secret. His dad was from
Lanarkshire, Scotland,
making him, as he puts
it, only `half tyke`. So
Ian is worried; is he
Yorkshire enough? To try
to understand what this
means Ian embarks on a
journey around the
county, starting in the
village has lived in his
entire life.With
contributions from the
Cudworth Probus Club, a
kazoo playing train
guard, Mad Geoff the
barber and four
Saddleworth council
workers looking for a
mattress, Ian tries to
discover what lies at the
heart of Britain`s most
distinct county and its
people, as well as
finding out whether the
Yorkshire Pudding is
worthy of becoming a
UNESCO Intangible
Heritage Site, if
Harrogate is really,
really, in Yorkshire
and, of course, who
knocks up the knocker up?
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From Stonehenge to the
Empire State Building,
and from Angkor Wat to
the Pyramids, this book
surveys every continent
to discover the most
impressive, exotic and
intriguing man-made
wonders of the
world.Arranged in order
of longitude, and
illustrated with over 100
spectacular photographs,
maps and illustrations,
50 Wonders of the World
reveals the awesome
architectural
achievements that man has
created over the
centuries. This is also
the story of the
extraordinary peoples and
civilizations that
created these buildings
and the key roles they
played as centres of
religion, culture or
trade.Hagia Sophia;
Sydney Opera House;
Altamira; Dome of the
Rock; Easter Island
statues; Chartres; Petra;
Empire State Building;
Eiffel Tower; Peterhof;
Golden Gate Bridge;
Neuschwanstein;
Solovetsky Island;
Lincoln Memorial;
Florence Duomo; Minaret
of Jam; Monte Alban;
Colosseum; Red Fort;
Chichen Itza; Pantheon;
Golden Temple; Tikal;
Grand Canal; Taj Mahal;
Machu Picchu; Parthenon;
Mahabalipuram; Nasca;
Knossos; Angkor Wat;
Tiahuanaco; Pyramids of
Giza; Potala Palace;
Brasilia; Abu Simbel;
Borobodur; Clifton
Suspension Bridge; St
Catherine`s Monastery;
Great Wall of China;
Stonehenge; Forbidden
City; Alhambra; Djenne
Mosque; Itsukushima
shrine; Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao; Great Zimbabwe;
Todai-ji; Sagrada
Familia; Lalibela.
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In my dreams, I was
always in some vast
landscape on a long,
straight road. Driving.
Always driving.` Gwenda
had always loved the open
road, but her home town
of Newcastle didn`t
really offer the sort of
adventure she longed for.
So, in 1957, with
friend and fellow nurse
Pat in tow, she left the
dismal British winter
behind, and embarked on
an amazing American
adventure. After a year
nursing in Cleveland,
Gwenda, Pat and three
new friends set off on a
road trip around North
America, driving in a
rickety 1949 Ford. What
follows is the charming
true story of five
remarkable young women.
Over the course of
eighteen months, the
girls go to a 4th July
rodeo, visit San
Francisco and Las Vegas,
learn to surf in Hawaii,
spot movie stars in
Hollywood and celebrate
Mardi Gras in New
Orleans. Wherever they
go, the travelling
nurses cause a sensation.
This is a delightfully
nostalgic memoir of
friendship and the
romance of the open road.
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Men like to conquer,
fight or subdue the
Arctic, while we had a
different attitude. We
felt that we had to go
along with what we were
faced with.... We tried
to have the Arctic on our
side instead of
confronting it. Women
wanted to walk to North
Pole, the advert read.
Sue & Victoria Riches,
mother and daughter,
never imagined how much
one small article in a
newspaper would change
their lives... Within two
years, they were
trekking across the
frozen wilderness that is
the Arctic Ocean, as
part of the first all
women`s expedition to the
North Pole. At times
totally terrifying and at
times indescribably
beautiful, it was a trip
of a lifetime. Having
survived cancer treatment
and a mastectomy it was
an opportunity to
discover that anything is
possible if you put your
mind to it.
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Tom Stienstra, the
nation`s top-selling
outdoors writer, invites
you to spend the night
under the stars with the
latest edition of Moon
California Camping.
Extremely comprehensive
and packed with useful
information, Moon
California Camping covers
more than 1, 400 camping
options throughout the
state, from sites
nestled among towering
redwoods to remote
backcountry destinations
in the High Sierra to
sun-drenched, beach-side
campgrounds. Detailed
descriptions,
directions, contact
information, and
Stienstra`s signature
scenic rating are
provided for each site.
Stienstra also includes
lists of the best
campgrounds, such as
Best for Hikes, with
Views and Best Family
Destinations, as well as
sixty pages of helpful
camping tips. With Moon
California Camping,
seasoned outdoors
enthusiasts and camping
novices alike can
experience the best of
the great outdoors in the
Golden State.
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Throughout the 1960`s
John Freely and Hilary
Sumner-Boyd explored
every alley, cove and
monument of their adopted
home of Istanbul in
between their teaching
jobs. They created a
legendary guidebook,
covering 1, 500 years of
Byzantine and Ottoman
architecture, to a city
that was still innocent
of tourists. But the
passages that were too
personal, too
capricious, too
idiosyncratic, too
indulgent of eccentric
personalities, too
melancholically obsessed
with lost monuments, too
wrapped up in the love of
mid-afternoon banter,
too indulgent of
musicians, dancers,
gypsies, dervish,
drunks, beggars,
fishermen, poets,
fortune-tellers, folk
healers, mimics and
prostitutes were cut from
their scholarly
guidebook. Stamboul
Sketches is a slim book
compiled from these
editorial floor off-cuts.
Inspired by travelling in
the footsteps of Evliya
Celebi, the Puck-like
Pepys who wrote about
17th century Istanbul,
Stamboul Sketches is a
beautiful, quirky
portrait of a city caught
like a bird on the wing,
so much changed but so
much the same.
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For more than forty years
I have collected and read
travel books... I marked
passages that enthused me
and so gathered a library
that was annotated by
triangular corner-folds
and barely decipherable
jottings. This was my own
inadvertent
wool-gathering...Scraps
of Wool is a celebration
of travel writing,
bringing together in a
single volume passages
that have enthralled
generations of readers,
encouraged them to dream
of exploration and set
off on journeys of their
own.Compiled by Bill
Colegrave, its excerpts
have been selected by
today’s travel writers
and journalists, who
have revealed the books
that influenced them:
Dervla Murphy, Tony
Wheeler, Rory MacLean,
Pico Iyer, Jan Morris,
Colin Thubron, Artemis
Cooper, Sara Wheeler,
Alexander Frater and many
more.Each of these scraps
is a document of the
writer’s passion for
place – thick
equatorial jungle, the
soft ergs of the Sahara,
Patagonian steppe – and
each story, each memory
will transport you to a
different corner of the
globe, and maybe even
inspire you to plan your
own great adventure.
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Travelling the
circumference of the
truly gigantic Pacific,
Simon Winchester tells
the story of the world`s
largest body of water,
and - in matters
economic, political and
military - the ocean of
the future. The Pacific
is a world of tsunamis
and Magellan, of the
Bounty mutiny and the
Boeing Company. It is the
stuff of the towering
Captain Cook and his
wide-ranging network of
exploring voyages,
Robert Louis Stevenson
and Admiral Halsey. It is
the place of Paul Gauguin
and the explosion of the
largest-ever American
atomic bomb, on Bikini
atoll, in 1951. It has
an astonishing recent
past, an uncertain
present and a hugely
important future. The
ocean and its peoples are
the new lifeblood, fizz
and thrill of America -
which draws so many of
its minds and so much of
its manners from the sea
- while the inexorable
rise of the ancient
center of the world,
China, is a fixating
fascination. The presence
of rogue states - North
Korea most notoriously
today - suggest that the
focus of the responsible
world is shifting away
from the conventional
post-war obsessions with
Europe and the Middle
East, and towards a new
set of
urgencies.Navigating the
newly evolving patterns
of commerce and trade,
the world`s most violent
weather and the
fascinating histories,
problems and potentials
of the many Pacific
states, Simon
Winchester`s thrilling
journey is a grand
depiction of the future
ocean.
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A useful guide for
aspiring ski reps,
providing insight into a
typical winter
seasonExplores Swedish
culture and traditions-
portrays Sweden in an
honest, different
lightAndrew Reed spent a
winter as a ski rep for a
well known UK travel
company in the resort of
Are, Sweden. The book is
a humorous account of his
experiences from the
daunting first week of
the selection process in
Austria, the convoluted
journey by road, ship
and rail to the resort
itself and through the
hectic first month of
setting up in resort.The
chapters that follow
reveal a very different
type of ski resort to the
normal alpine resort with
activities that included
snowmobile safaris,
husky dog sledging,
chaotic reindeer rides
and visits to the
spectacular frozen
waterfall. Even the
Northern Lights and the
real Santa Claus make
brief appearances. The
book offers a realistic,
honest perspective and
explains the strains and
pressures of the job,
including working in
close proximity to others
over such a long, hard
season which finished
well beyond the alpine
resorts. It will help
aspiring reps to prepare
by offering useful advice
and encouragement, but
it is also of interest to
the wider ski and travel
community. Snow Business
is based on Andrew`s
Nordic adventures and it
provides a fascinating
insight into the country,
its people and its
traditions, along with
the quirks of the
language. It will appeal
to those who love all
things skiing, or those
with an interest in
Swedish culture.
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Bristol`s history is
packed with peculiar
customs and curious
characters.This book
explains why the vicar in
one church goes on an
annual trek to peer down
a manhole; why captains
of industry sing an
eighteen-verse song in
memory of Queen Elizabeth
I; and how the Flower of
Bristol got its name.You
will meet some unusual
contraptions, like the
bed with in-built
exercise equipment, or
the thrashing machine for
naughty boys. You will
also discover why a
public clock still runs
to Bristol time.This
compendium of the weird
and wonderful will
surprise even those
Bristolians who thought
they really knew their
city.
