Some of the extraordinary women whose writings are including in this collection are observers of the world in which they wander; their prose rich in description, remarkable in detail. Mary McCarthy conveys the vitality of Florence while Willa Cather's essay on Lavandou foreshadows her descriptions of the French countryside in later novels. Others are more active participants in the culture they are visiting, such as Leila Philip, as she harvests rice with chiding Japanese women, or Emily Carr, as she wins the respect and trust of the female chieftain of an Indian village in Northern Canada. Whether it is curiosity about the world, a thirst for adventure or escape from personal tragedy, all of these women are united in that they approached their journeys with wit, intelligence, compassion and empathy for the lives of those they encountered along the way. Features writing from Gertrude Bell, Edith Wharton, Isabella Bird, Kate O'Brien, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and many others.

A highly entertaining and moving journal chronicling J. R. Ackerley's time in India In the 1920s, the young J. R. Ackerley spent several months in India as the Private Secretary to the Maharajah of Chhokrapur. Knowing almost nothing of India, he discovers Hindu culture, festivals and language, and reveals the fascinating attitudes of the Palace staff on women, marriage. the caste system and death. At the heart of Hindoo Holiday is the wonderfully unpredictable figure of his Highness the Maharajah Sahib who, ultimately, just wants 'someone to love him'.

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY TARAN KHAN, author of Shadow City TRANSLATED FROM BENGALI BY NAZES AFROZ An intrepid traveller and true cosmopolitan, legendary Bengali writer Syed Mujtaba Ali spent a year and a half teaching in Kabul from 1927 to 1929. Curious to explore Afghan society, Mujtaba Ali had access to a cross-section of Kabul's population, and in In a Land Far from Home he chronicles his experiences with a keen eye and a wicked sense of humour. Mujtaba Ali's travels coincided with a critical point in Afghanistan's history: when the reformist King Amanullah tried to steer his country towards modernity by encouraging education for girls and giving them the choice of removing the burqa. Branded a 'kafir', Amanullah was overthrown by the bandit leader Bacha-e-Saqao. With striking parallels to twenty-first century events in the region, In a Land Far From Home is the only first-hand account of this tumultuous period by a non-Afghan. Providing a unique perspective, Mujtaba Ali's fascinating account is brought to life by contact with a colourful cast of characters at all levels of society -- from the garrulous Pathan Dost Muhammed and the gentle Russian giant Bolshov, to his servant, Abdur Rahman and his partner in tennis, the Crown Prince Enayatullah.

'I have made up my mind (with God's leave) to go to America - and to start as soon after Christmas as it will be safe'

So wrote an exuberant Dickens shortly before his voyage to America in 1842. He was the most famous of many travellers of his time who journeyed to the New World, curious to find out about the revolutionary new civilization which had captured the English imagination. His frank, often humorous descriptions cover everything from his comically uncomfortable sea voyage to his wonder at the Niagara Falls. In general Dickens is critical of what he saw as a society ruled by money and built on slavery, with unsavoury manners and a corrupt press. His unfavourable account provoked a hostile response in America and Britain, although he was to change his opinion later.

American Notes can be read as a journey in the long-established tradition of Chaucer, Bunyan or Swift - as a progress to knowledge through varied experiences. Above all, it is a fascinating account of what was for Dickens an illuminating encounter with the New World.

This edition includes a critical introduction, chronology, explanatory notes and three appendices reflecting Dickens's changing views on America.

Worlds of Knowledge in Women's Travel Writing rediscovers the works of a wide range of authors from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. A stowaway on a voyage circumnavigating the globe; a nineteenth-century visitor to schools in Japan; an Indian activist undertaking a pilgrimage to Iraq-these are some of the women whose experiences come to life in this volume. Worlds of Knowledge explores travel writing as a genre for communicating information about other cultures and for testing assumptions about the nature and extent of women's expertise. The book challenges the frequent focus in travel studies on English-language texts by exploring works in French and Urdu as well as English and focusing on journeys to France, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, India, Ethiopia, Japan, Australia, and the Falkland Islands. Written by experts in a wide range of fields, this interdisciplinary volume sheds new light on the range, innovation, and erudition of travel narratives by women.

Perhaps the funniest travel book ever written, Remote People begins with a vivid account of the coronation of Emperor Ras Tafari – Haile Selassie I, King of Kings; an event covered by Evelyn Waugh in 1930 as special correspondent for The Times. It continues with subsequent travels in throughout Africa, where natives rub shoulders with eccentric expatriates; settlers with Arab traders and dignitaries with monks. Interspersing these colourful tales are three ‘nightmares’ which describe the vexations of travel, including returning home.

