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Books > Sport & Leisure > Travel & holiday > Travel writing > Classic travel writing

Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia - A Tenth-century Traveler from Baghdad to the Volga River (Paperback, illustrated... Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia - A Tenth-century Traveler from Baghdad to the Volga River (Paperback, illustrated Edition)
Richard Frye; Translated by Richard Frye
R713 Discovery Miles 7 130 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This is the first English translation of the famous risala, letters by the tenth-century traveler Ibn Fadlan, one of the great Medieval travelers in world history, akin to Ibn Batutta. Ibn Fadlan was an Arab missionary sent by the Caliph in Baghdad to the king of the Bulghars. He journeyed from Baghdad to Bukhara in Central Asia and then continued across the desert to the town of Bulghar, near present Kazan. He describes the tribes he meets on his way and gives an account of their customs. His is the earliest account of a meeting with the Vikings, called Rus, who had reached the Volga River from Sweden. His description of the Rus, or Rusiya as he calls them, has produced much discussion about their origins, shockingly free sexual morals standards, customs, treatment of slaves and women, burial traditions, and trading habits, all explained in detail by Ibn Fadlan. The story of his travels has fascinated scholars and even prompted Michael Chrichton to write the popular novel ""Eaters of the Dead,"" which was made into a film entitled ""The 13th Warrior.

The Italian Sketchbook (1852) (Paperback): Fanny Lewald The Italian Sketchbook (1852) (Paperback)
Fanny Lewald
R792 Discovery Miles 7 920 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, Pt. 2 - A Woman's Journey Among the Treasures of Ancient Egypt (Paperback, Revised ed.):... A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, Pt. 2 - A Woman's Journey Among the Treasures of Ancient Egypt (Paperback, Revised ed.)
Amelia B. Edwards
R491 Discovery Miles 4 910 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Travelling by dahabiah, a well-appointed sailing craft peculiar to the Nile, and armed with sketch-book and measuring tape, Amelia Edwards carefully recorded all she saw of the temples, graves, and monuments - even discovering a buried chapel of her own- and provided in A Thousand Miles Up The Nile the first general archaeological survey of Egypt's ruins. The book is full of historical footnotes and careful details. Amelia Edwards was responsible for founding the first chair in Egyptology (a science she helped create) at University College London, and was behind the appointment of Sir Flinders Petrie. She established herself as one of the authorities on the subject of Ancient Egypt and her book A Thousand Miles Up the Nile has remained one of the most inspiring travel books in the subject.

Khiva to Samarkand - The Remarkable Story of a Woman's Adventurous Journey Alone Through the Deserts of Central Asia to... Khiva to Samarkand - The Remarkable Story of a Woman's Adventurous Journey Alone Through the Deserts of Central Asia to the Heart of Turkestan (Paperback)
Ella R. Christie
R631 Discovery Miles 6 310 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Marco Polo Travels (Hardcover): Colin Thubron Marco Polo Travels (Hardcover)
Colin Thubron
R546 R497 Discovery Miles 4 970 Save R49 (9%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

Marco Polo set off on his travels from Venice as a young man in 1271, and returned home in 1295 after spending 24 years away, 17 of them in China. He isone of the few early adventurers whose name nearly everyone knows. His book was one of the best-loved works of the Middle Ages, and has remained popular ever since. At a time when China is again assuming global importance, his account of China under the Mongol emperor Khubilai Khan - the dazzlingly splendid capital in Beijing, the great southern metropolis of Hangzhou - is a classic reminder of the antiquity of Chinese power and civilization. Marco Polo also portrays countries and cities all along the trade route from the Mediterranean to Mongolia. He reminds us that Iraq's present suffering is not unique by relating the story of the attack on Baghdad by Mongol forces in 1258. He conveys the daunting prospect of the deserts of central Asia and the distant charms of Yunnan. And he reminds us of the huge merchant ships dominating China's trade with foreign countries, ships that far outstripped their European counterparts. He even writes about Japan, the first European to do so. His book was often thought of as a book of marvels, but one of its striking features to a contemporary reader is its clarity, realism and tolerance. As this new edition shows, he sometimes exaggerates, but his reputation for making things up is quite unfair, as Colin Thubron makes clear in his introduction. The original manuscript of Marco Polo's book is lost, and in the many later versions names and other details have become so garbled that it has been said that his itineraries are impossible to follow. This new Everyman edition shows this need not be so. It explains clearly all the references in the book, and shows in detail with new maps the routes described from Venice to Beijing, from Beijing to Burma, and from Beijing to south-east China. It also provides an up-to-date history of the book and the controversies surrounding it.

A Voyage in the Sunbeam - A Family Sailing Around the World for Eleven Months (Paperback, New edition): Anna Brassey A Voyage in the Sunbeam - A Family Sailing Around the World for Eleven Months (Paperback, New edition)
Anna Brassey
R788 Discovery Miles 7 880 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Annie, Lady Brassey was a very popular Victorian author. She travelled with her husband, Thomas and their four children aboard their yacht, the Sunbeam. Their eleven month sailing trip around the world in 1876-7 was inmortalized in Anna's book "A Voyage in the Sunbeam." The book ran through many English editions and was translated into many other languages. During her travels, lady Brassey collected many objects of the different cultures they visited. Her large collection of ethnographic and natural history objects were originally shown in a museum at her London house but they were moved eventually to Hastings Museum in 1919. Annie Brassey spent the last ten years of her life mainly at sea. She died suddenly of malaria on the way home from India and Australia in 1887 and was buried at sea at the age of 48.