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Minnesota Camping in the
Moon Outdoor Guides
series; exploring a wide
range of outdoor
activities - including
camping, biking fishing
and hiking - in a number
of various American
states and regions. Moon
is one of America’s
leading travel publishers
and its outdoor guides
often cover areas and
activities that are not
covered by other
publishers. Its editorial
style is strongly
American in focus; often
offering insights and
observations with an
American audience in
mind, yet each of the
guides in the series
offers valuable practical
advice on navigating and
exploring a range of
activities. Introductory
sections provide a range
of tips on the activity
covered in the guide,
including equipment,
dangers and advice on how
to make the most of your
trip. Each guide is
organised into chapters
explored geographically
by region. Scenic ratings
are given for each
campsite, hike or other
activity and information
on facilities,
reservations (where
relevant), directions
and local contact details
is also provided. A
Resources section at the
back of each guide also
offers contact details of
local organisations
including national parks,
state and federal
offices, state and
regional parks and
national forests.
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The French are savvy,
sophisticated, elegant -
Right? Wrong! The
French...* lecture the
world about haute cuisine
yet they eat more
McDonald`s hamburgers
than anywhere else in the
world* roll their eyes at
foreign culture even as
CSI is their most watched
TV programme* pretend to
be literary even as Fifty
Shades of Gray is
France`s best-selling
book, everIn 2000,
Jonathan Miller moved to
France. Soon he
discovered the hilarious
truth. The French live in
a feverish state of
fantasy. People are paid
to pretend to work,
pretend to strike, and
generally think work
causes depression and
suicide. Dental
hygienists are illegal,
yet the French exchange a
staggering 184 billion
kisses every year. While
preaching liberte, the
State forbids everything,
is run by one school`s
alumni, messes up over
two thirds of the
economy. It goes
on...Meet the real
French, and laugh!
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Colm Toibin’s Homage to
Barcelona celebrates the
cosmopolitan hub,
vibrant architecture,
art scene, culture and
nightlife of the Spanish
city. Written with
knowledge and affection,
the book moves from the
story of Barcelona’s
founding and its huge
expansion in the
nineteenth century to the
lives of Gaudí, Miró,
Picasso, Casals and
Dalí. It also explores
the history of Catalan
nationalism, the tragedy
of the Civil War, the
Franco years and the
transition from
dictatorship to democracy
which Colm Tóibín
witnessed in the 1970s.
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Naked at Lunch is one
man`s cracklingly witty,
compellingly odd and
oddly life-affirming
journey into the
subculture of nudism.
Celebrated journalist
Mark Haskell Smith meets,
and indeed joins, those
shucking off social
conventions by shucking
off their clothes - he
hikes bare-back in the
alps with a naked
rambler`s society; he
buys baguettes in the
buff in a French resort
and he meets the
marginally dressed mayor
of a Spanish
clothes-optional
municipal. But this is
not just a book of naked
adventures and sun-warmed
genitals. It is a study
of 20th-century Western
cultural and social
mores; a record of
radical history and
politics practised by
those made radical by
their refusal to get
dressed; an investigation
of why people feel the
need to get together and
disrobe; and a heart-felt
‘crie de couer’ for
reclaiming pride in our
bodies and rejecting
those who would make us
ashamed.
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As the summer draws to a
close, a few snowbeds -
some as big as icebergs -
survive in the Scottish
Highlands. Christopher
Nicholson`s Among the
Summer Snows is both a
celebration of these
great, icy relics and an
intensely personal
meditation on their
significance. A book to
delight all those
interested in mountains
and snow, full of vivid
description and anecdote,
it explores the meanings
of nature, beauty and
mortality in the
twenty-first century.
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`The next Bill Bryson.`
New York TimesIn this
often hilarious yet
deeply researched book,
food and travel writer
Michael Booth and his
family embark on an epic
journey the length of
Japan to explore its
dazzling food culture.
They find a country much
altered since their
previous visit ten years
earlier (which resulted
in the award-winning
international bestseller
Sushi and Beyond). Over
the last decade the
country`s restaurants
have won a record number
of Michelin stars and its
cuisine was awarded
United Nations heritage
status. The world`s top
chefs now flock to learn
more about the
extraordinary dedication
of Japan`s food artisans,
while the country`s fast
foods - ramen, sushi and
yakitori - have conquered
the world. As well as the
plaudits, Japan is also
facing enormous
challenges. Ironically,
as Booth discovers, the
future of Japan`s
culinary heritage is
under threat.Often
venturing far off the
beaten track, the author
and his family discover
intriguing future food
trends and meet a
fascinating cast of food
heroes, from a couple
lavishing love on rotten
fish, to a chef who
literally sacrificed a
limb in pursuit of the
ultimate bowl of ramen,
and a farmer who has
dedicated his life to
growing the finest rice
in the world... in the
shadow of Fukushima. They
dine in the greatest
restaurant in the world,
meet the world champion
of cakes, and encounter
wild bears. Booth is
invited to judge the
world sushi championship,
`enjoys` the most
popular Japanese dish you
have never heard of
aboard a naval destroyer,
and unearths the
unlikely story of the
Englishwoman who helped
save the seaweed
industry.Sushi and Beyond
was also a bestseller in
Japanese where its
success has had
improbable consequences
for Booth and his family.
They now star in their
own popular cartoon
series produced by
national broadcaster NHK.
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Meet Andrew: French
teacher, writer and
long-distance
cyclist.Now, meet
Reggie, his bike.With
two European cycling
adventures already under
his belt, Andrew was
ready for a new
challenge. Exchanging his
job as a teacher in
Oxfordshire for an
expedition on Reggie the
bike, he set off on his
most daring trip yet: a
journey from Tarifa in
Spain to Nordkapp in
Norway - from Europe`s
geographical south to its
northernmost point.Join
the duo as they take on
an epic journey across
nearly 8000 km of Europe,
through mountains,
valleys, forests and the
open road, proving that
no matter where you`re
headed, life on two
wheels is full of
surprises.
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In 1991 Andrew Solomon
faced down tanks in
Moscow with a band of
Russian artists
protesting the August
coup. We find him on the
quest for a rare bird in
Zambia in 1998, and in
Greenland in 2001
researching widespread
depression among the
Inuit. In 2002 he was in
Afghanistan for the fall
of the Taliban. He was
brought in for
questioning in Qaddafi`s
Libya in 2006. In 2014 he
travelled to Myanmar to
meet ex-political
prisoners as the country
fitfully pushed towards
freedom. Far and Away
tells these and many
other stories.With his
signature compassion,
Solomon demonstrates both
how history is altered by
individuals, and how
personal identities shift
when governments change.
A journalist and essayist
of remarkable perception
and prescience, Solomon
chronicles a life`s
travels to the nexus of
hope, courage, and the
uncertainty of lived
experience and tracks
seismic shifts -
cultural, political and
spiritual. He takes us on
a magnificent journey
into the heart of
extraordinarily diverse
experiences via intimate,
deeply moving stories
that reveal and revel in
our common humanity.
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”On an impulse,
Trudi-Ann Tierney,
Sydney producer and
former actress, goes to
Kabul to manage a bar.
She quickly falls into
the local TV industry,
where she becomes
responsible for producing
a highly popular soap
opera. Trudi`s staff are
hugely inexperienced.
They include Habib, the
Pashto poet who wants to
insert allegorical scenes
involving fighting ants
into the scripts; Rashid,
the Dari manager, who
spends all day
surreptitiously watching
uncensored Hindi music
videos; and the Pakistani
actresses who cross the
border to Jalalabad
(`Jallywood`) to perform
roles that no Afghan
actresses can take on
without bringing shame to
their families. Trudi
lives among the expat
community - the media,
the burnt-out army types
now working as security
contractors, the
`Do-Gooders`, the
diplomats - in dubious
guest houses like The
Dirty Diana. This is
`Ka-bubble`, where the
reckless encounters with
each other, with alcohol
and of course with
recreational drugs are as
dangerous as the city`s
streets. Here are crazy
people living crazy
lives, and locals trying
to survive as best they
can against the backdrop
of war.”
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Ever since I was seven
years old, I have been
convinced that one of the
fundamental upsides of
being alive is that it
gives you the chance to
do things like sailing
across oceans.. .When
marine biologists Mike
Litzow and his partner
Alisa make a promise to
follow their dream to
sail from Alaska to
Australia, they agree
that they won`t leave
until their son, Elias,
is one year old. When he
is nine months, they
give up waiting, strap
him down and weigh
anchor. In his
unflinching account of
their trip, Mike tells
the inspiring story of
the stress and
exhilaration, the fights
and incredible closeness
of family life onboard,
and the unrelenting
fierceness and incredible
beauty of the open sea.
South From Alaska is a
warm, personal and
fascinatingly honest
account of a family
afloat in the Pacific.
`There`s nothing better
than going on an
adventure with your kids.
This story should inspire
all of us to make our
dreams come true.` Jon
Faine - broadcaster and
author of From Here to
There. `As a sailor who
raised his daughter
aboard, I was touched by
this book. Litzow writes
from the heart.`Fatty
Goodlander - sailor and
writer Follow Mike`s
further adventures on his
blog:
http://thelifegalactic.blogspot.com/
Like the book? Join the
conversation on Twitter
southfromalaska
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Following in the
footsteps of countless
emigrants, Jonathan
Raban takes ship for New
York from Liverpool, to
explore how succeeding
generations of newcomers
have fared in America. He
finds a country of
massive contrasts,
between the Street People
and the Air People in New
York, between small town
and big city, between
thrusting immigrants and
down-at-heel native
Americans.
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Being a Doctor with No
Borders (And Other Ways
to Stay Single).Damien
Brown thinks he`s ready
when he arrives for his
first posting with
Medecins Sans Frontieres
in Africa. But the town
he`s sent to is an
isolated outpost of mud
huts, surrounded by
landmines; the hospital,
for which he`s to be the
only doctor, is filled
with malnourished
children and conditions
he`s never seen; and the
health workers - Angolan
war veterans twice his
age who speak no English
- walk out on him
following an altercation
on his first shift. In
the months that follow,
Damien confronts these
challenges all the while
dealing with the social
absurdities of living
with only three other
volunteers for company.
The medical calamities
pile up - leopard
attacks, landmine
explosions, performing
surgery using tools
cleaned on the fire - but
as Damien`s friendships
with the local people
evolve, his passion for
the work grows. Written
with great warmth and
empathy, Band-Aid for a
Broken Leg is a
compassionate, deeply
honest and often humorous
account of life on the
medical frontline in
Angola, Mozambique and
South Sudan. It is also a
moving testimony to the
work done by medical
humanitarian groups and
the remarkable, often
eccentric people who work
for them.
