Category Archives: Travel Guides
Jerusalem, Palestine And Jordan
Dr Hisham Khatib has spent almost 40 years amassing the vast and historically valuable collection of representations of the Near East featured in this book. The artworks included here (paintings, prints, maps, books, photographs, and even postcards) depict the Holy Land during the Ottoman period (1517-1917). The stunning images are accompanied by an engaging and
The Story of Syria
Today Syria is in desperate turmoil – an unfathomable tragedy for anyone who has has followed the aspirations and dreams high civilised and educated people over the past century. Written by a distinguished British-Syrian diplomat and journalist who has experience of life in the inside of the the Assad regimes, balanced by a cosmopolitan London-based
Tahrir the Last 18 Days of Mubarak
For 18 days of his life, starting the 25th of January 2011 up to the 11th of February, Abdel Latif El Menawy slept in his office inside Egypt`s State TV building. The landmark building behind Tahrir Square was under constant siege, locked down by tanks and barbed wire as protesters massed outside the building. Throughout
Tripoli Witness
Rana Jawad, a British-Lebanese journalist who has reported from Tripoli for the BBC for seven years, found herself the last British journalist reporting from inside Tripoli early in 2010. Defiant and terrified in turns, she went into hiding and bravely issued the series of anonymous Tripoli Witness blogs that have become famous among anyone following
Sicily – A Cultural History
A Cultural Guide to Sicily from Signal Books in their series Landscapes of Imagination presents the island’s rich history as the land in the centre of the Mediterranean where the great civilizations of Europe and Northern Africa met. The book is arranged as a tour of the island; readers will find not just the famous
The Silence of the Wave
A woman on the run from her past. A child on the run from reality. A man on the run from himself. Carofiglio confronts the dark side of the human soul in this captivating story of fall and redemption. Every week, Roberto Marias crosses Rome on foot to arrive at his psychiatrist`s office. There, he
Alice in Waterland
A world-famous Oxford story from a new angle: the essential role played by the River Thames in the creation of `Alice`s Adventures in Wonderland` and `Through the Looking-Glass`. It was on rowing trips with Alice Liddell and her sisters that Lewis Carroll (the Oxford don Charles Dodgson) invented many of the tales which were later
A Dark Song of Blood
Spellbinding multi-layered crime novel set in a fascinating period and place. Set in the first months of 1944, Rome is declared an `open city` as the Allies steadily get closer. The German occupying forces know their days are numbered and yet the SS, the Gestapo and the Army desperately vie for power. The partisans attack
The Indian Equator
In 1895/6 the sixty-year-old Mark Twain set off on a worldwide lecture tour to pay off his debts from a publishing company bankruptcy, notes from which a year later became his final travel book Following the Equator. Two years later he wrote, `How I did loathe that journey around the world! except the sea-part and
101 Places in Italy: A Private Grand Tour
This personal, and wonderfully well informed, selection of the most rewarding towns, cities, villages and individual monuments in Italy is the definitive guidebook for the discerning traveller. The author has been visiting Italy, for study, for work and for pleasure, for over fifty years, and is the perfect companion for those who want to know
Germany: Beyond the Enchanted Forest
`German military figures had a certain terrifying glamour,` wrote Patrick Leigh Fermor, recalling views about Germany during the First World War. When, he asked, had the bristling general replaced the `philosophers and composers and bandsmen and peasants and students drinking and singing in harmony?` The enchanted forest, symbol of Romantic idealism and traditional folktales, had
That Sweet City – Visions of Oxford
In 1865 the Victorian poet Matthew Arnold rejoiced in the charm of Oxford, `that sweet City with her dreaming spires`. A century and a half later, That Sweet City offers a visual and poetic tribute to what is still one of the fairest and most enthralling places in the world. Designed in the form of
Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape
Beyond the brash modern stereotypes of Essex there exists a landscape that has inspired some of England`s finest writing. This book tracks the paths of those literary figures who have ventured into the wilder parts of Essex. Some are illustrious names: Shakespeare, Defoe, John Clare, Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells, Arthur Ransome. Others may be
A Long Walk with Lord Conway: An Exploration of the Alps and an English Adventurer
In 1894, Martin Conway became the first man to walk the Alps `from end to end` when he completed a 1,000-mile journey from the Col de Tende in Italy to the summit of the Ankogel in Austria. On a midsummer`s morning, nearly 120 years later, Simon Thompson followed in his footsteps, setting out to explore
Never Again: A Walk from Hook of Holland to Istanbul
Elderly British men display a variety of annoying habits. They write letters to the newspapers; they drink too much; they reminisce about the old days; they make lewd comments to younger women; they shout at the television screen; and they go for long walks and get lost. Jeremy Cameron chose the last of these options.
The Canary Islands: A Cultural History
The seven volcanic Canary Islands that bask in the Atlantic off shore from the north-west African coast have long had legendary connotations. To the Greeks they were the Gardens of the Hesperides, blessed with a perennial spring-like climate, while the Carthaginians christened them the `Purple Isles` on account of the rich dye material they obtained
Stormrider Surf Guide France
Full colour exhaustive guide to the World`s finest surfing sites. For each area there is a detailed rundown of all the hottest surf spots, nearly always accompanied by clear road mapping. There is also an introduction to each area with information on the people, climate, surf culture and practical travel advice. Covers Great Britain, Spain,
The Stormrider Surf Guide Tropical Islands
The Stormrider Surf Guide Tropical Islands travels through the trade winds belt on the ultimate island-hopping journey to explore and compare the world`s best warm-water surf zones. Many of the planet`s finest surf breaks are found between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn – from the powerful, mountainous waves of Hawaii and Tahiti, through the
Grain Of Truth, A
It is spring 2009, and prosecutor Szacki is no longer working in Warsaw – he has said goodbye to his family and to his career in the capital and moved to Sandomierz, a picturesque town full of churches and museums. Hoping to start a “brave new life”, Szacki instead finds himself investigating a strange murder
Baksheesh
Kati Hirschel, in her thirties, is the proud owner of Istanbul`s only crime bookshop. She has learned the corrupt ways of her adored city and soon takes possession of an apartment obtained with the help of a generous bribe to a government official. All is well until a man is found murdered in her dream
