KIPLING may be best known as a commentator on the British Empire, but he was also a vivid observer and chronicler of the sea - and of ships and all who sailed in them.
It all began at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, New York, in 1961 - Two Princeton graduates - John Hopkins and Joe McPhillips - have returned from Peru.
Adrift in a life without risk or surprise and with a burning desire to make some sense of his place in the world, Alastair Vere Nicoll dived into the unknown.
'The best travel guide to Istanbul' - The TimesPractical and informative, readable and vividly described, this is the definitive guide to and story of Istanbul, by those who know it best.
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.
Funny, honest and full of subtle magic, this is a rare and revealing portrait of 18th century Europe at a time when Marie Antoinette had just become queen of all France, the Grand Tour was in its infancy and Cannes was a quiet fishing village.
Through the eyes of a creative genius, Journey into Barbary is both an inimitable portrait of Morocco and one of the first truly modern accounts of a country that had for so long remained an enigma to generations of travellers.
In the Footsteps of the Gods traces the ways in which the constantly changing ideal image of ancient Greece, its art, politics and culture, inspired those who travelled there.
'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.
Once headhunters under the rule of White Rajahs and briefly colonised before independence within Malaysia, the Iban Dayaks of Borneo are one of the world's most extraordinary indigenous tribes, possessing ancient traditions and a unique way of life.
From as early as 1420 a few intrepid explorers made their way to Greece and Turkey, to recover - from brambles or burial, lime-kilns or building sites - the precious relics of the Greeks' classical past.
'It is the land of patriots, martyrs, sages, and bards, and if the ocean out of which it emerged should wash it away, it will be remembered as an island famous for immortal laws, for the announcements of original right which make the stone tables of liberty.
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.
In 1927, at the age of 22, Robert Byron journeyed to Athos with his friends and embarked on an adventure whose influence would remain with him for the rest of his life.
Blending classic travel writing with passionate observations on the deeper political and social issues of the time, Robert Byron writes with uncanny prescience of the eventual horrors of the Soviet Union and the downfall of the Raj.
The British Empire drew on the talents of many remarkable figures, whose lives reveal a wonderfully rich involvement with the crucial issues of the period.
Funny, honest and full of subtle magic, this is a rare and revealing portrait of 18th century Europe at a time when Marie Antoinette had just become queen of all France, the Grand Tour was in its infancy and Cannes was a quiet fishing village.
'The best travel guide to Istanbul' - The TimesPractical and informative, readable and vividly described, this is the definitive guide to and story of Istanbul, by those who know it best.