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Join Michael Foreman on
an incredible journey
around the globe. His
prolific career as an
illustrator has taken him
through war-torn Vietnam
to the vast forests of
Siberia, from Mao`s
China to Japan, the
Arctic to the South Seas
and from the top of the
world to the bottom of
the ocean. Armed with a
pencil and watercolours,
Michael`s signature style
captured the sights and
sounds of all he
encountered. These are
his incredible memoirs.
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At the age of 24,
Alastair Humphreys set
off to try to cycle round
the world. By the time he
arrived back home, four
years later, he had
ridden 46, 000 miles
across five continents on
a tiny budget of just
£7, 000.Thunder and
Sunshine is the sequel to
the best-selling Moods of
Future Joys. Here
Alastair sails from
Africa to South America,
where he rides from the
southern tip of Patagonia
to northern Alaska.
Crossing the Pacific, he
cycles into a Siberian
winter, carries on
through Japan, China and
nearing the end of his
journey at last, across
Asia and Europe towards
his home in Yorkshire.
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As a journalist for the
Independent, Emma
Bamford is swept along
with the London rat race,
lost amongst the egos of
Fleet Street. Surrounded
by budget cuts and
bullies, the thrill of a
breaking news story is no
longer enough. And at 31,
still struggling to get
to a fourth date and
surrounded by friends
settling down to married
life and babies, Emma
decides to grasp her life
by the roots and reclaim
her freedom...by running
away to sea and joining a
complete stranger (and
his cat) on a yacht in
Borneo. Reflective yet
humorous and
self-deprecating, we
share Emma`s excitement
and fear at leaving a
good job for an unknown
adventure, and join her
as she travels to some of
the most exotic places in
the world and starts to
realise what really
matters in life. She
discovers the supreme
awkwardness of sharing a
tiny space with total
strangers, the
unimaginable beauty of
paradise islands and
secret jungle rivers,
glimpses lost tribes,
works all hours for
demanding superyacht
owners, and has a
terrifyingly near miss
with pirates.Fending off
romantic propositions
from a Moldovan pig
farmer and a Sri Lanken
village chief amongst
others, Emma finds
adventure and happiness
in the most unlikely
places. From planning
each day meticulously to
learning to let go and
leave things to chance,
Emma`s story shows that
it is possible to break
free and find happiness -
and love - on your own
terms.
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Frost can be fatal to a
fledgling wine business.
..gorgeous glitter with a
high price tag. On a
winter`s day it is
beautiful, but on a
spring day after bud
burst it spells
devastation. For Sean and
Caro Feely, a couple
whose love affair with
wine and France has taken
them through financial
and physical struggle to
create their organic
vineyard, it could spell
the end. Until they
receive an unexpected
call that could save
their skins...This book
is about life, love and
taking risks, while
transforming a piece of
land into a flourishing
vineyard and making a new
life in France.
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Acclaimed as one of the
most exciting books in
the history of American
letters, this modern
epic became an instant
bestseller upon
publication in 1974,
transforming a generation
and continuing to inspire
millions. A narration of
a summer motorcycle trip
undertaken by a father
and his son, the book
becomes a personal and
philosophical odyssey
into fundamental
questions of how to live.
Resonant with the
confusions of existence,
Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance is
a touching and
transcendent book of
life.
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Anthology of short
excerpts from the
writings of more than 50
famous literary and
historical figures on the
subject of railways and
rail journeys around the
world - Bill Bryson,
Agatha Christie, William
Dalrymple, Peter
Fleming, Kenneth
Grahame, Rudyard
Kipling, Eric Newby,
Christopher Portway,
Paul Theroux, Colin
Thubron and Mark Tully
among many others. Brief
biographies of all the
writers"ed are
included. Will appeal to
rail travellers and
armchair travellers
alike.
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Shortlisted for the
Stanford Dolman Travel
Book of the Year at the
Edward Stanfords Travel
Writing Awards 2016.From
one of Britain`s most
original writers, White
Sands is a creative
exploration of why we
travel. Episodic,
wide-ranging, funny and
smart, the linked
journeys recall the
themes of Dyer`s Yoga for
People Who Can`t Be
Bothered to Do It -
albeit with the wisdom of
(middle) age. From a trip
to the Lightning Field in
New Mexico, to chasing
Gauguin`s ghost in French
Polynesia, from falling
for someone who may or
may not be a tour guide
in Beijing`s Forbidden
City, to tracking down
the house of an
intellectual hero in Los
Angeles, Dyer pursues
all permutations of the
peak experience including
the trough experience. In
his trademark style he
blends travel writing,
essay, criticism and
fiction with a smart and
cantankerous wit that is
unmatched. This is a book
for armchair travellers
and procrastinating
philosophers everywhere.
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The Camping & Caravanning
Club`s guide to the best
of British produce. From
grilling fresh fish on
the barbeque after a day
at the beach, or cooking
up a feast for friends in
a pot over a campfire,
what we cook when we camp
is a memorable part of
the adventure. If that
food is grown in
surrounding fields,
caught in nearby rivers
or produced by local
people, the experience
is even richer - it
connects us with the
places we are visiting.
Food can tell us the
story of a place. This
book is full of those
stories. Pitch Up, Eat
Local is the Camping and
Caravanning Club`s
inspiring guide to
amazing places to camp,
and the fabulous food to
cook there. Each campsite
featured is close to
great locally grown or
produced foods. It is
full of details and
first-hand descriptions
of farmers` markets,
doorstep sales, farm
shops, pick-your-own and
even the campsites that
produce their own food.
There are inspiring
recipes to go with each
campsite, easy to cook
on a gas hob, barbecue
or over a fire - and all
using ingredients
produced in the local
area. With a foreword by
Julia Bradbury and
endorsment by Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall,
if you love food and
fresh air, this book is
for you.
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In the “Caravan Moves
On”, Irfan Orga
journeys to the centre of
Turkey to stay with the
Yürük nomads in the
High Taurus mountains.He
learns their traditions,
listens to their legends,
and lives to feel that
heroes dead a thousand
years and abducted
princesses turned mad by
grief are palpably still
alive.Orga enters a world
untouched by politics or
the march of world
events. He reconnects us
with a once-ubiquitous
emotional landscape - a
visceral place
underpinned by elemental
values.
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“Pie and Prejudice”
is a charming, wise and
witty travel book that
takes place on our very
own shores. A northerner
in exile, stateless and
confused and hearing
rumours of Harvey Nichols
in Leeds and Maseratis in
Wilmslow, Stuart Maconie
goes in search of the
North. On a mission to
discover where the
clichés end and the
truth begins, he travels
from Wigan Pier to
Blackpool Tower and from
Bigg Market in Newcastle
to the Lake District to
find his own Northern
Soul, encountering along
the way an exotically
British cast of Scousers,
pie-eating woollybacks,
topless Geordies,
mad-for-it Mancs,
Yorkshire nationalists
and brothers in southern
exile.Incredibly funny
and at times startlingly
realised, Maconie comes
to terms with his place
in the North he finds
himself returning to,
where he comes to realise
just what he and his
fellow Northern
‘exiles’ have become,
or as he says:“We had
become those kinds of
people, the kind of
people who had sun-dried
tomatoes and cappuccino
makers, the kind of
people who did Sunday
brunch. In other words:
southerners”
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Fifty-five piers. Two
weeks. One eccentric road
trip. Before the seaside
of their youth disappears
forever, two friends
from the landlocked
Midlands embark on a
peculiar journey to see
all the surviving
pleasure piers in England
and Wales. With a
clapped-out car and not
enough cash, Jon and
Danny recruit Midge, a
man they barely know, to
be their driver, even
though he has to be back
in a fortnight to sign
on...Join Jon and Danny
as they take a funny and
nostalgic look at
Britishness at the beach,
amusement in the arcades
and friendship on the
road.
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Delhi claims a noble
history as the site of at
least seven capitals
dating from before the
time of Alexander the
Great. The glorious Mogul
Empire brought great
riches to the city and to
Agra, where the
world-famous Taj Mahal
has excited awe in
visitors for over 380
years. This Traveller`s
Reader is an
indispensable and
fascinating companion for
the traveller who wants
to understand the history
of both cities, and who
seeks the true spirit of
the places. Delhi & Agra
is a topographical
anthology that explores
the cities` sites of
interest and recreates
the key events, customs
and lives of the past,
drawing on diaries,
letters, memoirs and
commentaries written by
residents and visitors
over the course of 600
years. Extracts include
Tamerlane`s account of
the sack of Delhi in
1398; descriptions of
Shah Jahan building the
Taj Mahal; recollections
of Jesuits and mullahs
debating the relative
merits of their religions
before the great Mogul
emperor, Akbar; reports
of cruelty and
creativity, of addiction
to drink and drugs;
descriptions of elephant
fights, suttee, the
life of the bazaar and
vice-regal banquets; and
eyewitness accounts of
the Indian Mutiny from
both sides, and of the
bloody aftermath of
Partition. A great
variety of topics are
covered, vividly
conveying an impression
of how it would have been
to live in, or visit,
both cities from the
recent past to hundreds
of years ago.
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During their university
holidays in the late
1880s, S.K. Baker and
three of his University
College friends clad in
stripy blazers and
boaters spent time
sailing and camping on
the River Wye. Baker, a
keen artist and diarist,
recorded their travels in
watercolour in two small
leather bound books. The
result is an entirely
charming, funny account
along the lines of the
legendary Three Men in a
Boat with which the
notebooks are entirely
contemporaneous although
the protagonists are
younger and possibly
naughtier. Baker records
their evenings in the
pub, their encounters
with girls, (both ashore
and afloat), nude
swimming and culinary
disasters, while
recording lovingly the
landscape and the boats
on which they sailed. The
notebook is published as
a facsimile with an
introduction by Michael
Goffe, the son of one of
Baker`s fellow students
(GG in the text), to
whom it was gifted.
