Category Archives: Travel Guides
Heaven Forbid
In the sunny jacaranda-leafed garden of his Johannesburg home, six year old Martin Donally is king of a small and perfect world. It is 1948 and life is full of childish rhymes and his colourful extended family. There`s exuberant Grandpa, who sings and races horses; chain-smoking Auntie Fee, who always sides with the ogres in
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
`Extra Virginity` is a rich, fluid and evocative account of the history and alchemy of olive oil, and of how the finest artisanal oil-manufacturers – in the deep south of Italy, around the Mediterranean, in California, Down Under and beyond – are endangered by the widespread fraud of one of mankind`s oldest and most versatile
Blood, Iron and Gold – How Railways Transformed the World
Christian Wolmar’s Blood, Iron and Gold is an innovative history of how railways have shaped and transformed the modern world. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1830 marked the beginning of a transport revolution which saw railways rapidly spread across the world.Wolmar shows how the rise of the train stimulated daring feats
The Minaret Of Djam – An Excursion In Afghanistan
The 12th century minaret of Djam is one of Afghanistan`s most celebrated treasures, a magnificent symbol of the powerful Ghorid Empire that once stretched from Iran to India. The second tallest brick minaret in the world, Djam lies in the heart of central Afghanistan`s wild Ghor Province. Surrounded by 2,000 metre-high mountains and by the
Rome on the Euphrates
When Roman legions marched into Asia Minor in 200BC, their plan was to secure a buffer zone between the Mediterranean, which they virtually owned, and the area beyond, which they sought to isolate rather than control. Along the long frontier of the Euphrates in Turkey lay the easternmost limits of the Roman Empire–a region they
Across the Hellespont
Turkey lies at the crossroads of history. Since the beginning of civilisation, Anatolia has been crossed and re-crossed by waves of ancient people: the Hittites, the ancient Persian Empire and the mighty Ottoman Empire that spread as far as Budapest, Baghdad, Cairo and Arabia, have created a country as varied as it is possible to
First Russia, Then Tibet
Over the course of several months during 1931 and 1932, Robert Byron journeyed to three countries teetering on the brink of change. In Russia, which was stricken by famine, Lenin had just died, Stalin`s dictatorship was in its infancy and the Great Terror was yet to begin. Having taken the first commercial flight to India,
English Hours
`Spring was already in the air, in the town; there was no rain but there was still less sun – one wondered what had become of it, on this side of the world – and the grey mildness, shading away into black at any pretext, appeared in itself a promise.` Henry James left America for
In the Footsteps of the Gods
Gladiators and goddesses, philosophers and poets, epic battles and romantic landscapes – the classical world has for centuries captivated and inspired the west. But what provoked the shift from the western world`s love-affair with classical Rome and its manifestation in the Renaissance, to the Hellenic world? The decisive switch in focus and taste from Rome
Italian Journeys
When Abraham Lincoln appointed William Dean Howells Consul to Venice, the young writer embarked on a journey that would leave an indelible impression on his life and work. Howells lived in Italy for four years, from 1861, during the pivotal and tumultuous period of Italian reunification. Italian Journeys, Howell`s engrossing memoir of this time, describes
Tuscan Cities
Tuscany is arguably the most alluring and iconic region of Italy. It is a place of breathtaking natural beauty, imbued with an ancient and rich cultural heritage that, as Shelley`s `paradise of exiles`, has inspired centuries of artists, scientists writers, poets and travellers. For William Dean Howells, American Consul to Venice for four years, Italy
New Persian Cooking
The subtleties of Persian cuisine and their exciting mix of flavours are totally distinct from other styles of cooking and make it one of the great cuisines of the world. The traditional emphasis on the use of fresh and seasonal ingredients and the importance of a complementary mix of herbs, vegetables, meat, fish, fruit and
Baghdad Sketches – Journeys Through Iraq
The Freya Stark Collection Freya Stark first journeyed to Iraq in 1927. Seven years after the establishment of the British Mandate, the modern state was in its infancy and worlds apart from the country it has since become. During her many years in Iraq, Freya Stark was witness to the rise and fall of the
Old Calabria
Calabria. A dramatic peninsula of rugged mountains and windswept coastlines facing Sicily – `the most beautiful kilometre in Italy` – wrote Gabriele d`Annunzio of its coastline. Though steeped in a rich and ancient past, Calabria had been lost from view when Norman Douglas visited in the early 1900s. Long familiar with southern Italy, the region
Florence and Tuscany: A Literary Guide for Travellers
The magical landscapes and rich culture of Tuscany have fostered the inspiration and settings for literature since the works of the great Florentine poets Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio in the 14th century and has been a magnet for expatriate writers since the arrival in Florence of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in 1372. With its
Heart Beguiling Araby
For certain Englishmen the Arabian desert and its inhabitants have always exercised a powerful fascination that has at times become an obsession. By the early nineteenth century, a tradition of writing about the Arabs was flourishing and Arabia had become `a land whose name could evoke haunting echoes of the unconscious mind …a country of
A Swamp Full of Dollars
Nigeria is a country where petroleum prices and polio are both booming, where small villages challenge giant oil companies, and scooter drivers run their own mini-state. The oil-rich Delta region at the heart of it all is, as Peel shows us, a troublespot as hot as the local pepper soup. Through a host of characters,
Afghan Frontier
`The most dangerous place in the world` – Barack Obama. The borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan have become the arena for a global conflict with consequences that defy prediction. “Afghan Frontier” traces the history of this region as a hotly contested battlefield for millennia. At the crossroads of Central Asia, gateway to India and the
Flying Carpet
`I`ve just given myself an airplane and I want you to fly us to all the outlandish places in the world, Turkey, Persia, Paris and – Pasadena. We`re going to fly across deserts, over mountains, rescue imprisoned princesses and fight dragons. We must have the world. We can have the world!` Thirsting for a new
Travels through France and Italy
In 1763, Tobias Smollett set sail from Folkestone to Boulogne. He would not return to England for two years, during which time he travelled extensively – and in a notoriously ill-tempered fashion – through much of France and Italy. Smollett, seemed `determined to be pleased with nothing` and was `sardonic, satirical and decidedly gloomy`. In
