Jan Morris was surprised when hip US magazine Rolling Stone asked her to write for it in the mid-1970s. She felt that the avant garde brand of journalism was perhaps at odds with her own style and approach to writing – and accepted immediately. The results are collected in this anthology, and they are excellent.… Read More
This book is simply magnificent. All of Theroux’s travel books that I’ve read have been engaging, but this one stands out above the rest for me. The premise here is simple: Theroux wants to travel overland through Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town. The cultural, geographical, and political contrasts he experiences are all brought to… Read More
This is an account of an eccentric journey by an eccentric Englishman. Nicholas Crane is the man who, a few weeks after getting married, left his wife at home while he spent 18 months walking along the watershed of Europe from Galicia to Istanbul. Five years later, in 1997, equipped with his trademark umbrella and… Read More
Bryson well and truly returns to form with this book on Australia. It is the best of the self-deprecating and exaggerated humour that won him his fans in the first place. But he also steers clear of overdoing the sermons on how places have changed – and never for the better when viewed through BrysonVision.… Read More
It is hard to believe that Tim Moore is quite the couch potato he would have us believe. Although anyone daft enough to attempt to tackle the route of the 2000 Tour de France with even some training must be a sprocket short of a chainring. Moore claims less training than this and thus is… Read More
Starting your book, “I’m not, by nature, a betting man. I’m not, by nature, a drinking man”, raises a certain level of expectation in the reader – and happily Hawks’ book lives up to this. Englishman Hawks takes off on a one-month quest to hitchhike around the circumference of Ireland with a 2’x2′ foot fridge… Read More
Theroux exports his acerbic wit to the Mediterranean for this reconstruction of the Grand Tour. It is pointless berating him – as many do – for his constant criticism and disparaging remarks. What is more remarkable in this book is the contrasts he throws up, both in his own writing – the tone of which… Read More
While the pantheon of travel literature is filled with accounts of journeys in, to and from Asia and the Silk Road, Latin America is less well covered. Perhaps it’s because writers have only ventured there more recently, or because it is perceived to lack much of the exoticness of India, China, Afghanistan et al. Trail… Read More
This may be McCarthy’s first book, but his ample writing experience is clear in this extremely well written, funny, and touching account of his travels in his mother’s native western Ireland. Oh yes, and of his quest to drink Guinness in bars called McCarthy – a laudable aim of any trip. Studiously avoiding any of… Read More
In 1947, French philosopher, novelist and feminist Simone de Beauvoir left her native Paris and spent four months in the United States. She had never been to the US before, and as she travelled from coast to coast she kept a diary. Re-published in English 50 years later it offers a fascinating view of America… Read More
The 1997 edition of Jan Morris’ well-loved, and re-issued Hong Kong book was updated just before the handover of the former British colony to the Chinese government. The new section attempts to deal with the emotions of the residents of this anomalous state on the eve of their migration to another government. The 2000 edition… Read More
On one level, Benedict Allen has compiled an impressive volume of accounts of exploration throughout history that can be enjoyed as heroic adventures and tales of “derring-do”. But I can’t help feeling depressed as I read story after story of exploitation, greed, cruelty and murder, often carried out in the name of “civilisation” or religion.… Read More
I like this book. Partly, it’s true, because it brings back memories – uncomfortable and chuckling alike – of my own Greyhound exploits. But mostly because it is so simple. It is a straightforward unpretentious account of a middle-aged American expat travelling across the US in that most democratic of vehicles: a bus. A quick… Read More
This is one of Theroux’s odder travel books. The spectre of separation from his wife haunts the narrative as the veteran travel writer sets off to paddle the Pacific. Not, mercifully, in a Thor Heyerdahl non-stop-adventure kind of a way, but in a more relaxed pottering-around-the-islands sort of way. It is a difficult book to… Read More
It’s hard to reconcile the Madagascar of Murphy’s 1985 travels with the tales of dispute verging on civil war that have been emerging from the country in mid-2002. The ravaging effects of the recent disputed election are at odds with the relaxed, apolitical country that Murphy presents. But 15 years is a long time, and… Read More
Morris’ collection of travel essays have already entered the pantheon of travel writing classics. This one is perhaps misnamed, as it is more about cities than journeys, but the range of places certainly leaves the reader feeling like they have been on an immense journey. These urban vignettes are ideal for Morris, long enough to… Read More
India in the mid 19th century was not a safe place to be, with violent resistance to the British Empire growing in strength. But more worrying for the traveller was the growth of the thuggee cult. This sect, so the legend goes, would befriend groups of travellers and lull them into a false sense of… Read More
Most of this book (full title: Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine) is a biography of George Mallory, followed by a short account of the expeditions after his death in 1924 which throw significant light on his and Irvine’s fate. Only the last few chapters relate the events of the 1999 expedition… Read More
“Oh no”, I thought, “Not another crazy travel writer doing something offbeat. Still, s’pose I better read it.” And I am glad I did. Llewellyn’s trip with his girlfriend Rohan may have been born out of a premature mid-life crisis and a desire to see Russia, but ends up being an enjoyable and fast-paced story… Read More
Anyone writing more than a simple account of a visit to Antarctica is faced with the problem of which aspects to cover — the narrative, descriptive, historical, scientific, political, and (for many) spiritual aspects of their experience. Sara Wheeler was lucky enough to spend several months in Antarctica, and her book sets out to cover… Read More