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Connemara Mollie – An
Irish Journey on
Horseback by Hilary Bradt
is the moving account
written with a humorous
style, of the author’s
long-distance ride
through western Ireland
in 1984.Bradt treks
through Ireland’s
Counties Galway, Mayo,
Clare and Kerry with her
Connemara pony called
Mollie, to fulfil a
childhood dream of a long
horseback journey. The
story describes the bond
between the author and
her horse, the many
challenges they face and
the people they meet
along the way. The
dialogues that ensue
reveal the rural Ireland
before the ‘Celtic
Tiger’ era, the Irish
hospitality, and the
landscape with lush
fields, orchards,
gardens and breathtaking
views. This
a-thousand-mile journey
is a charming and moving
true story delivered with
honesty and humour that
will grip any horse and
adventure lover.
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For the past fifty years,
Paul Theroux has
travelled to the far
corners of the earth; to
China, India, Africa,
the Pacific Islands,
South America, Russia,
and has brought them to
life in his cool,
exacting prose. In Deep
South he turns his gaze
to a region much closer
to his home. Travelling
through North and South
Carolina, Georgia,
Tennessee, Mississippi,
Alabama and Arkansas,
Paul Theroux writes of
the stunning landscapes
he discovers - the
deserts, the mountains,
the Mississippi - and
above all, the lives of
the people he meets. The
South is a place of
contradictions. There is
the warm, open spirit of
the soul food cafes,
found in every town, no
matter how small. There
is the ruined grandeur of
numberless ghostly towns,
long abandoned by the
industries that built
them. There are the state
gun shows and the
close-knit, subtly
forlorn tribe of people
who attend and run them.
Deep in the heart of his
native country, Theroux
discovers a land more
profoundly foreign than
anything he has
previously experienced.
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The earliest and most
influential expeditions
of the man now considered
to be the greatest living
explorer. The Danakil
Diary is the account of
two journeys Thesiger
made into the Danakil
country in Abyssinia,
now Ethiopia, in 1930-34
at the age of 24 - which,
today, he still regards
as the most dangerous he
undertook. It was an
extraordinary journey and
a remarkable achievement.
Thesiger succeeded in
penetrating country that
had wiped out two Italian
expeditions and an
Egyptian army before him,
discovered what happened
to the Awash River (one
of the area`s last
geographical mysteries to
be solved) and managed to
survive amongst the
Danakil tribesmen, to
whom a man`s status
depended on the number of
men he had killed and
castrated. Besides giving
early proof of Thesiger`s
descriptive genius - with
his portrayal of the
beautiful, savage
landscapes, and their
varied wildlife - The
Danakil Diary reveals
youthful evidence of his
fierce motivation and
uncompromising will,
which are familiar
hallmarks of his sixty
years of travel among
primitive peoples in some
of the harshest and
remotest areas of the
world.
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A diary of adventure in
picturesque Sand Bay,
The Great Escape:
Adventures on the Wild
West Coast takes readers
on an extraordinary
journey as writer and
explorer Monty Halls
follows his dream of
becoming a crofter. With
his gigantic (possibly
insane) dog Reuben as his
companion, Monty raises
sheep, pigs and
chickens, grows his own
vegetables, explores the
wildlife, meets the
locals, and learns all
about life on Scotland`s
wild west coast. Living
his dream is not without
its challenges - whether
it`s renovating an
ancient bothy, climbing
a mountain called The
Inaccessible Pinnacle,
or surviving the daily
onslaught of midges - but
it`s a life-changing
experience, set in the
most beautiful and
dramatic landscape in
Europe. The Great Escape
is a book for anyone who
has longed to leave the
rat race behind.
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With an introduction by
Anne Enright Shortlisted
for the Guardian First
Book award, a story of
civil war and a family`s
unbreakable bond. How you
see a country depends on
whether you are driving
through it, or live in
it. How you see a country
depends on whether or not
you can leave it, if you
have to. As the daughter
of white settlers in
war-torn 1970s Rhodesia,
Alexandra Fuller
remembers a time when a
schoolgirl was as likely
to carry a shotgun as a
satchel. This is her
story - of a civil war,
of a quixotic battle with
nature and loss, and of
a family`s unbreakable
bond with the continent
that came to define,
scar and heal them.
Shortlisted for the
Guardian First Book Award
in 2002, Alexandra
Fuller`s classic memoir
of an African childhood
is suffused with laughter
and warmth even amid
disaster. Unsentimental
and unflinching, but
always enchanting, it is
the story of an
extraordinary family in
an extraordinary time.
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In 2010, Sarah Marquis
embarked on a perilous
journey: alone and on
foot, she walked ten
thousand miles across the
Gobi Desert, from
Siberia, through
Thailand, to the
Australian outback.
Relying on hunting and
her own wits, she
traversed fever-haunted
jungles and scorching
deserts, braved
harassment from drug
dealers, the Mafia, and
camp raids from thieves
on horseback. Surviving
dehydration, dengue
fever delirium and
crippling infection,
Sarah experienced a raw
and spiritual communion
after three years of
walking at the base of a
tree in the plains of
Australia. Through an
inspirational journey,
Wild by Nature explores
what it is to adventure
as a woman in the most
dangerous of
circumstances, and what
it is to be truly alone
in the wild.
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British artist Henry
Hemming set out in a
pick-up truck called
Yasmine to begin an
extraordinary journey
through the Middle East
post-9/11.Unsure how
he’d make enough money
to even stay on the road,
where he was going or
what he would find, he
uses art as his passport
to gain access to areas
closed off to any other
traveller. He travels to
the drug-fuelled ski
slopes of Iran, the
souks, mosques,
palaces, army barracks,
secret beaches, police
cells, nightclubs,
torture chambers,
brothels and artists’
studios until he reaches
Baghdad for a Fourth of
July party with American
GIs in one of Saddam’s
former palaces.On his way
he meets he meets the
Middle East’s youth,
discovers their dreams,
doubts and passions to
reveal a young and
unpredictable region that
escapes the nightly news
radar. And he begins to
understand what he
represents too - whether
it’s a British spy,
Muslim extremeist,
jihadi, tramp,
bohemian,
street-cleaner,
Baghdadi, or just
possibly an artist.
It’s a unique tale and
highly original journey.
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-
France, the Soul of a
Journey is a travel
memoir that really gets
into the veins of
France`s lush ambience. R
J ODonnell recounts a
holiday there with three
travelling companions,
proving with humour and
literary flourish why
France is the most
visited country in the
world. From the chain of
spires in medieval
Normandy, south to the
Loire Valley where
Renaissance France and
the ideas of the great
civilisation first began,
the mood is laden with
what makes France so
loved. The French
themselves give the
tantalising name `la
France profonde` to the
deep countryside where
traces of traditional
farming still linger and
where ethereal France is
at its most potent. As
rolling hills, buzzing
markets and local lore
reveal themselves, the
passing tourist too gets
caught up in that rare
love the French have for
the soil. The travellers
share great moments: at a
church concert, sampling
the local cuisine or
seizing a moment of
nostalgia in a salon de
the. Anecdotes of the
people met along the way
enliven the journey with
passing humour, while
conversational tones of
friendship and fun are
never far off.Most of
all, travelling in a
group calls for the
distilling of differences
into that holiday
essential called
compromise. While this
book carries the
substance of careful
research, facts do not
weigh down the narrative
but are presented in an
engaging style. France`s
history, myths and
legends weave subtly into
the story and historical
figures are taken off
textbook pedestals and
introduced in a light and
personalised way. France,
the Soul of a Journey is
a fascinating read not
just to potential
visitors to the country,
but to those interested
in a novel-style account
of a holiday with some
history and culture
thrown in.
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-
Following the spirit of
the world`s longest
coastal driving route,
Paul Clements sets out to
discover the real west of
Ireland. Along the way he
encounters memorable
characters living on the
Atlantic edge and
presents a unique
portrait of their lives.
We meet the last man
standing on a remote
Galway island, listen to
the banter at Puck Fair,
and hear from a
descendant of the
original
sixteenth-century wild
Atlantic woman. Tagging
along on his meandering
journey is the
swashbuckling presence of
the Celtic sea god,
Manannan Mac Lir. For his
first travel book in
1991, Paul hitchhiked
the same route. Now
retracing his steps along
the Wild Atlantic Way -
this time by car and
bike, on horseback and
on foot - he looks at how
Ireland has changed and
realises everyone still
has a story to tell.
Laced with wry humour and
endless curiosity, this
is a distinctive mix of
travel writing, social
history and nature.
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A journey along one of
Britain`s oldest roads,
from Dover to Anglesey,
in search of the hidden
history that makes us who
we are today. Long ago a
path was created by the
passage of feet tramping
through endless forests.
Gradually that path
became a track, and the
track became a road. It
connected the White
Cliffs of Dover to the
Druid groves of the Welsh
island of Anglesey,
across a land that was
first called Albion then
Britain, Mercia and
eventually England and
Wales. Armies from Rome
arrived and straightened
this 444 kilometres of
meandering track, which
in the Dark Ages gained
the name Watling Street.
Today, this ancient road
goes by many different
names: the A2, the A5
and the M6 Toll. It is a
palimpsest that is always
being rewritten. Watling
Street is a road of
witches and ghosts, of
queens and highwaymen,
of history and myth, of
Chaucer, Dickens and
James Bond. Along this
route Boudicca met her
end, the Battle of
Bosworth changed royal
history, Bletchley Park
code breakers cracked
Nazi transmissions and
Capability Brown
remodelled the English
landscape.The myriad
people who use this road
every day might think it
unremarkable, but, as
John Higgs shows, it
hides its secrets in
plain sight. Watling
Street is not just the
story of a route across
our island, but an
acutely observed,
unexpected exploration of
Britain and who we are
today, told with wit and
flair, and an unerring
eye for the curious and
surprising.
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”All my life, I have
dreamed of acquiring a
crumbling, shabby-chic
house overlooking the
sea. In my mind`s eye, I
have pictured a corner of
paradise where friends
can gather to swim,
relax, debate, eat
fresh fruits picked
directly from the garden
and great steaming plates
of food served from an al
fresco kitchen and dished
up on to a candlelit
table the length of a
railway sleeper...”
When Carol Drinkwater and
her partner Michel have
the opportunity to buy 10
acres of disused olive
farm in Provence, the
idea seems absurd. After
all, they don`t have a
lot of money, and
they`ve only been
together a little while.
THE OLIVE FARM is the
story of the highs and
lows of purchasing the
farm and life in
Provence: the local
customs and cuisine; the
threats of fire and
adoption of a menagerie
of animals; the potential
financial ruin and the
thrill of harvesting
their own olives -
especially when they are
discovered to produce the
finest extra-virgin olive
oil...
