Category Archives: Travel Guides
Australia in the Great War
Australia in the Great War is a compelling history of Australia and its people during the global conflict of 1914-1918. It charts the experiences of ordinary men and women against a backdrop of momentous events on the international stage, and shows how war helped shape an emerging Australian national identity. It spans the heady days
The Politics of Washing
This is the story of ordinary life in an extraordinary place. The beautiful city of Venice has been a fantasy land for people from around the globe for centuries, but what is it like to live there? To move house by boat, to get a child with a broken leg to hospital or set off
Long Distance Walking in Britain
This is your comprehensive guide to the best long distance trails in Britain, leading you through landscapes rich in history, wildlife and views. OS references are provided throughout, with invaluable tips on where to walk, timings, nutrition and equipment. There are walks for every level of fitness and contributions from experienced walkers, with practical advice
Imperfect Pretence
Max Persault loves his sea-faring life as a ship-owner and merchant. When his cousin Alistair, the newly elevated Duke of Haslingfield, appeals for his help, he finds himself masquerading as the duke and on his way to Cromer, while Alistair sets off to France to complete an undercover mission. Max`s talents do not lend themselves
The Bishop`s Brothels
Drawing on a wealth of contemporary source material, The Bishop`s Brothels is a fascinating social history of how commercial sex has been bought and sold in London for over a thousand years. The Bankside Brothels, or `stewes`, were a celebrated feature of London life since Roman times. Located on the south side of the River
In The Shadow Of Islam
IN THE SHADOW OF ISLAM is an extraordinary evocation of the desert and its people by a woman who dressed as a man in order to travel alone and unimpeded throughout North Africa. In 1897 Isabelle Eberhardt, aged 20, left an unconventional life in Geneva for Kenadsa, at the Morroccan frontier. Gripped by spiritual restlessness
Return to Patagonia – By Way of the Falkland Islands
“In Patagonia,” Bruce Chatwin`s tale of a journey from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego, is one of the most popular travel books of all time and has fostered extraordinary interest in this remote region at the southern tip of South America, the “Uttermost End of the World.” Rosemary Goring`s account, “Return to Patagonia,” followed
River of Smoke
In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and the Ibis, a ship carrying a consignment of convicts and indentured laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius, is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas settle, five men have disappeared – two lascars, two convicts and one of the passengers. Did the same
Wild and Fearless: The Life of Margaret Fountaine
The appearance of Margaret Fountaine`s diaries in 1978 led to a publishing sensation. “Love Among the Butterflies” recorded the activities and private passions of a Victorian vicar`s daughter from Norfolk who became one of the foremost entomologists of her day. Although the public was captivated by Fountaine`s unorthodox private life, she has never been given
Truant
At thirteen Horatio Clare was a boarder at a boy`s public school, a privileged member of an apparently blessed generation. A rebel – one of those who detested the system, who thought it not just fun but right to break its laws – he was expelled for smoking dope. He became one of the thousands
The Year Of The Hare
Translated from the Finnish by Herbert Lomas, Arto Paasilinna’s The Year of the Hare loses none of its enchanting lightness, and it’s easy to see even in English why other translations (such as the French) have quickly become cult classics.Vatanen the journalist is feeling burnt out and sick of the city. One summer evening while
Mister Pip
*Shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize*Lloyd Jones` Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a superb piece of writing that will both captivate and inspire.Bougainville. 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda`s last day of school as, quietly, war
The Enormity of the Tragedy
Quim Monzo is the foremost Catalan writer of his generation and has been translated into over a dozen languages. “The Enormity of the Tragedy” is regarded by many as his greatest work. At once a dirty joke and a high brow novel, a baudy tale and an exquisite pastiche, “The Enormity”…tells the bizarre story of
The Longest Winter: Scott`s Other Heroes
Scott`s `Northern Party` played an important role in his iconic last expedition, but how did they survive? Their tents were torn, their food was nearly finished and the ship had failed to pick them up as winter approached. Stranded and desperate, the six men dug out an ice cave with no room to stand upright.
Yemen – Travels in Dictionary Land
Our ideas of the Arabian Peninusula have been hijacked: by images of the desert, by oil, by the Gulf War. But there is another Arabia. For the Classical geographers Yemen was a fabulous land where flying serpents guarded sacred incense groves. Medieval Arab visitors told of disappearing islands and menstruating mountains. Vita Sackville-West found Aden
Along the Enchanted Way
Change is now coming to rural Romania, and William Blacker`s adventures will soon be part of its history. From his early carefree days tramping the hills of Transylvania, to the book`s poignant ending, Along the Enchanted Way transports us back to a magical country world most of us thought had vanished long ago. When William
Story of San Michele
This `dream-laden and spooked` (Marina Warner, London Review of Books) story is to many one of the best-loved books of the twentieth century. Munthe spent many years working as a doctor in Southern Italy, labouring unstintingly during typhus, cholera and earthquake disasters. It was during this period that he came across the ruined Tiberian villa
Levant
Levant is a book of cities. It describes Smyrna, Alexandria and Beirut when they were windows on the world, escapes from nationality and tradition, centres of wealth, pleasure and freedom. Using unpublished family papers, Philip Mansel describes their colourful, contradictory history, from the beginning of the French alliance with the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth
The Man who Invented History
Herodotus is known as the Father of History, but he was much more than that. He was also the world`s first travel writer, a pioneering geographer, anthropologist, explorer, moralist, tireless investigative reporter and enlightened multiculturalist before the word existed. He was at once learned professor and tabloid journalist, with an unfailing eye for fabulous material
Beasts of No Nation
Agu is just a boy when war arrives at his village. His mother and sister are rescued by the UN, while he and his father remain to fight the rebels. `Run!` shouts his father when the rebels arrive. And Agu does run. Straight into the rebels` path. In a vivid, sparkling voice, Agu tells the
