Category Archives: Travel Guides
Mrs. Miniver
Shortly before the Second World War, a column by `Mrs Miniver` appeared in THE TIMES, the first of many recounting the everyday events of a middle-class Chelsea family: Mrs Miniver`s thrill at the sight of October chrysanthemums; her sense of doom when the faithful but rackety car is replaced; the escapades of Vin, Toby and
Daughters of the House
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize Secrets and lies linger in the very walls of the solid old Normandy house where Therese and Leonie, French and English cousins, grow up after the war. Intrigued by adults` guilty silences and the broken shrine they find in the woods, the girls weave their own fantasies, unwittingly revealing the
Turkish Embassy Letters
The critical and biographical introduction tells of Lady Wortley Montagu`s travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her lively letters offer insights into the paradoxical freedoms conferred on Muslim women by the veil, the value of experimental work by Turkish doctors on inoculation, and the beauty of Arab
Community Tourism Guide
The “Community Tourism Guide” will lead you to a new type of holiday. Tribal people and rural villagers in Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America and the Pacific islands are setting up their own tours: tours from which they, and not the international hotel chains, derive some income. For the traveller, they offer uniquely
Decolonizing Nature
British imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control
The Good Alternative Travel Guide
Stay with indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Dog-sled with the Inuit in the Arctic. Walk the Songlines of central Australia with Aboriginal guides. Learn African drumming in Ghana or how to dance salsa in Cuba Bored with the same old package tours and identikit resorts. Then this book is your key to a whole new
Little Book of Gargoyles
They stare down at us from the roofs and towers of our mediaeval churches: grotesque, monstrous and utterly mesmerising. The gargoyles grimacing and leering at us down the centuries, taking the form of anything from a centaur to a cretinous imp, were put there in the Middle Ages to ward off the evil that lies
Little Book of the Green Man
He stares down at us enigmatically from the corbels and capitals of churches across Europe -as well as from innumerable pub signs. Leaves and foliage issue from his mouth, or even sprout luxuriantly from his face. He is evoked in the leaps of English Morris Dancers -but he also pops up on the walls of
The Burning Ashes of Time
The discovery of a traditional Welsh blanket in the palace of the former ruler of Yemen took Patricia Aithie on a fascinating journey of discovery. In the Yemeni seaman of the steam age, she finds a surprising link between her hometown of Cardiff, once the world`s biggest coal-exporting port, and Aden, where the coal which
Mr Beck`s Underground Map
Mr Beck`s Underground Map by Kan Garland, published by Capital Transport in association with the London Transport Museum, charts how what for most Londoners is one of the most iconic images connected with the city, Harry Beck’s diagram of the Underground network, was first produced in 1933 and then evolved during the designer’s work for
What`s in a Name?
In What’s in a Name? Cyril Harris has researched extensively the origins of the station names on the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, and in the process providing a fascinating insight into the social history of our capital. Dealing with questions such as what style of dress gave its name to a well-known London
Tristram Shandy
Laurence Sterne`s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a huge literary paradox, for it is both a novel and an anti-novel. As a comic novel replete with bawdy humour and generous sentiments, it introduces us to a vivid group of memorable characters, variously eccentric, farcical and endearing. As an anti-novel, it is
Hard Times
Unusually for Dickens, Hard Times is set, not in London, but in the imaginary mid-Victorian Northern industrial town of Coketown with its blackened factories, downtrodden workers and polluted environment. This is the soulless domain of the strict utilitarian Thomas Gradgrind and the heartless factory owner Josiah Bounderby. However human joy is not excluded thanks to
Swiss Family Robinson
This story tells of the happy discovery of the wonders of natural history by a family shipwrecked on a desert island, who remain united through all the adversities they encounter. Inspired by Robinson Crusoe, this joyful narrative by a Swiss pastor remains a classic tale to be enjoyed by all.
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a chilling tale of horror which, as the author intended, is capable of many interpretations. Set in the Congo during the period of rapid colonial expansion in the 19th century, the story deals with the highly disturbing effects of economic, social and political exploitation of European and African societies and the
Happy Prince & Other Stories
In these delightful tales, Oscar Wilde employs all his grace, artistry and wit. The Happy Prince tells of the statue of a once pleasure-loving Prince which, with the help of a selfless Swallow helps people in distress. As well as The Nightingale and the Rose, The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket, this collection contains
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a classic tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, while Dickens` working title for the novel, Nobody`s Fault, highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life. Dickens` childhood experiences inform the vivid scenes in Marshalsea debtor`s prison, while his adult perceptions of governmental failures shape his satirical picture of