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When Tim Salmon first set
out to explore the remote
mountain regions of
Northern Greece, he
couldn`t find anybody,
either Greek or foreign,
who knew anything about
them or had ever been
there. This, along with
the absence of any books
or detailed maps, proved
irresistible to the Rough
Guide author, travel
journalist, mountaineer
and linguist. ”Those
hazy bulwarks seen
against a summer sky from
lowland roads and tourist
routes where the
black-caped winter
shepherds repaired in
spring. Where did they
go? ” For the next 40
years Tim made it his
business to find out. A
close friendship,
ongoing to this day,
with a family of Vlach
mountain shepherds lies
at the heart of The
Unwritten Places. The
Vlachs are called Arumani
in their own language,
which today is their
principal distinguishing
feature. It is a language
derived from Latin and is
considered to be a
dialect of Romanian. Tim
has watched his friends`
flocks grow in size and
seen the road arrive as
their children grew into
their sophisticated
twenties. Tim`s final
acceptance by these proud
and secretive peoples
(but never quite their
dogs!) is marked by his
participation in the
annual transhumance of
the shepherds and their
flocks, walking between
winter and summer
pastures at a time just
before the roads and the
lorries took over.A
beautifully-written,
intimate portrait of an
all but vanished way of
Greek mountain life,
uninterrupted for
thousands of years.
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The man with the gun
pushed me down onto the
carpet. I tried to cower
to make my body curl
smaller, instinctively
covering my head. `Oh
God, please don`t kill
me.` My words clung to my
teeth and now my whole
body was so cold. All I
had left were these
words. `Please. Please
don`t kill me. Jesus.
God. Please.` I wanted to
live and I knew it with
absolute certainty. I
don`t want to die. Emma
Slade was a high-flying
debt analyst for a large
investment bank, when
she was taken hostage in
a hotel room on a
business trip to Jakarta.
She thought she was lucky
to come out of it
unscathed, but over the
ensuing weeks and months,
as the financial markets
crashed, Emma became her
own distressed asset as
the trauma following the
event took hold.
Realising her view on
life had profoundly
changed she embarked upon
a journey, discovering
the healing power of yoga
and, in Bhutan, opening
her eyes to a kinder,
more peaceful way of
living.From fast-paced
City life to the
stillness of Bhutan`s
Himalayan mountains, Set
Free is the inspiring
true story of Emma`s
astonishing life lived to
extremes and all that
that entails: work,
travel, spirituality,
Buddhism, relationships,
and the underlying
question of what makes a
meaningful life.
Availability: In Stock
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Like humans, cities are
mortal. They are born,
they thrive, and they
eventually die. In Atlas
of Lost Cities, Aude de
Tocqueville tells the
compelling narrative of
the rise and fall of such
notable places as
Pompeii, Teotihuacan,
and Angkor. She also
details the less well
known, including
Centralia, an abandoned
Pennsylvania town
consumed by unquenchable
underground fire; Nova
Citas de Kilamba in
Angola, where housing,
schools, and stores were
built for 500, 000 people
that never came; and
Epecuen, a tourist town
in Argentina now
swallowed up by water.
Original artwork shows
the location of the lost
cities, as well as a
depiction of how they
looked when they thrived.
Availability: In Stock
£20.00
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Shortlisted for a 2018
Edward Stanford Travel
Writing Award.The British
Isles are an archipelago
made up of two large
islands and 6, 289
smaller ones. Some, like
the Isle of Man,
resemble miniature
nations, with their own
language and tax laws;
others, like Ray Island
in Essex, are abandoned
and mysterious places
haunted by myths, ghosts
and foxes. There are
resurgent islands such as
Eigg, which have been
liberated from capricious
owners to be run by their
residents; holy islands
like Bardsey, the
resting place of 20, 000
saints, and still a site
of spiritual questing;
and deserted islands such
as St Kilda, famed for
the evacuation of its
human population, and
now dominated by wild
sheep and seabirds. In
this evocative and
vividly observed book,
Patrick Barkham explores
some of the most
beautiful landscapes in
the British Isles as he
travels to ever-smaller
islands in search of
their special magic. Our
small islands are both
places of freedom and
imprisonment, party
destinations and oases of
peace, strangely
suburban and deeply wild.
They are places where the
past is unusually
present, but they can
also offer a vision of an
alternative future.
Meeting all kinds of
islanders, from nuns to
puffins, from local
legends to rare
subspecies of vole, he
seeks to discover what it
is like to live on a
small island, and what
it means to be an
islander.
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-
Ian Strathcarron follows
Mark Twain and his
caravanserai as it sways
across the Holy Land and
the two writers`
contrasting adventures
and observations are told
in Innocence and War.
Twain`s pilgrims landed
in Beirut and went on to
Baalbec and Damascus.
They then headed south
through the Golan
Heights, the Galilee and
Nazareth then finally on
to Jerusalem, Jericho,
the Dead Sea, Bethlehem
and Jaffa. Strathcarron
follows their exact route
though the countries are
now Lebanon, Syria,
Israel and the West
Bank-with diplomatic
diversions by sea on the
writer`s yacht Vasco da
Gama, where needed.
Together they meet the
tribes and tribulations
of the Holy Land, where
the religious is
political and the
political is religious,
where natural beauty
meets man-made squalor,
where hope and despair
hang from the same tree
and where trouble is
always close at hand.
Travel was troublesome
then and it is
troublesome now.
Troublemakers and
troubleshooters vie for
supremacy. Both
protagonists suffer for
their troubles-and only
sometimes laugh it off.
Availability: In Stock
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-
Shortlisted for the
Stanford Dolman Travel
Book of the Year
2018Shortlisted for the
BBC Countryfile Magazine
Country Book of the Year
2018`For all the
islomaniacs out there,
Patrick Barkham`s
Islander looks
unmissable` Robert
Macfarlane`Brimming with
nature, this is a
fitting tribute to the
strangeness and beauty of
our British isles`
Financial TimesThe
British Isles are an
archipelago made up of
two large islands and 6,
289 smaller ones. Some,
like the Isle of Man,
resemble miniature
nations, with their own
language and tax laws;
others, like Ray Island
in Essex, are abandoned
and mysterious places
haunted by myths, ghosts
and foxes. There are
resurgent islands such as
Eigg, which have been
liberated from capricious
owners to be run by their
residents; holy islands
like Bardsey, the
resting place of 20, 000
saints, and still a site
of spiritual questing;
and deserted islands such
as St Kilda, famed for
the evacuation of its
human population, and
now dominated by wild
sheep and seabirds.In
this evocative and
vividly observed book,
Patrick Barkham explores
some of the most
beautiful landscapes in
the British Isles as he
travels to ever-smaller
islands in search of
their special magic. Our
small islands are both
places of freedom and
imprisonment, party
destinations and oases of
peace, strangely
suburban and deeply wild.
They are places where the
past is unusually
present, but they can
also offer a vision of an
alternative future.
Meeting all kinds of
islanders, from nuns to
puffins, from local
legends to rare
subspecies of vole, he
seeks to discover what it
is like to live on a
small island, and what
it means to be an
islander.
Availability: In Stock
£9.99
Available
-
”Whenever I was asked:
`Why did you go to
Santiago?`, I had a hard
time answering. How could
I explain to those who
had not done it that the
way has the effect - if
not the virtue - to make
you forget all reasons
that led you to become
involved in it in the
first place.” Each
year, tens of thousands
of backpackers (Christian
pilgrims and many others)
set out from either their
front doorstep or from
popular starting points
across Europe, to
Santiago de Compostela.
Most travel by foot,
others ride a bicycle,
and a few of them travel
as did some of their
medieval counterparts,
on horseback or with a
donkey. In addition to
those who undertake a
religious pilgrimage,
the majority are hikers
who walk the way for
non-religious reasons:
travel, sport, or
simply the challenge of
spending weeks walking in
a foreign land. Also,
many consider the
experience as a spiritual
adventure, with a view
to removing themselves
from the bustle of modern
life. Jean-Christophe
Rufin followed this
”Northern Way” to
Santiago de Compostela by
foot, on over eight
hundred kilometers.Much
less crowded than the
usual pilgrimage route,
this one runs along the
Basque and Cantabrian
coasts in Spain and
through the wild
mountains of Asturias and
Galicia. Translated from
the French by Malcolm
Imrie and Martina Dervis
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The Scandinavians are
regarded as Europe`s most
tolerant and peace-loving
people. So how was it
that one of the worst
acts of political terror
ever witnessed on this
continent was committed
by a Norwegian - against
his fellow countrymen?
Scandinavia is the
epitome of cool: we fill
our homes with cheap but
stylish Nordic furniture;
we envy their
health-giving outdoor
lifestyle; we glut
ourselves on their crime
fiction; even their
strangely attractive
melancholia seems to
express a stoic,
common-sensical
acceptance of life`s many
vicissitudes. But how
valid is this outsider`s
view of Scandinavia, and
how accurate our picture
of life in Scandinavia
today? Robert Ferguson
digs down through two
millennia of history to
tell stories of
extraordinary events,
people and objects - from
Norwegian Death Metal to
Vidkun Quisling, from
Agnetha Faltskog to Greta
Garbo, from Lurpak
butter to the Old Norse
rune stones - that richly
illuminate our
understanding of modern
Scandinavia, its
society, politics,
culture and temperament.
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Swahili for the Broken
Hearted sees Peter Moore
following the fabled Cape
Town to Cairo route
across Africa. After
being dumped by the
“Girl Next Door”,
Moore decides that the
Dark Continent is the
place in which to lose
himself for a while; the
ideal place to find
solitude and anonymity in
the face of personal
crises. With almost every
country along the route
in a state of political
turmoil, Moore not only
has to grapple with wild
animals and natural
disasters, but also
civil wars and corrupt
governments - not to
mention the usual motley
crew of locals and fellow
travellers who manage to
show him how, in the
face of greater adversity
than a broken heart,
life really should be
lived.