INTRODUCED BY FIONA MOZLEY, Booker-shortlisted author of Elmet WITH EXCERPTS FROM ALL THE ROADS ARE OPEN BY ANNEMARIE SCHWARZENBACH 'We were both travellers - she always running away from an emotional crisis (not seeing that she was already wishing for the next), I always seeking far afield the secret of harmonious living, or filling up time by courting risk, caught by the clean sharp "taste" it gives to life.' In 1939, adventurer and writer Ella Maillart set off on an epic drive from Geneva to Kabul, accompanied by journalist and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who later became an antifascist and lesbian icon. The two women travelled partly to escape the coming war in Europe, embarking on a daring, and often dangerous, journey through regions where European women were a rarity. But Schwarzenbach was also fighting a losing battle with morphine addiction, and the women's close but often troubled relationship takes centre stage in the narrative as the journey progresses through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Encountering breathtaking landscapes, ancient ruins and nomadic peoples, The Cruel Way is a gripping, lyrical and deeply empathetic portrait of places, people and friendship. Brought together for the first time with excerpts from All the Roads are Open, Annemarie Schwarzenbach's parallel account of the journey.

M. Edith Durham is best known for her classic travel books about the Balkans. However, she was also a passionate, articulate and well-informed commentator on the twists and turns of Balkan politics and the machinations of the Great Powers. The pieces in this collection of her writings from the early half of the twentieth century remind us of the many connections between Britain and the Balkans over recent centuries -- of Tennyson, Disraeli, Lord Fitzmaurice, Aubrey Herbert and Margaret Hasluck. With its wide geographical sweep, the book offers a fair picture of the Balkans in the early twentieth century: Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia are all represented -- their dangers and wonders, ugly brutality and startling beauty, history, custom, geography and politics. The anthology offers vivid pictures of Balkan locations which will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in modern Balkan history.

Lose yourself in the thrilling political intrigue and tangled love affairs of wartime Egypt: Durrell's epic modern classic, introduced by Alaa Al Aswany (bestselling author of The Yacoubian Building). Every interpretation of reality is based upon a unique position ... As the threat of world war looms over the city of Alexandria, an exiled Anglo-Irish schoolteacher unravels his erotic obsession with two women: Melissa, a fragile dancer, and Justine, a glamorous married Egyptian woman. Through conversations with Balthazar, a doctor and mystic, these intricate love affairs are cast in an ominous, sinister new light, as his private fixations become entangled with a mysterious murder plot ... One of the twentieth century's greatest masterpieces, rich in political and sexual intrigue, Lawrence Durrell's 'investigation of modern love' in the Alexandria Quartet set the world alight. Published in 1958, a year after the sensational Justine, the kaleidoscopic Balthazar burns just as brightly today. 'Legendary ... Casts a spell ... A fine storyteller. Reader, watch out!' Jan Morris, Guardian 'A brave and brazen work ... Lush and grandiose.' Independent 'One of the very best novelists of our time ... [such] beauty.' New York Times Book Review VOLUME TWO OF LAWRENCE DURRELL'S ALEXANDRIA QUARTET

Finland in the eighteenth century was not a destination for the faint-hearted. Travellers told of winter temperatures which froze brandy in the bottle, and of summer journeys when they were eaten alive by bugs and mosquitoes. But they also wrote lyrical accounts of sledging over the ice from Stockholm, and of the idyllic beauty of Finland's lakes and islands. Tony Lurcock brings to life these forgotten journeys and the travellers who made them. Many were upper-class gentlemen taking an alternative to the Grand Tour, and interested in agriculture, landscape and the picturesque. Others saw Finland as the home of a primitive race living in a virtuous 'state of nature' - but met the reality of primitiveness with mixed responses. There were also scientists, adventurers, sailors, missionaries ...Part anthology, part history, it gives a picture of Finland at a time when it was little known to the outside world.

Leaving behind Thailand after the 2004 Tsunami, Ben, aged 19, made a life challenging journey without GPS or mobile phone to cross 11 countries in 8 months covering at least 16,000 miles, not including the occasional detour or missed direction. This is his log of the journey home... "What comes through most clearly is the sheer excitement of travelling in SE Asia when you're young, and seeing so many amazing things for the first time. This is a great account of the traveller's life, in which random encounters become critical junctures and you find yourself somewhere unfamiliar every day." Tom Feiling - "Short walks in Bogota"

Hogg left a written record of three of his many journeys to the Highlands, those of 1802, 1803 and 1804, and in "Highland Journeys" he offers a thoughtful and deeply-felt response to the Highland Clearances. He gives vivid pictures of his experiences, including a narrow escape from a Navy press-gang, and a Sacrament day with one minister preaching in English and another in Gaelic. Hogg also explains aspects of Gaelic culture such as the waulking songs, and he describes the trade in kelp, lucrative to the landowners but back-breaking and ill-paid for the workers. Highland Journeys makes a refreshing contribution to our understanding of early nineteenth-century travel writing.