Category Archives: Travel Guides
In the Steps of the Master.
This is an account of H.V. Morton`s journey through the Holy Land. Nowhere do the ancient world and the modern collide so abruptly as in these territories, so long disputed, where H.V. Morton undertook a pilgrimage in the early 1930s.
Hum If You Don`t Know The Words
Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation, but worlds apart, Beauty, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children after her husband`s death. Told through Beauty and Robin`s
Who Murdered Chaucer?
In this work of historical speculation Terry Jones investigates the mystery surrounding the death of Geoffrey Chaucer over 600 years ago. A diplomat and brother-in-law to John of Gaunt – one of the most powerful men in the kingdom – Chaucer was celebrated as his country`s finest living poet, rhetorician and scholar: the pre-eminent intellectual
The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland in the Long Twentieth Century
This revelatory volume brings together significant works in translations from nearly fifty Chinese writers. It includes poems, essays, fiction, songs and speeches written in an astonishing array of moods and styles, from sublime lyricism to witty surrealism, poignant documentary to the ironic, the absurd, the transgressive and the defiant. Yunte Huang provides essential context in
You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin
In Paris in 1902, Auguste Rodin had just completed The Thinker; visiting from Prague was Rainer Maria Rilke, broke and with writer`s block. When Rilke was commissioned to write a book about Rodin, everything changed. You Must Change Your Life tells one of the great stories of modern art and literature: Rodin and Rilke`s years
City of Light, City of Poison
In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring order to the city of Paris after the brutal deaths of two magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic yet fearless, tackles the dirty and terrifying streets only to discover a tightly knit network of witches, poisoners and priests whose reach extends all the way to
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
For centuries, poets and philosophers extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods: Beethoven drew inspiration from rocks and trees; Wordsworth composed while walking over the heath; Nikola Tesla conceived the electric motor while visiting a park. From forest paths in Korea to islands in Finland to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates
The Outer Beach: A Thousand-Mile Walk on Cape Cod`s Atlantic Shore
Those who have encountered Cape Cod know that it is a singular place. In `The Outer Beach`, Robert Finch weaves together his collected writings from more than fifty years and more than a thousand miles of walking along Cape Cod`s Atlantic coast to create a poignant, candid chronicle of an iconic landscape.
Stop Saving the Planet!: An Environmentalist Manifesto
We`ve been “saving the planet” for decades now and the crises have only got worse. Many of us-environmentalists included-continue to live deeply unsustainable lives. At home, affluent citizens “buy green”; while at work, they maximise profits with dirty energy and toxic industries that are poisoning poorer communities.With brevity, humour and plenty of attitude, Jenny Price
Fractured Continent: Europe`s Crises and the Fate of the West
An urgent examination of how the political, economic and social volatility in Europe will affect the US and the rest of the world.President Obama began his first term with a concerted effort to reshape America`s image abroad. He made overtures to the Islamic world in Cairo, pivoted towards China and vowed to “reset” relations with
The Kiss: Intimacies from Writers
From Sioux Falls to Khartoum, from Kyoto to Darwin; from the panchayat forests to the Giant`s Causeway; in taxis and at bus stops, in kitchens and sleigh beds, haystacks and airports-people are kissing one another. The sublime kiss. The ambiguous kiss. The broken kiss. The kiss that changes a life. Far from the scripted passion
Escalante`s Dream: On the Trail of the Spanish Discovery of the Southwest
In late July 1776, fathers Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Francisco Velez de Escalante set out from Santa Fe to chart a route to the new Spanish missions in California. The Fransiscans planned to scout the country for mineral wealth and locate the Ute and Navajo tribes for conversion. In present-day Utah, however, the dangers of
The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond
Shortlisted for a 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award.The Alps have seen the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers and the dreams of engineers-and some 14 million people live among their peaks today. In The Alps, Stephen O`Shea takes readers up and down these majestic mountains, journeying through
Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes
The thirty-eight urban gems covered here range from newly created linear spaces along the water`s edge, such as Brooklyn Bridge Park and the East River Waterfront Esplanade, to revitalised squares and circles, such as those at Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District and Columbus Circle, to repurposed open spaces like the freight tracks, now the
Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition
Published in 1542 to an astonished and captivated public, Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition tells the unforgettable story of a sixteenth-century soldier turned explorer who, along with three other survivors of a shipwreck, makes his way across an unknown geographic and cultural landscape. This Norton Critical Edition is based on David Frye`s new translation. It
Japan: A Modern History
This text conveys the turbulent political, economic and social change that over four centuries positioned Japan as a modern world power. This narrative examines the impact of towering figures such as Leyasu, the architect of the Tokugawa state, and the experiences of everyday Japanese – farmers, soldiers and women – whose struggles built a strong
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
Loyal readers of the monthly “Universe” essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson`s talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with clarity and enthusiasm. Bringing together more than forty of Tyson`s favorite essays, ?Death by Black Hole? explores a myriad of cosmic topics, from what it would be
Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845-whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice-with the tale of the incredible discovery of the flagship`s wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure
The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India`s Young
This “remarkable new book” (The Observer) is an exploration of the new India through the lens of young people from different worlds: a woman who becomes a Maoist rebel; a brother charged for the murder of his sister who had married the “wrong” man; and a woman who opposes her family and hopes to become
Limits of the Known
In a book that is part memoir and part history, David Roberts looks back at his personal relationship to extreme risk and tries to make sense of why so many have committed their lives to the desperate pursuit of adventure. In the wake of his diagnosis with throat cancer, Roberts seeks the answer with sharp
