Fables of the East is the first anthology to provide textual examples of representations of oriental cultures in the early modern period drawn from a variety of genres: travel writing, histories, and fiction.
'And O, Angelica, what has become of you, this present Sunday morning when I can't attend to the sermon; and, more difficult question than that, what has become of Me as I was when I sat by your side?
'And O, Angelica, what has become of you, this present Sunday morning when I can't attend to the sermon; and, more difficult question than that, what has become of Me as I was when I sat by your side?
The literary world was shocked when in 1889, at the height of his career, Robert Louis Stevenson announced his intention to settle permanently on the Pacific island of Samoa.
The literary world was shocked when in 1889, at the height of his career, Robert Louis Stevenson announced his intention to settle permanently on the Pacific island of Samoa.
From Feydeau to Fitzgerald, from Hugo to Hemingway, the Paris locations that have influenced modern literatureA photographic stroll around the bookshops, famous literary restaurants and storied streets of Europe's favourite tourist destinationLiterary Landscapes: Paris takes this major European city and with picture perfect photography, compiles an album of memorable views linked to the words of Parisian authors, or writers who made Paris their home.
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'An absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year' Sunday Telegraph'On nearly every page a random passage takes one's breath away' The TimesHave you ever heard the march of legions on a lonely country road?
Britain's foremost woman travel writer Sara Wheeler records her life of adventure, from the Antarctic to Zanzibar'Funny, furious writing from the queen of intrepid travel' Daily Telegraph'Intrepid and sparky, full of canny quips and lightly poetic observations' Mail on Sunday'Magnificent and unusual' Viv Groskop, SpectatorSara Wheeler is Britain's foremost woman travel writer.
'A completely unforgettable story' Afua HirschThe gripping true story of one man's ten year expedition from a village in West Africa to the Arctic CircleWITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHORScorching heat, rich, fertile soil, and treacherous snakes marked the landscape in which T t -Michel grew up in 1950s Togo, West Africa.
'A memorable, oddly beautiful book' Wall Street Journal'A marvellous glimpse of the Japan that rarely peeks through the country's public image' Washington PostOne sunny spring morning in the 1970s, an unlikely Englishman set out on a pilgrimage that would take him across the entire length of Japan.
The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red s Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus.
From the author of Another Kyoto and Lost Japan, a rich, personal exploration of the culture and history of Bangkok, and an essential guide for anyone visiting the cityAlex Kerr has spent over thirty years of his life living in Bangkok.
'Out of the sea, as if Homer himself had arranged it for me, the islands bobbed up, lonely, deserted, mysterious in the fading light'Enraptured by a young woman's account of the landscapes of Greece, Henry Miller set off to explore the Grecian countryside with his friend Lawrence Durrell in 1939.
In Consolations of the Forest, Sylvain Tesson explains how he found a radical solution to his need for freedom, one as ancient as the experiences of the hermits of old Russia: he decided to lock himself alone in a cabin in the middle taiga, on the shores of Baikal, for six months.
A great, innovative and restless thinker, the young Humboldt (1769-1859) went on his epochal journey to the New World during a time of revolutionary ferment across Europe.
Often, at the hour of day when the savannah grass is streaked with silver, and pale gold rims the silhouettes of the hills, I drive with my dogs up to the Mukutan, to watch the sun setting behind the lake, and the evening shadows settle over the valleys and plains of the Laikipia plateau.
'In the gloom it came along the branches towards me, its round, hypnotic eyes blazing, its spoon-like ears turning to and fro independently like radar dishes .
Written by a Greek traveller in the second century ad for a principally Roman audience, Pausanias' Guide to Greece is a comprehensive, extraordinarily literate and well-informed guidebook for tourists of the age.
'A book about London; in other words, a book about everything' Peter Ackroyd, The TimesWalking the streets of London, Iain Sinclair traces nine routes across the territory of the capital.
'A peculiar genius with no modern equivalent, except possibly Kafka' - Jonathan MillerRegarded as a central part of Kapuscinski's work, these vivid portraits of life in the depths of Poland embody the young writer's mastery of literary reportageWhen the great Ryszard Kapuscinski was a young journalist in the early 1960s, he was sent to the farthest reaches of his native Poland between foreign assignments.
Written in the second century AD by a Greek traveller for a predominantly Roman audience, Pausanias' Guide to Greece is an extraordinarily literate and well-informed guidebook.
Dampier's (1651-1715) adventures and writing inspired both Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, but in his own right he was a remarkable, observant and enjoyable writer - whether on a woefully mishandled pirate raid in Spanish America or on a desperate journey to Sumatra in an open boat or on the habits of manatees or bats.
Contemptuous of Europe's 'civilising mission' in Africa, Mary Kingsley's (1862-1900) extraordinary journeys through tropical west Africa are a remarkable record, both of a world which has vanished and of a writer and explorer of immense bravery, wit and humanity.
Disguised as a Persian dervish, Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) set out to become the first Christian to penetrate the Muslim shrines of Medina and Mecca - a reckless stunt that would have resulted in his being executed if discovered.