Availability: In Stock
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Explore The World As You
Never Knew It With
Vargic`s Astonishing
Miscellany Of Curious
Maps. This wonderful and
strange atlas is a
treasure trove of
interesting, unexpected
and bizarre facts, a
glorious celebration of
our big beautiful diverse
world. It includes: The
Map of Stereotypes, Maps
of Internet, YouTube and
Gaming Maps of
Literature, Music and
Sport, The Map of
Separatist Europe, 51
infographic maps, from
lighting strikes to
sexual partners, heavy
metal bands to tractors
and many more.
Availability: In Stock
£25.00
Available
-
Since the Second World
War, Thailand has
positioned itself as a
key strategic ally of the
United States, serving
as a bulwark against
communism in Southeast
Asia and as a base for US
troops during the Vietnam
War. In return, the US
has provided millions of
dollars in military and
economic aid, and
staunchly supported the
country`s despotic
regimes. However, the
twenty-first century has
seen a striking reversal
in Thailand`s foreign
relations, with China,
once a sworn enemy, now
treated as a valued ally
by the Thai junta.This
shift reflects China`s
growing status as a world
power, but it has also
had a dramatic impact on
Thailand itself, as the
country`s ruling elite
ape the `Chinese model`
of authoritarianism
combined with rampant
neoliberalism. In
Thailand, Benjamin
Zawacki provides a
compelling account of
Thailand`s changing role
in the world order, from
the beginning of its
alliance with the US in
1945 to the 2014 coup and
beyond. Featuring
extensive interviews with
highly placed sources in
Thailand and the US,
including deposed prime
minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, the book
offers unique insight
into the inner workings
of the Thai elite and
their dealings with the
US and China.
Availability: In Stock
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Available
-
Six million years ago,
the evolving human brain
existed only to instruct
our bodies to move. In
Mindful Walking,
psychologist Hugh
O`Donovan takes us back
to this very basic
connection between the
brain and the body, and
looks at how, by
focussing on the simple
act of moving, we can
achieve better emotional
and physical
health.Uniting this
concept of mindfulness in
movement along with the
three paths of change for
a better life - walking,
talking and meditation -
this book shows us how we
can better manage the
distractions that clog
our path to happiness,
while also improving our
physical
well-being.Including
simple exercises on how
to incorporate mindful
walking into our everyday
lives, Mindful Walking
is for seasoned walkers,
city amblers or people
learning how to walk
again after illness.Take
your first steps on the
journey to physical
health and mental
happiness.
Availability: In Stock
£8.99
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-
In the Michelin tradition
of classification, this
guide offers a quick
reference for evaluating
the categories of camping
sites from 1 to 5 tents
and features a
comprehensive index,
practical information on
each campsites, regional
mapping as well as lively
introduction to the area
illustrated with colour
photographs: * GPS
co-ordinates for each
campsite * Regional
Mapping pinpoint each
campsite * An index of
locality and table of
regions to quickly select
a campsite * Complete and
practical information on
each campsite, such as
rate, natural settings,
etc. * Lively description
of the regions covered in
the Guide illustrated
with colour photographs.
* A lexicon of common
camping terms Please note
this is in French
Availability: In Stock
£15.99
Available
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How to Survive Anything,
A Visual Guide to
Laughing in the Face of
Adversity.is a book that
will teach you How to
Survive Anything. Using
the witty, graphic
format it will help you
withstand any challenge,
from the extreme to the
ordinary, that life
might throw your
way.In-laws coming round
for dinner? Earthquake
imminent? Stuck in the
middle seat on a
long-haul flight? Don`t
panic! Learn how to deal
with challenges from the
extreme to the ordinary,
the mundane to the
mortifying, with this
book you will always
prevail!Brilliantly
illustrated by Rob Dobi
this is a great gift book
and will become source of
conversations and
laugh-out-louds!
Availability: In Stock
£14.99
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”When Rachael Weiss
left a good job, Thelma
the cat and a normal life
in Sydney for the
romantic dream of being a
writer in Prague she
intended to stay forever.
She lasted just three
years, exasperated by
the eccentricities of her
ancestral city and its
mind-boggling bureaucracy
and customs. In this
surprising and generous
memoir full of warmth and
unstoppable sociability,
Rachael attempts to write
her great novel, buy an
apartment (any
apartment!), dodge
unscrupulous employers,
and perhaps find love.
She gets lost in the
woods with a Kyrgyzstani
software engineer who
wants to eat humans,
finds herself leading
services at the Spanish
synagogue with no real
idea of what she is doing
and spends long nights
drinking beer with a
colourful cast of crazy,
warm and slightly mad
locals and expats. Rich
in absurdities and gentle
humour, The Thing About
Prague...is rife with
insight, culture
clashes, friendships and
above all charm.”
Availability: In Stock
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I could hardly believe my
eyes. A cold mantle of
white was rapidly
transforming our sunny
paradise into a bizarre
winterscape of citrus
Christmas trees, cotton
wool palms and snowball
oranges. When the Kerr
family leave Scotland to
grow oranges in a
secluded valley on the
island of Mallorca they
are surprised to be
greeted by the same
freezing weather they
have left behind. Then
they realise that their
new orange farm is a bit
of a lemon...Laughter,
finds Peter Kerr, is the
best medicine when faced
with a local dish of rats
and the
live-chicken-down-a-chimney
technique of household
maintenance. But their
Mallorcan neighbours help
them adapt to their new
life. Snowball Oranges is
hilarious and revealing,
full of life and colour,
set against the
breathtaking beauty of
the Mediterranean.
Availability: In Stock
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-
The English Channel is
the busiest waterway in
the world. Ferries steam
back and forth, trains
thunder through the
tunnel. The narrow sea
has been crucial to our
development and
prosperity. It helps
define our notion of
Englishness, as an
island people, a nation
of seafarers. It is also
our nearest, dearest
playground where people
have sought sun, sin and
bracing breezes. Tom Fort
takes us on a
fascinating, discursive
journey from east to
west, to find out what
this stretch of water
means to us and what is
so special about the
English seaside, that
edge between land and
seawater. He dips his toe
into Sandgate`s waters,
takes the air in Hastings
and Bexhill, chews
whelks in Brighton,
builds a sandcastle in
Sandbanks, sunbathes in
sunny Sidmouth, catches
prawns off the slipway at
Salcombe and hunts a
shark off Looe. Stories
of smugglers and
shipwreck robbers, of
beachcombers and samphire
gatherers, gold diggers
and fossil hunters
abound.
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Adventure writer Richard
Grant takes on ”the
most American place on
Earth” the enigmatic,
beautiful, often derided
Mississippi Delta.
Richard Grant and his
girlfriend were living in
a shoebox apartment in
New York City when they
decided on a whim to buy
an old plantation house
in the Mississippi Delta.
This is their journey of
discovery into this
strange and wonderful
American place. Imagine A
Year In Provence with
alligators and assassins,
or Midnight in the
Garden of Good and Evil
with hunting scenes and
swamp-to-table dining. On
a remote, isolated strip
of land, three miles
beyond the tiny community
of Pluto, Richard and
his girlfriend, Mariah,
embark on a new life.
They learn to hunt, grow
their own food, and fend
off alligators, snakes,
and varmints galore. They
befriend an array of
unforgettable local
characters, blues legend
T-Model Ford, cookbook
maven Martha Foose,
catfish farmers,
eccentric millionaires,
and the actor Morgan
Freeman. Grant brings an
adept, empathetic eye to
the fascinating people he
meets, capturing the
rich, extraordinary
culture of the Delta,
while tracking its
utterly bizarre and
criminal
extremes.Reporting from
all angles as only an
outsider can, Grant also
delves deeply into the
Delta`s lingering racial
tensions. He finds that
de facto segregation
continues. Yet even as he
observes major structural
problems, he encounters
many close, loving, and
interdependent
relationships between
black and white families
and good reasons for
hope. Dispatches from
Pluto is a book as unique
as the Delta itself. It`s
lively, entertaining,
and funny, containing a
travel writer`s flair for
in-depth reporting
alongside insightful
reflections on poverty,
community, and race.
It`s also a love story,
as the nomadic Grant
learns to settle down. He
falls not just for his
girlfriend but for the
beguiling place they now
call home. Mississippi,
Grant concludes, is the
best-kept secret in
America.
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Twenty years ago, Bill
Bryson went on a trip
around Britain to
celebrate the green and
kindly island that had
become his adopted
country. The hilarious
book that resulted,
Notes from a Small
Island, was taken to the
nation`s heart and became
the bestselling travel
book ever, and was also
voted in a BBC poll the
book that best represents
Britain. Now, to mark
the twentieth anniversary
of that modern classic,
Bryson makes a brand-new
journey round Britain to
see what has changed.
Following (but not too
closely) a route he dubs
the Bryson Line, from
Bognor Regis to Cape
Wrath, by way of places
that many people never
get to at all, Bryson
sets out to rediscover
the wondrously beautiful,
magnificently eccentric,
endearingly unique
country that he thought
he knew but doesn`t
altogether recognize any
more. Yet, despite
Britain`s occasional
failings and more or less
eternal bewilderments,
Bill Bryson is still
pleased to call our rainy
island home. And not just
because of the cream
teas, a noble history,
and an extra day off at
Christmas.Once again,
with his matchless homing
instinct for the funniest
and quirkiest, his
unerring eye for the
idiotic, the endearing,
the ridiculous and the
scandalous, Bryson gives
us an acute and
perceptive insight into
all that is best and
worst about Britain
today.
Availability: In Stock
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-
This epic exploration of
thirteen countries takes
Gandolfi across desert
and over mountains,
through the Amazon forest
and the length of the
Appalachians. Guide books
may warn of thieves,
bandits, corrupt police
and border officials;
Gandolfi writes of the
remarkable kindness and
generosity he encounters.
Courtesy, patience and
good humour are his
passports while hurry is
his anathema. Whether in
village or city, his joy
is in leisurely
conversation. Gauchos,
oil workers, peasant
farmers, officials,
owners of vast haciendas,
Venezuelan
revolutionaries,
students at Texas A&M -
all excite his curiosity
and he faithfully records
their opinions while
submitting his own
thoughts, beliefs and
fears to an often
merciless inspection.
Above all this is a
jubilant chronicle of
hope and understanding,
of new friendships,
glorious country,
sublime architecture,
good food, and
ultimately, an old man`s
determination to surmount
his years. Outrageously
irresponsible and
undeniably liberating,
Gandolfi`s travels will
fire the imaginations of
every traveller, young
or old.
