Category Archives: Travel Guides
To the Ends of the Earth: Scotland`s Global Diaspora, 1750-2010
Part of his trilogy on Scottish history, T. M. Devine`s “To the Ends of the Earth” is a compelling account of the Scots as a `global people`, charting their forgotten role in the building of the modern world. The Scots are one of the world`s greatest nations of emigrants. For centuries, untold numbers of men,
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux recreates the classic 1975 journey across Europe and Asia that he documented in The Great Railway Bazaar.This exceptional journey – from London, through Europe and Central Asia to India, then through South East Asia to Japan, and back through Russia, largely by train – is one
What is the What?
At the heart of this astonishing novel is a true story of courage and endurance in the face of one of the most brutal civil wars the world has ever known. Valentino Achak Deng is just a boy when conflict separates him from his family and forces him to leave his small Sudanese village, joining
The Scramble for China – Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914
Robert Bickers` “Scramble for China” explains the roots of China`s complex relationship with the West by illuminating a dramatic, colourful and sometimes shocking period of the country`s history.In the early nineteenth century China remained almost untouched by British and European powers – but as new technology started to change this balance, foreigners gathered like wolves
Magic Bus
In the 1960s hundreds of thousands of young Westerners, inspired by Kerouac and the Beatles, blazed the `hippie trail` overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu in search of enlightenment and a bit of cheap dope.Since the Summer of Love, the countries that offered so much to these dreamers have confronted the full force of modernity and
Unexploded
Unexploded is Alison MacLeod`s heartrending novel of love and prejudice in wartime Brighton. It is longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013. May, 1940. Wartime Brighton. On Park Crescent, Geoffrey and Evelyn Beaumont and their eight-year-old son, Philip, anxiously await news of the expected enemy landing on the beaches. It is a year of change.
The New Spaniards
A fully revised, expanded and updated edition of John Hooper`s fantastic look at contemporary Spain. The restoration of democracy in 1977 heralded a period of intense change that continues today. Since then Spain has become a land of extraordinary paradoxes in which traditional attitudes and contemporary preoccupations exist side by side. Focussing on issues which
The Disinherited – The Exiles Who Created Spanish Culture
Spain has had a long history of exiles. Since the destruction of the last Muslim territories in Granada in 1492, wave after wave of its people have been driven from the country. “The Disinherited” paints a vivid picture of Spain`s diverse exiles, from Muslims, Jews and Protestants to Liberals, Socialists and Communists, artists, writers and
Wildwood – A Journey Through Trees
Wildwood’ is about the element of wood, as it exists in nature, in our souls, in our culture and our lives.”So said Roger Deakin of this, his last book, that was published posthumously; a marvellous piece of natural history and cultural writing, it is an unmatched exploration of our relationship with trees.From the walnut tree
The End:Germany 1944-1945
Ian Kershaw`s “The End” is a gripping, revelatory account of the final months of the Nazi war machine, from the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945. In almost every major war there comes a point where defeat looms for one side and its rulers cut a
After Tamerlane – The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
Tamerlane, the Ottomans, the Mughals, the Manchus, the British, the Soviets, the Japanese and the Nazis. All built empires they hoped would last forever: all were destined to fail. But, as John Darwin shows in his magnificent book, their empire building created the world we know today.From the death of Tamerlane in 1405, last of
The Book of Dave
What if a demented London cabbie called Dave Rudman wrote a book to his estranged son to give him some fatherly advice? What if that book was buried in Hampstead and hundreds of years later, when rising sea levels have put London underwater, spawned a religion? What if one man decided to question life according
The Accidental
The Accidental is Ali Smith`s dazzling novel about a family holiday and a stranger who upends it. Arresting and wonderful, The Accidental pans in on the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family one hot summer. There a beguiling stranger called Amber appears at the door bearing all sorts of unexpected gifts, trampling over family
London Orbital: A Walk Around The M25
Encircling London like a noose, the M25 is a road to nowhere, but when Iain Sinclair sets out to walk this asphalt loop ‘“ keeping within the ‘acoustic footprints’ ‘“ he is determined to find out where the journey will lead him. Stumbling upon converted asylums, industrial and retail parks, ring-fenced government institutions and lost
Black Gold of the Sun – Searching for Home in England and Africa
Black Gold of the Sun by Ekow Eshun is a cultural exploration of modern identity straddling two continents. Eshun was born in Britain but spent a formative part of his childhood in Ghana and as a consequence he feels a part of both cultures but that he truly belongs to neither. In Black Gold of
Paris: The Secret History
Paris: the city of light and the city of darkness. It’s a place that’s gone through endless revolution and continued reinvention. Over the last two thousand years it’s drawn those with the highest ideals and the lowest morals. Andrew Hussey, a contributing editor to the Observer Sports Magazine and Head of French and Comparative Literaturee
Olga`s Story
Stephanie Williams` “Olga`s Story” is the moving account of a woman`s life lived at the heart of the twentieth century. Olga Yunter was born in July 1900 in a remote frontier post in southern Siberia. A girlhood played out against the backdrop of the China trade changed forever, when, at seventeen, Olga joined her brothers
London: The Illustrated History
London: The Illustrated History, a beautifully presented and vividly illustrated history of the capital published by Penguin in collaboration with the Museum of London. The authors, Cathy Ross and John Clark, and the numerous other contributors are all current or former members of the museum’s expert staff. The book offers a new perspective on the
Hitler`s Empire
Hitler`s empire was the largest, most brutal and most ambitious reshaping of Europe in history. Inspired by the imperial legacy of those such as the British, the Third Reich cast its shadow from the Channel Islands to the Caucasus and ruled hundreds of millions. Yet, as Mark Mazower`s insightful work shows, it was an empire
Governing the World
The compelling and provocative history of world government, from acclaimed author Mark Mazower. In 1815 the shocked and exhausted victors of the decades of fighting that had engulfed Europe for a generation agreed to a new system for keeping the peace. Instead of independent states changing sides, doing deals and betraying one another, a new,
