It seemed a terrible shame to meet my end in Iowa; I couldn`t imagine anywhere more disappointing to die. If I were a betting man I`d have reckoned on the most dangerous thing in this state being sheer boredom. The scenery hadn`t changed for weeks & I was slowly dissolving into stimulation-deprived madness. My current predicament, then
- attempting to escape through cornfields from a gun-toting alcohol-soaked rancher
- was not something I expected. Just months after graduating from university, Leon received disastrous news: he had been offered a job. Terrified at the prospect of a life spent behind a desk, without challenge or adventure, he took off to cross America on an overloaded bicycle packed with everything but common sense. Over five months & 6, 000 miles, Leon cycled from New York to Seattle & then on to the Mexican border, facing tornados, swollen river crossings & one hungry black bear along the way. But he also met kind strangers who offered their food, wisdom, hospitality & even the occasional local history lesson, & learned what happens when you take a chance & follow the scent of adventure.

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The Road Home by Rose Tremain is a wise & witty novel centred on Lev, a middle aged Polish man who has come to London as a migrant worker, ostensibly to earn a little money to send to his mother & daughter, but in reality running from unspoken problems within himself & at home, & seeking something that even he himself has no concept of. The reader sees the road Lev travels through his own eyes
- at times laughing, crying & sighing with him as he struggles with mysterious rituals of “ Englishness”, including foods, fashions & fads. We walk hand in hand with him in friendships old & new, during moments of despair & discovery, seeing before us, after all the road that truly leads him…home…
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` For safety is a precious place, a place to call our own. This road is hard, this road is long, this road that leads us home.` As winter approaches, a bird flees with her chick, a mouse builds a nest for her child & rabbits run from wolves that roam in the darkening woods. The road home is long & hard, but the animals have each other in this poetic meditation on nature, survival & love. ...

The Road Less Travelled highlights 1, 000 places off the tourist trail, all over the world. With a foreword by Bill Bryson, a team of travel writers have helped compile the relative merits (and occasional letdowns) of some lesser-known wonders of the world. For every well-known tourist hot spot, there are a handful of alternatives that are usually less crowded & less expensive, & possibly even more rewarding. The Road Less Travelled is arranged in nine themed chapters
- Ancient & Historical Sights, Festivals & Parties, Great Journeys, Architectural Marvels, Natural Wonders, Beaches, Sports & Activities, Art & Architecture, & Cities. A wide selection of glossy, evocative photographs feature alongside informative text & need to know details. Also included are special full page spreads on some larger confrontations in the “tourist trail vs lesser known wonders” stakes. Why not consider wine tasting in Mendoze, Argentina as opposed to wine tasting in the Napa Valley, California? What about viewing the Patagonian fjords rather than heading to the established spectacle of the Norwegian fjords? There`s always the Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan, India rather than the Orient Express & Japan`s cherry blossom as opposed to fall in New Engl&. Ever thought about Avebury in Wiltshire when you see the famous arrangement of Stonehenge?
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Scotland is one of the most well-recorded countries in term of travel writing. The Romans were the first to record their impressions of the bleak & formidable frontier they had to confront & attempt to tame, but it is only over the last 300 years that a catalogue of published material has been created which allows the reader to discover the country as it once was. This volume presents a selection of these writings, from authors including Thomas Pennant, Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, R.L. Stevenson, Edwin Muir, Virginia Woolf, Sir Alastair Dunnett, Gavin Maxwell, T.S. Eliot, Muriel Spark, Paul Theroux & Margaret Fay Shaw. Presented on a regional basis, the compendium takes readers on a virtual journey through Scotl&, revealing its differing aspects as observed by these writers. ...

The Road of Bones is the story of Russia`s greatest road. For over 200 years, the route of the Vladimirka Road has been at the centre of the nation`s history, having witnessed everything from the first human footsteps to the rise of Putin & his oil-rich oligarchy. Tsars, wars, famine & wealth: all have crossed & travelled this road, but no-one has ever told its story. In pursuit of the sights, sounds & voices both past & present, Jeremy Poolman travels the Vladimirka. Both epic & intimate, The Road of Bones is a record of his travels
- but much more. It looks into the hearts & reveals the histories of those whose lives have been changed by what is known by many as simply The Greatest of Roads. This is a book about life & about death & about the strength of will it takes to celebrate the former while living in the shadow of the latter. Anecdotal & epic, The Road of Bones follows the author`s journey along this road, into the past & back again. The book takes as its compass both the voices of history & those of today & draws a map of the cities & steppes of the Russian people`s battered but ultimately indefatigable spirit.
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` Dawn, & as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside Korem it lights up a biblical famine, now, in the Twentieth Century.` Those words opened Michael Buerk`s first report on the Ethiopian famine for the 6 o`clock news on October 24th 1984. His reports sent shock waves round the world. The Live Aid concert, a direct consequence of Bob Geldof watching that broadcast, was watched by half the planet. Michael Buerk has reported on some of the biggest stories in our lifetime: the Flixborough chemical plant fire, the Birmingham pub bombing, Lockerbie. He was in Buenos Aires at the start of the Falklands War; he reported the death throes of apartheid in South Africa. He was the face of the BBC flagship evening news for many years & has fronted everything from the popular BBC1 series 999 to the erudite Radio 4 programme ” The Moral Maze”. He has won every major award & is universally admired & respected for his intelligent & honest journalism. Here, he also reveals the private Michael Buerk, his bigamist father, his long & happy marriage to Christine & his delight at fatherhood. ...

The No. 1 New York Times bestseller on the secret to leading a good life We live in a Big Me culture: universities & businesses alike reward goal-oriented superstars & those who self-promote are most likely to thrive. But what does this say about us? David Brooks argues that our hunger for wealth & status is eroding our ability to create meaningful inner lives. To show us how to live better, he looks at people whose sense of humility was fundamental to their success. What they all understood was a simple but counterintuitive truth: in order to fulfil yourself, you must learn how to forget yourself. ...

Captured during the First World War, Lieutenant E.H. Jones (a Welsh officer in the Indian Army) & Lieutenant C.W. Hill (an Australian serving in the R.A.F.) were prisoners of war at the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey. To while away the time, the prisoners hit upon the idea of playing with a make-shift Ouija board to help keep themselves entertained. As it turned out, E.H. Jones had a knack for manipulation & soon had everyone believing his fake messages from the other side. It was then the bright idea came to him: if he could fool his comrades, to what extent could he fool his captors & turn this to his advantage
- ? With Lieutenant Hill his partner in crime (who is also an amateur magician), the two orchestrate an extraordinary plan to try to guarantee their release. As well as containing astonishing original materials including photographs, letters & postcards, the book contains a preface by the author`s grandson, as well as a foreword by Neil Gaiman who is linked to a film which is currently in pre-production. A FREE companion ebook will be available to download from the Hesperus website in February (www.hesperuspress.com/the-road-to-en-dor)rand will include back stories on the characters, maps, letters, coded messages & an exclusive short story written by E.H.
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Davy David, an orphan, lives by his wits in the dead-end town of Brownvale. When a stray dog called George turns Davy`s life upside down just days before Christmas, he sets in motion a chain of events which forces them to flee. A mischievous wind blows the two of them to a boarded-up museum on the outskirts of town where they meet the elderly recluse, Miss Flint. She has planned one last adventure before her time is up & hires the reluctant Davy & George to escort her. A magical adventure about an unlikely friendship & an unforgettable journey. ...