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-
In 1995, at the age of
twenty-three, Michael
Meyer joined the Peace
Corps and, after
rejecting offers to go to
seven other countries,
was sent to a tiny town
in Sichuan. Knowing
nothing about China, or
even how to use
chopsticks, Meyer wrote
Chinese words up and down
his arms so he could hold
conversations, and, per
a Communist dean`s
orders, jumped into
teaching his students
about the Enlightenment,
the stock market, and
Beatles lyrics. Soon he
realized his Chinese
counterparts were just as
bewildered by China`s
changes as he was.Thus
began an impassioned
immersion into Chinese
life. With humor and
insight, Meyer puts
readers in his novice
shoes, winding across
the length and breadth of
his adopted country
--from a terrifying bus
attack on arrival, to
remote Xinjiang and
Tibet, into Beijing`s
backstreets and his
future wife`s Manchurian
family, and headlong
into efforts to protect
China`s vanishing
heritage at places like
”Sleeping Dragon, ”
the world`s largest panda
preserve.In the last book
of his China trilogy,
Meyer tells a story both
deeply personal and
universal, as he gains
greater - if never
complete - assurance,
capturing what it feels
like to learn a language,
culture and history from
the ground up. Both funny
and relatable, The Road
to Sleeping Dragon is
essential reading for
anyone interested in
China`s history, and how
daily life plays out
there today.
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£30.00
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-
Twenty years ago, Bill
Bryson went on a trip
around Britain to
celebrate the green and
kindly island that had
become his adopted
country. The hilarious
book that resulted,
Notes from a Small
Island, was taken to the
nation`s heart and became
the bestselling travel
book ever, and was also
voted in a BBC poll the
book that best represents
Britain. Now, to mark
the twentieth anniversary
of that modern classic,
Bryson makes a brand-new
journey round Britain to
see what has changed.
Following (but not too
closely) a route he dubs
the Bryson Line, from
Bognor Regis to Cape
Wrath, by way of places
that many people never
get to at all, Bryson
sets out to rediscover
the wondrously beautiful,
magnificently eccentric,
endearingly unique
country that he thought
he knew but doesn`t
altogether recognize any
more. Yet, despite
Britain`s occasional
failings and more or less
eternal bewilderments,
Bill Bryson is still
pleased to call our rainy
island home. And not just
because of the cream
teas, a noble history,
and an extra day off at
Christmas.Once again,
with his matchless homing
instinct for the funniest
and quirkiest, his
unerring eye for the
idiotic, the endearing,
the ridiculous and the
scandalous, Bryson gives
us an acute and
perceptive insight into
all that is best and
worst about Britain
today.
Availability: In Stock
£20.00
Available
-
The Danes are the
happiest people in the
world, and pay the
highest taxes. `Neutral`
Sweden is one of the
biggest arms
manufacturers in the
world. Finns have the
largest per capita gun
ownership after the US
and Yemen. 54% of
Icelanders believe in
elves. Norway is the
richest country on earth.
5 % of Danish men have
had sex with an animal.
Michael Booth has lived
among the Scandinavians,
on and off, for over ten
years, perplexed by
their many strange
paradoxes and character
traits and equally
bemused by the
unquestioning enthusiasm
for all things Nordic
that has engulfed the
rest of the world. He
leaves his adopted home
of Denmark and embarks on
a journey through all
five of the Nordic
countries to discover who
these curious tribes are,
the secrets of their
success and, most
intriguing of all, what
they think of each other.
Along the way a more
nuanced, often darker
picture emerges of a
region plagued by taboos,
characterised by
suffocating parochialism
and populated by
extremists of various
shades.
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-
Disproving the theory
that women can’t read
maps, Mrs P’s Journey
is the fascinating story
of the woman who mapped
London’s A-Z and
created a publishing
phenomenon. Spirited,
artistic and eccentric,
Phyllis Pearsall became
increasingly frustrated
at the lack of proper
street maps of London.
Phyllis’ reaction was
completely characteristic
and she threw herself
into attempting to map
the busy, sprawling
metropolis. Without
hesitation, she covered
London’s 23, 000
streets on foot during
the course of one year,
often leaving her bedsit
at dawn to do so. In
light of its enormous
success, she set up the
Geographers’ Map
Company, which still
publishes the A-Z of
London and of most
British cities.Sarah
Hartley has written a
beautifully moving
account of an
inspirational woman who
carved a niche for
herself in what was
traditionally a man’s
world and who left behind
an enduring legacy.
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-
If you`re like most kids
who love the outdoors,
you want to do more than
go on picnics or hike a
nature trail. You don`t
want to go home at the
end of the day. You want
to stay out in the woods,
mountains, or desert.
You want to camp. With
Ranger Rick Kids` Guide
to Camping, you`ll learn
how to make roughing it
easy. You`ll find great
tips for choosing the
best campsite and setting
up your home away from
home. You`ll even find
recipes for great
fireside dishes. Also
included is a real
working compass to help
you navigate through the
wilderness. It might take
you a while to read this
book, because it is
filled with ideas for
things to do. You might
stop reading right in the
middle of a page to go
out and try a new camping
skill. And that`s great,
because the better you
get at those skills, the
more fun you`ll have on
your camping adventure.
Availability: In Stock
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Available
-
”The stars shimmer like
spilled handfuls of
glitter. The day is
beginning to rise with a
faint mist. As I turn my
head, ghostly halos,
auras of light, appear
and disappear.. .The
silence is truly awesome.
Not a bird, not a
whisper of wind, not a
breath of life. Only the
two of us, a most
implausible pair,
standing shoulder to
shoulder gazing upon an
awakening heaven”
Returning to their home
after an extended absence
Carol and her husband
Michel are looking
forward to summer
together on the farm. A
shocking blow leaves
Carol alone and the
future is uncertain.
Feeling isolated and with
no olives to harvest,
Carol ventures beyond the
farm to explore other
aspects of Provencal life
- from hunting to
bee-keeping, the ancient
language to the
ever-present demands of
family and friends. And
ultimately, Provence`s
generous diversity - and
Carol`s own persistence
in sharing it with those
she loves - paves a path
to joy.
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Today, India stands on
the threshold of global
dominance. And as it
faces the road ahead,
attention focuses on one
man: its Prime Minister,
Nahrendra Modi. A
controversial figure in
his own country and
abroad, he has garnered
unprecedented political
support while facing
criticism for his
nationalism, his record
in government and his
economic policies. As it
seeks to control its
relationships with China
and Pakistan, to
revitalise its economy
and improve the health
and education prospects
of its citizens, the key
to understanding its
future may lie in
understanding its leader.
Here, Adam Roberts,
formerly South Asia
bureau chief for the
Economist, builds up an
unflinching portrayal of
the man at India`s helm,
the country`s enormous
potential - and its
equally vast challenges.
Drawing on years of
on-the-ground research,
and interviews with
everyone from wayside
fortune-tellers to Modi
himself, Superfast
Primetime Ultimate Nation
is essential reading for
anyone who wants to know
what the future holds for
the world`s greatest
nation.
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-
Shortlisted for a 2018
Edward Stanford Travel
Writing Award.Levison
Wood was only 22 when he
decided to hitch-hike
from England to India
through Russia, Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan,
but he wasn`t the
conventional follower of
the hippy trail. A
fascination with the
deeds of the early
explorers, a history
degree in the bag, an
army career already
planned and a shoestring
budget of GBP750 -
including for the flight
home - he was determined
to find out more about
the countries of the
Caucasus and beyond - and
meet the people who lived
and worked there.EASTERN
HORIZONS is a true
traveller`s tale in the
tradition of the best of
the genre, populated by
a cast of eccentric
characters; from
mujahideen fighters to
the Russian mafia. Along
the way he meets some
people who showed great
hospitality, while
others would rather have
murdered him...This book
confirms that Levison
Wood, Winner of the 2016
Edward Stanford Adventure
Travel Book Of The Year
Award, has indeed
`breathed new life into
adventure travel `
(Michael Palin)
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A classically trained
opera singer and her
husband, a former marine
biologist, set out by
train for a homestead
they`ve purchased in
rural Missouri.
Meanwhile, a
horticulturist and her
husband have turned to
urban farming to
revitalise the blighted
city they both love. And
in Montana, a couple of
longtime organic farmers
navigate what it means to
live and raise a family
ethically. A work of
immersive journalism
steeped in a
distinctively American
social history and
sparked by a personal
quest, The Unsettlers
traces the search for the
simple life through the
stories of these new
pioneers.
Availability: In Stock
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-
A recently discovered gem
from the bestselling
author of Somewhere
Towards the End and
Alive, Alive Oh!: the
charming and vivacious
diary of Diana Athill`s
holiday to Florence in
the late 1940s.In August
1947, Diana Athill
travelled to Florence by
the Golden Arrow train
for a two-week holiday
with her good friend Pen.
In this playful diary of
that trip, Athill
recorded her observations
and adventures - eating
with (and paid for by)
the hopeful men they meet
on their travels,
admiring architectural
sights, sampling
delicious pastries,
eking out their budget
and getting into
scrapes.Written with an
arresting immediacy and
infused with an
exhilarating joie de
vivre, A Florence Diary
is a bright, colourful
evocation of a time long
lost, and a vibrant
portrait of a city that
will be deliciously
familiar to any
contemporary traveller.
Availability: In Stock
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-
James Cameron admired
Martha Gellhorn above all
other war-reporters
`because she combined a
cold eye with a warm
heart`. The Chicago Times
described her writing as
`wide ranging and
provocative, a blend of
cool lyricism and fiery
emotion, alternately
prickly and welcoming,
funny and stern`. But
make your own judgements,
and in the process find
yourself plunged straight
back into Madrid during
the Spanish Civil War,
feel the frozen ground of
the Finno Russian war,
the continent-wide
Japanese invasion of
China, the massacres in
Java, the murderously
naive intervention in
Vietnam and the USA`s
dirty little wars in
Central America. You will
also experience the
process of the Second
World War by the seat of
your pants. It is a tough
way to learn history,
but also one created in
bite-sized chunks, that
inspire just as often as
they shock.
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-
What`s wrong with calling
a burglar brave? Why are
people so f***ing hung up
about swearing? Why do
the asterisks in that
sentence make it okay?
