Category Archives: Travel Guides
Stones Into Schools
In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan. His work details his extensive voluntary work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005 and the unique ways
Deep Country – Five Years In The Welsh Hills
Neil Ansell spent five years living between the back of beyond and the middle of nowhere, on his own, with no electricity, gas or water and effectively only the wildlife around him for company.His dilapidated cottage, rented for ยฃ100 per year, is so exposed to the elements that it appears to rain uphill, and so
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
This book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014. “The Catch-22 of dentistry”. (Stephen King). Joshua Ferris` dazzling new novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour is about the meaning of life, the certainty of death, and the importance of good oral hygiene. There`s nothing like a dental chair to remind a man
On China
In 1971 Henry Kissinger took the historic step of reopening relations between China and the West, and since then has been more intimately connected with the country at the highest level than any other western figure. This book distils his unique experience, examining China`s history from the classical era to the present day, describing the
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ is a revealing insight into a culture that remains something seen mostly through the headlines by most people.Hooman Majd, acclaimed journalist and New York-residing grandson of an Ayatollah, has a unique perspective on his Iranian homeland. In this vivid, warm and humorous insider`s account, he opens our eyes to an
Night Walks
Charles Dickens describes in Night Walks his time as an insomniac, when he decided to cure himself by walking through London in the small hours, and discovered homelessness, drunkenness and vice on the streets. This collection of essays shows Dickens as one of the greatest visionaries of the city in all its variety and cruelty.This
Connemara – A Little Gaelic Kingdom
“Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom” is the triumphant conclusion to Tim Robinson`s extraordinary “Connemara” trilogy, which Robert Macfarlane has called `one of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English`. Robinson writes about the people, places and history of south Connemara – one of Ireland`s last Gaelic-speaking enclaves – with the encyclopaedic knowledge of a
The Ayatollahs` Democracy
Iran is a country with global ambitions, an elaborate political culture, and enormous implications for world peace. How will its diversity of political positions resolve itself? Drawing on privileged access to Iranian society, Hooman Majd has spoken to ayatollahs, politicians and ordinary people to show that, despite the violence of the 2009 elections, the ideal
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Happy City is the story of how the solutions to this century`s problems lie in unlocking the secrets to great city living. This is going to be the century of the city. But what actually makes a good city? Why are some cities a joy to live in? As Charles Montgomery reveals, it`s not how
The Berlin-Baghdad Express
The Berlin-Baghdad Express” explores one of the big, previously unresearched subjects of the First World War: the German bid for world power – and the destruction of the British Empire – through the harnessing of the Ottoman Empire between 1898 and 1918.McMeekin`s book shows how incredibly high the stakes were in the Middle East –
The Cowards
The Cowards (1958) is Josef Skvorecky`s blackly comic tale of post-war politics that was immediately banned on publication. In 1945, in Kostelec, Danny is playing saxophone for the best jazz band in Czechoslovakia. Their trumpeter has just got out of a concentration camp, their bass player is only allowed in the band since he owns
Tickling The English
Nostalgia, identity, eccentricity, gin drinking and occasional violence…these are just some of the themes that stand-up comedian Dara O Briain explores in “Tickling the English”. O Briain moved to England many years ago, but when he takes his show on tour around the country – from deserted seaside towns and remote off-shore islands, to sprawling
Zeitoun
Dave Egger`s “Zeitoun” is the powerful, ultimately uplifting true story of one man`s courage when confronted with an awesome force of nature followed by more troubling human oppression.In August, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina blew in, the city of New Orleans had been abandoned by most citizens. But resident Abdulrahman Zeitoun, though his wife and family
The Betrayal
Leningrad, 1952. Andrei, a young hospital doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together in the postwar, postsiege wreckage. But their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Stalin`s merciless Ministry of State Security. So when Andrei is asked to treat the seriously
Oil on Water
From the desks of Nigeria`s newsrooms, two journalists are recruited to find the kidnapped wife of a British oil engineer. Zaq, an infamous media hack, knows what`s in store, but Rufus, a keen young journalist eager to get himself noticed, has no idea what he`s let himself in for. Journeying into the oil-rich regions of
The 9/11 Wars
From the author of “Al-Qaeda”, Jason Burke`s “The 9/11 Wars” is an essential book for understanding the dangerous and unstable world of the twenty-first century. On September 11th 2001, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks, terrorists destroyed New York`s World Trade Center and a substantial portion of the Pentagon. Since the Twin Towers fell,
A Good Man in Africa
Escapee from suburbia, overweight, oversexed …Morgan Leafy isn`t overburdened with worldly success. Actually, he is refreshingly free from it. But then, as a representative of Her Britannic Majesty in tropical Kinjanja, it was not very constructive of him to get involved in wholesale bribery. Nor was it exactly oiling his way up the ladder to
The Story Of Lucy Gault
It`s Summer, 1921. Eight-year-old Lucy Gault clings to the glens and woods above Lahardane – the home her family is being forced to abandon. She knows the Gaults, as Protestants, are no longer welcome in Ireland and that danger threatens. She is headstrong and decides that somehow she must force her parents into staying. But
The Blue Afternoon
Los Angeles 1936. Kay Fischer, a young, ambitious architect, is shadowed by Salvador Carriscant, an enigmatic stranger claiming to be her father. Within weeks of their first meeting, Kay will join him for an extraordinary journey into the old man`s past, initially in search of a murderer, but finally in celebration of a glorious, undying
Two Lives: Reading Turgenev and My House in Umbria
“Two Lives: Reading Turgenev & My House in Umbria” – two novels by William Trevor. “Evocative and haunting. Trevor writes like an angel, but is determined to wring your heart”. (“Daily Mail”). “Marvellous, superb. As rich and moving as anything I have read in years. When I reach the end…I wanted to start right again
