Category Archives: Travel Guides
Transit of Venus: Travels in the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean calls to mind a world of fabulous kingdoms and noble savages, guilt free sex and gin-clear lagoons, and a perfect idleness fed by lush fruits and fish-rich seas. Ever since Captain Cook first went to Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus across the sun, this dream of the Pacific
Stamboul Sketches: Encounters in Old Istanbul
Throughout the 1960`s John Freely and Hilary Sumner-Boyd explored every alley, cove and monument of their adopted home of Istanbul in between their teaching jobs. They created a legendary guidebook, covering 1,500 years of Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, to a city that was still innocent of tourists. But the passages that were too personal, too
The Pharaoh`s Shadow
In a ruined temple along the Nile, Anthony Sattin sees a woman praying to the gods of ancient Egypt to bless her with a child. Later that day, a policeman stops his taxi to ask to borrow a mobile phone to call his mother. The ancient rubs up against the modern just as dramatically as
A Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza
Over the summer of 2011, Dervla Murphy spent a month in the Gaza Strip. She met liberals and Islamists, Hamas and Fatah supporters, rich and poor. Used to western reporters dashing in and out of the Strip in times of crisis, the people she met were touched by her genuine, unflinching interest and spoke openly
Between River and Sea: Encounters in Israel and Palestine
Following A Month by the Sea, her acclaimed exploration of life in Gaza, Dervla Murphy describes with passionate honesty the experience of living with and among Jewish Israelis and Palestinians in both Israel and Palestine. In cramped Haifa high-rises, in homes in the settlements and in a refugee camp on the West Bank, she talks
Growing: Seven Years in Ceylon 1904-1911
Growing is a portrait of a young man sent straight out from university to help govern Ceylon. It is doubtful that any Empire at any time has been served by such an intelligent, dutiful, hardworking and incorruptible civil servant as the young Leonard Woolf. He was determined to do what was good but discovered for
The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool
The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool presents the unexpected face of Syria. Based on five journeys, undertaken over as many years, Kociejowski`s book is entirely concerned with the slow journey towards friendship. So we learn nothing about coups or conspiracies, iconic monuments or historic travellers. Instead we meet a chance handful of Syrians, such
Tarka Line Walks
Tarka Line Walks provides the best way to explore Devon`s spectacular countryside with 60 scenic rail-trails starting and finishing at one of the Tarka Line`s 13 stations. Rather than taking the car, experience the historic Tarka rail line and use Tarka Line Walks to hop on and off at the station of your choice and
The Purple Land: An Adventure in Uruguay – the Banda Oriental
`The Purple Land` is a romantic novel set in the war torn borderlands of Uruguay, the Banda Oriental. The story of Richard Lamb, an idealistic young Englishman, it begins with his abduction of Paquita and their escape from the vengeance of her Argentine father. Finding refuge in Montevideo, he is catapulted into a series of
The Tomb in Seville
It is satisfying, and entirely in keeping with the mischievous character of Norman Lewis, that his very last book, `The Tomb in Seville`, is also his first. For the extraordinary set of misadventures recounted in `The Tomb of Seville` were first described in Norman Lewis`s apprentice-work, `Spanish Adventure`, which he rightly refused to have re-issued
The Common Stream
This is the story of a village in East Anglia, astride its common stream, a saga of continuity and change which stretches back across a landscape of two thousand years. It took Rowland Parker thirteen years of detective work to piece this jigsaw together, combing his way through records of archaeological excavations and manor court
A Place Apart: Northern Ireland in the 1970s
A Place Apart is a remarkable geographical and psychological travelogue that rises above history, politics, theology and economics. Created by a southern Irishwoman, cycling into the mayhem of Northern Ireland in order to try and sort out her own opinions and emotions about this troubled land. She came equipped with her own childhood experiences of
Ethiopia: Through Writers Eyes
There are only a handful of destinations left in the world that have retained their ability to shock the traveller with their unique perspective. These places still awaken a sense of deep wonder as they offer the rare opportunity to observe the world from a different angle. Ethiopia is one of those rare countries. This
On a Shoestring to Coorg: An Experience of Southern India
This is the first travel book that tested the idea that a five-year-old daughter makes for a useful international travelling companion. Together Dervla Murphy and her daughter Rachel with little money, no taste for luxury and few concrete plans meander their way slowly south from Bombay to the southernmost point of India, Cape Comorin. Interested
Villa Ariadne
The Villa Ariadne is a meditation on the island of Crete, centred on the house built by Sir Arthur Evans, the famous archaeologist of Knossos. Dilys Powell captures the spirit of a place she loved dearly and a group of people she knew well, from local Cretans to the archaeologists Evans and Pendlebury, and the
Against a Peacock Sky: Two Years in the Life of a Nepalese Village
For two years Monica Connell lived as a paying guest of Kalchu and Chola in the Nepalese Himalayan village of Talphi, ten days walk from the nearest road. This book poetically captures the immediacy of Connell`s experience, and her empathy and sense of wonder at the dramas of village life – a boar hunt in
The English River: a journey down the Thames in poems & photographs
Virginia Astley has been a much admired songwriter and musician since the 1980s, known for her engaging lyrics as well as for her melodious style. Now her other two passions take centre stage in this book: poetry and the River Thames. She grew up by the river`s upper reaches, knew the old lock-keepers and was
Then Come Back: The Lost Poems of Pablo Neruda
This stunning collection gathers never-before-seen poems, found by archivists in boxes kept at the Pablo Neruda Foundation in Chile in 2014. Neruda is renowned for poetry that casts away despair and celebrates living, fired by his belief that there is no unsurmountable solitude. Then Come Back presents Neruda`s mature imagination and writing: signature love poems,
The London Activity Book
A humorous, historical activity book, packed with amazing games, puzzles, doodles to do and cultural colouring-in activities, all about the exciting city of London. Prepare to be spooked by stories of gruesome ghosts that haunt London`s palaces, play the Great Fire of London board game, stop Colonel Blood stealing the Crown Jewels, help the king
History: A Map Colouring Book
Children can colour their way through time with this new history of the world colouring book. These bright and brilliant maps feature illustrations of everything from famous battles to fantastic inventions and amazing architecture to world leaders. Children can colour in the pictures and learn as they go from the bite-size historical facts accompanying each