Why do so many people
want to stop other people
doing things, and how
can they be stopped from
stopping them? Why is
every film and TV
programme a sequel or a
remake? Why are we so
reliant on perpetual
diversion that someone
has created chocolate
toothpaste? Is there
anything to be done about
the Internet? These and
many other questions
trouble David Mitchell as
he delights us with a
tour of the absurdities
of modern life - from
Ryanair to Downton Abbey,
sports day to smoking,
nuclear weapons to phone
etiquette, UKIP to
hotdogs made of cats.
Funny, provocative and
shot through with
refreshing amounts of
common sense, Thinking
About It Only Makes It
Worse celebrates and
commiserates on the state
of things in our not
entirely glorious nation.
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-
Praised by BBC
Countryfile Magazine for
writing `intelligently
and amusingly, with
evident excitement and
imagination`, Dixe Wills
unleashes his trademark
style on the tiniest
attractions in Britain.
Beautifully presented in
full colour throughout,
the book uncovers 60 of
the country`s loveliest
and most diminutive
places to visit. Be it a
castle, cathedral,
cinema or pub, a museum,
theatre, ferry or
football team, these
little gems are all
united in their lack of
size, making many of
them so easily overlooked
they are known only to
locals. Often
representing a microcosm
of British local history
and attitudes, many of
these tiny places date
from a time when big and
brash was frowned upon
and small was definitely
beautiful. Each entry
features information on
how to get there using
public transport, when
best to visit the
attraction, a concise
round-up of its history
and any must-see
features.
Availability: In Stock
£16.99
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-
This new edition features
an introduction following
Sara Wheeler’s most
recent trip back to
Chile, taken with her
eight-year-old son. In it
she discusses the
numerous changes that
have taken place in the
time she’s been away,
and the prosperity the
country is now enjoying -
some of which may be
detracting from the
earlier pleasures and the
nation’s unique
character.Squeezed in
between a vast ocean and
the longest mountain
range on earth, Chile is
2, 600 miles long and
never more than 110 miles
wide - not a country
which lends itself easily
to maps. Nor, as Sara
Wheeler found out, does
it easily lend itself to
a lone woman with two
carpetbags who wishes to
travel from the top to
the bottom, from the
driest desert in the
world to the sepulchral
wastes of Antarctica.
Yet, despite
bureaucratic, geographic
and climatic setbacks,
Sara Wheeler managed to
complete that journey in
six months, discovering
en route a country that
is quite extraordinarily
diverse.This is an
account of an odyssey
which included Christmas
Day spent with a llama
sandwich on the Tropic of
Capricorn at 13, 000
feet, a sex hotel in the
capital, four days
wedged aboard a cargo
boat, a wet tent and and
high street bank in
Patagonia. In Santiago
she talked her way into
the prisons, in Tierra
del Fuego she hitched a
lift around Cape Horn on
a supply boat delivering
a coffin, and in the
high Andes she lived on a
Vedic commune. From
Easter in the slums to an
eventful week on Robinson
Crusoe Island, the
author picks her way
through the complex
reality of South American
Catholicism and the
fragile peace of a newly
born democracy. She also
drinks a lot of wine.This
improbable ribbon of land
has been home to Andean
tribes who remain the
most scientifically
neglected people in the
world; it has been
conquered by
conquistadores, pillaged
by Sir Francis Drake (no
hero in Chile),
exploited by foreign
imperialists, blighted
by the Panama Canal,
governed by the world`s
first
democratically-elected
Marxist president and
stamped upon by one of
this century`s most
reviled dictators. And,
as Sara Wheeler
discovered, they have
all left their mark on
today`s Chile - an
extravagantly complex
country, hidden behind
the Andes and stretching
to the end of the
world.An extraordinary
and very readable account
about travelling alone
and about the people and
history of Chile.
Availability: In Stock
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-
Officially about the hold
the Sahara has over the
western psyche, Sven
Lindqvist’s short book
continually evokes the
starkness, harshness and
loneliness experienced
there. He also
intertwines a memoir of
his childhood and youth,
remembered while he’s
out in the sun-drenched
wasteland, as well as
examining the tragicomic
aspects of
colonialism.Lindqvist,
who also wrote
Exterminate All The
Brutes, has lovingly
written an impression of
life in the Algerian and
Moroccan sand-dunes,
happily drawing on its
consistent contradictions
- where there’s trading
in both date fruits and
oil, and where you’ll
meet ancient,
traditional Bedouins and
hi-tech falconers.The
desert divers of the
title are the people that
used to clean the deep
wells, and he uses them
in a fantastic metaphor
for his efforts to bring
to the surface the
stories of colonial
slaughter and
exploitation that came
before him - and as a
metaphor for his own
examination of his
childhood memories.
Superb.
Availability: In Stock
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-
Which major UK retailer
has the same name as
Odysseus`s dog in Greek
mythology?In the original
version of the Band Aid
hit `Do They Know It`s
Christmas?`, who sang
the opening line?Which is
the only US state whose
name can be typed on a
single row of a QWERTY
keyboard?Travel writer
and quiz fan Mark Mason
decided to combine two of
his greatest loves by
setting off on a tour of
Britain`s quizzes. From a
pub quiz in Edinburgh to
a charity quiz in
Hampshire, from a
corporate quiz in
Birmingham to a
journalists` quiz in
Parliament, he finds
answers aplenty while
asking some questions of
his own. Just what is it
that attracts us to these
tests of our knowledge?
What are the ingredients
of the perfect quiz
question? And which is
the only English city
whose official name
begins with H?The only
travel book ever to
discuss Winston
Churchill`s use of
language and reveal
Donald Duck`s middle
name, QUESTION TIME is
an affectionate tribute
to Britain and one of its
most cherished
institutions - the quiz.
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-
THE FIRST BOOK IN V.S.
NAIPAUL`S ACCLAIMED
INDIAN TRILOGY -- WITH A
NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR
An Area of Darkness is V.
S. Naipaul`s
semi-autobiographical
account -- at once
painful and hilarious,
but always thoughtful and
considered -- of his
first visit to India,
the land of his
forebears. He was
twenty-nine years old; he
stayed for a year. From
the moment of his
inauspicious arrival in
Prohibition-dry Bombay,
bearing whisky and cheap
brandy, he experienced a
cultural estrangement
from the subcontinent. It
became for him a land of
myths, an area of
darkness closing up
behind him as he
travelled.. .The
experience was not a
pleasant one, but the
pain the author suffered
was creative rather than
numbing, and engendered
a masterful work of
literature that provides
a revelation both of
India and of himself: a
displaced person who
paradoxically possesses a
stronger sense of place
than almost anyone.
`Brilliant` Observer `His
narrative skill is
spectacular. One returns
with pleasure to the slow
hand-in-hand revelations
of both India and
himself` The Times
Availability: In Stock
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-
England`s views are
remarkable for their
beauty and variety. With
his usual insight and
authority, bestselling
author Simon Jenkins
picks 100 of the very
best from the white
cliffs of Dover to
Hadrian`s Wall - and
explains the fascinating
stories behind each.
Jenkins` entertaining and
erudite entries provide
the rich historical,
geographical, botanical
and architectural
background to
breathtaking sights - all
beautifully illustrated -
both iconic and
undiscovered. From Gold
Hill, the Dorset village
street so famously
picturesque it was used
in a Hovis advert, to
the view of the City of
London famously depicted
by Canaletto and the
wilds of the Yorkshire
moors. This book will
inspire you to discover
the treasures of
England`s sea, city and
landscapes for yourself.
Filled with roman roads,
cliff-tops, follies,
mountains, ancient
castles, rolling forests
and heart-stopping
moments, you`ll soon
wonder how you chose
walks, mini-breaks or
spontaneous diversions
without it. The perfect
guide to Britain`s
landscape - now available
in paperback.
Availability: In Stock
£15.00
Available
-
Camps 9 with Camp Snaps
is the definitive guide
to low-cost camping
across Australia with 2,
700 camp site photos,
featuring verified free
camps, caravan parks,
national and state parks,
community campsites,
showgrounds, station
stays and much more.4,
000+ free and low-cost
sites2, 700 camp site
photos 3, 000+
pet-friendly sitesGPS
positions of each
siteDetailed facility
informationAtlas mapping
for navigationThe latest
edition of Camps
Australia Wide features
more sites than ever
before, giving campers,
caravanners, 4WD
enthusiasts, road
trippers and other
travellers more places to
pull up and stay for the
night. Travellers who
want to take their pet on
the road can choose from
over 3, 000 pet-friendly
campsites using Camps 9,
making it easy to
discover Australia
without having to leave
your furry (or otherwise)
friend behind.To help you
navigate your journey,
Camps 9 features Hema
road atlas mapping for
all of Australia. With
each site pinpointed and
referenced on the
mapping, it’s easy to
find the perfect place to
stay without huge camping
fees using Camps 9.
Availability: In Stock
£64.95
Available
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Meet Charles
Rangeley-Wilson. He’s
one of Britain’s
best-kept secrets –
angler, conservationist,
traveller. He’s also
one of our finest fishing
writers. Now join him on
the trip of a lifetime,
on a journey that will
make the familiar new,
and the strange
familiar.Published to
accompany the new BBC TV
series, The Accidental
Angler takes us from
London suburbs to Bhutan,
Icelandic moonscapes to
the Seychelles – in
fact, anywhere a fishing
rod leads.In The
Accidental Angler
you’ll battle titanic
monsters on a tropical
atoll and make-believe
sharks on the
mushy-peas-and-gravy
Wash. You’ll chase
inscrutable grayling
through back gardens in
Provence, or phantom sea
trout in downtown
Southampton. And you’ll
dance in Brazilian
carnivals and find secret
rivers hidden beneath the
streets.Because fishing
can take you to the heart
of a landscape in a way
few other forms of travel
can match. A fishing rod
will break the ice with
locals, guides,
farmers, shopkeepers,
taxi drivers and
bar-flies. Whether in the
world’s most outlandish
and awe-inspiring places
or just at the end of
your road, fishing will
introduce you to crabby
weather and crabbier
locals, moon-phases,
rip-tides, floods,
droughts, remarkable
tales, and of course
fantastic slippery
beasts.
Availability: In Stock
£9.99
Denmark