Category Archives: Travel Guides
Scott and Amundsen – The Last Place on Earth
Scott and Amundsen – The Last Place on Earth is Roland Huntford’s dual biography of the two men who raced to the South Pole during what has come to be known as the golden age of polar exploration. Not without its critics for its controversial stance on some topics, not least its purported character defamation
Continental Drifter
Financed by a bet with a Yeovil linen draper, court jester Thomas Coryate`s 1608 journey to Venice and back was an unlikely template for the Grand Tour.Almost four hundred years later, Tim Moore put on a ridiculous velvet suit and set off in Coryate`s tracks at the wheel of a senile Rolls-Royce.Treading on frugality and
Travels in the White Man`s Grave
Donald Macintosh spent thirty years as a tree prospector and surveyor in the rainforests of Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. During his time there he came in contact with many different tribes and encountered all kinds of wildlife. His account is veiled with nostalgia for a place that has changed forever.
Facing The Congo
At thirty-three one`s direction in life should be clear, and mine was not.` In search of some direction, or at least a new challenge, Jeffrey Tayler gave up his day job of opening rejection letters from publishers and went exploring. Having always been fascinated by Africa and the great age of Victorian exploration he went
Eight Men and A Duck
Nick Thorpe was innocently travelling around South America with his wife, Ali, when he came across an American adventurer planning to sail from Chile to Easter Island on a Bolivian boat made of reeds. Inspired by the great Thor Heyerdahl, Phil Buck had recruited seven men to join him on this experiment to discover whether
World we`re in
Widening his perspective from country (examined in previous volume, “The State We`re In”) to world, Will Hutton calls for Britain and Europe to offer alternatives to the American Way. Under President Bush America has been forthright in its isolationism – until the attack on the World Trade Center – but whatever happens next, it is
Solomon Time
Echoing the experiences of Robert Louis Stevenson – who spent several years in the South Pacific – here is the story of a contemporary writer who lived in and came to love the Solomon Islands. Most unexpectedly, Will Randall, once a happy schoolteacher, found himself dispatched to a small village on a not very large
The Mitford Girls: The Biography of an Extraordinary Family
THE MITFORD GIRLS tells the true story behind the gaiety and frivolity of the six Mitford daughters – and the facts are as sensational as any novel: Nancy, whose bright social existence masked an obsessional doomed love which soured her success; Pam, a countrywoman married to one of the best brains in Europe; Diana, an
One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night
Gavin is creating a unique `holiday experience`, every facility any tourist who hates abroad will ever want, will all be available on a converted North Sea oil rig. To test the facilities he`s hosting a reunion for his old school (none of his ex-classmates can remember him, but what the heck, it`s free). He is
River Dog
Faithfully accompanied by Bhaiti, his Indian pi-dog, Shand attempts to complete a journey from the beginnings of the Brahmaputra in Tibet to its delta in the Bay of Bengal. A wonderful account of an epic journey anda celebration of the myth and majesty of one of the world`s great rivers.
Greenwich: The Place Where Days Begin and End
There is probably not a London suburb with more intense historical connections, more diversity and more astonishing buildings and artefacts than Greenwich. There are sections on MARITIME GREENWICH – home of the Maritime museum and the CUTTY SARK; ROYAL GREENWICH – Greenwich Park was Henry VIII`s favourite residence and where he met Anne Boelyn; SCIENTIFIC
Big Deal
BIG DEAL is the mesmerising story of a year spent by bestselling biographer Anthony Holden in the tough world of the professional poker player. He spent days and nights in the poker paradise of Las Vegas, in Malta and Morocco, even shipboard, mingling with the legendary greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee, and learning
Long Walk to Freedom
The memoirs of an outstanding moral and political leader. This autobiography re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape his life. A compelling read.
The Rock of Tanios
An exploration of myth, passion and loyalty from the Lebanon`s troubled past, The Rock of Tanios is another superbly rich and rewarding novel from the author of Samarkand and Leo the African. Expertly controlling his multi-faceted narrative with prose of great beauty and power, Maalouf delves into the history of an extraordinary life: that of
The Rise & Fall of the British Empire
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE covers the history of British expansion overseas from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Narrative and analysis are interwoven with revealing eyewitness quotation to provide keen insight into the minds of those involved in conquering, settling and ruling the greatest Empire the world has seen. Throughout, there
Up North
The North. Where does it begin? Where does it end? And is it all whippets, black pudding and queer folk going rounds saying “There`s nowt so queer as folk”? Fresh from the PJ O`Rourke School of Diplomatic Journalism, southern jessie Charles Jennings finds himself in need of Answers. With something approaching trepidation, Jennings packs his
Cosmos: The Story of Cosmic Evolution, Science and Civilisation
* Spacecraft missions to nearby planets * The Library of ancient Alexandria * The human brain * Egyptian hieroglyphics * The origin of life * The death of the sun * The evolution of galaxies * The origins of matter, suns and worlds The story of fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution transforming matter and
In God`s Country
Though much has been written about the political implications of the religious revival which has engulfed America in recent years, a question remains unanswered: what pushes its people into `declaring for Jesus`? Douglas Kennedy spent a long hot summer cruising through that expanse of the American South known as `The Bible Belt` exploring that question.
Cafe Europa: Life After Communism
Europe is still a divided continent. In the place of a fallen Berlin wall, there is a chasm between the East and the West. Are these differences a communist legacy, or do they run even deeper? What divides us today? To say simply that it is the understanding of the past, or a different concept
Almost Heaven
After seven years working in the relative civilisation of Washington Martin Fletcher sets of to investigate the wilder prejudices and paranoias that lie hidden along America`s many backroads.