The Oregon Trail (Paperback): Francis Parkman The Oregon Trail (Paperback)
Francis Parkman; Edited by Bernard Rosenthal
R340 R318 Discovery Miles 3 180 Save R22 (6%) Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. In the course of his travels, Parkman encountered numerous Indians, living among a Sioux tribe for a time, as well as meeting traders, trappers, and emigrants searching for a new life. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man's exploration of the American Wilderness. It is a journey which has shaped our picture of mid-nineteenth-century America and which has influenced our perception of American civilization. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Lisbon -- What the Tourist Should See (Paperback): Fernando Pessoa Lisbon -- What the Tourist Should See (Paperback)
Fernando Pessoa; Edited by Tony Frazer
R427 Discovery Miles 4 270 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In 1925, Fernando Pessoa wrote a guidebook to Lisbon for English-speaking visitors, and wrote it in English. The typescript was only discovered amongst his papers long after his death, but has not hitherto been made available in the UK or the USA. The book is fascinating in that it shows us Pessoa's view of his native city - and Pessoa, as an adult, rarely left Lisbon, and it figures large in his poetry. The book can still be useful to visitors today, given that the majority of the sights described are still to be found. A fascinating scrap from the master's table....

Sailing Alone Around the World (Paperback): Joshua Slocum Sailing Alone Around the World (Paperback)
Joshua Slocum; Introduction by Walter Magnus Teller
R537 Discovery Miles 5 370 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Captain Joshua Slocum's solo circumnavigation aboard the 37-foot sloop SPRAY in 1895 stands as one of the greatest sea adventures of all time. This classic account of his 46,000-mile voyage continues to enjoy immense popularity all around the world, and Sheridan House is proud to preserve the original edition in this attractive, affordable hardcover.

A Thousand Miles Up the Nile - A Woman's Journey Among the Treasures of Ancient Egypt (Paperback): Amelia B. Edwards A Thousand Miles Up the Nile - A Woman's Journey Among the Treasures of Ancient Egypt (Paperback)
Amelia B. Edwards
R494 Discovery Miles 4 940 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Travelling by dahabiah, a well-appointed sailing craft peculiar to the Nile, and armed with sketch-book and measuring tape, Amelia Edwards carefully recorded all she saw of the temples, graves, and monuments - even discovering a buried chapel of her own- and provided in A Thousand Miles Up The Nile the first general archaeological survey of Egypt's ruins. The book is full of historical footnotes and careful details. Amelia Edwards was responsible for founding the first chair in Egyptology (a science she helped create) at University College London, and was behind the appointment of Sir Flinders Petrie. She established herself as one of the authorities on the subject of Ancient Egypt and her book A Thousand Miles Up the Nile has remained one of the most inspiring travel books in the subject.

Yangtze Valley and Beyond (Paperback): Isabella L. Bird Yangtze Valley and Beyond (Paperback)
Isabella L. Bird; Foreword by Graham Earnshaw
R678 Discovery Miles 6 780 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Isabella Bird was one of the greatest travelers and travel writers of all time, and this is her last major book, a sympathetic look at inland China and beyond into Tibet at the end of the 19th century. In describing the journey, Isabella provides a rich mix of observations and describes two occasions when she is almost killed by anti-foreign mobs. It many ways, Isabella created the model for travel writing today, and this one of her greatest works.

The Wayward Tourist - Mark Twain's Adventures In Australia (Paperback): Mark Twain, Don Watson The Wayward Tourist - Mark Twain's Adventures In Australia (Paperback)
Mark Twain, Don Watson
R585 Discovery Miles 5 850 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

At the height of his fame, Mark Twain, the great writer and humorist from Missouri, was facing financial ruin from one of his failed business ventures. Broke but much loved he embarked on a money-raising lecture tour around the equator, making a stop in Australia. The Wayward Tourist republishes Mark Twain's Australian travel writing in which he recounts impressions of Sydney ('God made the Harbor but Satan made Sydney') and his view of Australian history (' it reads like the most beautiful lies'). In his introduction, Don Watson brilliantly pays homage to America's 'funny man' who brought his swagger, love of language and wicked talent for observation to our shores.

In the Strange South Seas - Travel and Adventures of an Irish Woman in the South Pacific in 1907 (Paperback): Beatrice Grimshaw In the Strange South Seas - Travel and Adventures of an Irish Woman in the South Pacific in 1907 (Paperback)
Beatrice Grimshaw
R425 Discovery Miles 4 250 Ships in 9 - 17 working days

Beatrice Grimshaw was born in Ireland. She was an adventurer at heart since childhood and an independent soul who longed to travel to far away places. Until 1903 she had been a freelance journalist, a tour organiser and an emigration promoter but her dream was to go to the South Pacific islands. Embarking from San Francisco in 1904, she sailed first to Tahiti, followed by a four month voyage through the South Pacific and an additional two months on the island of Niue. During this trip, she visited Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Rarotonga and some of the Cook islands. She returned to London and published "In the Strange South Seas" in 1907. In the book, Grimshaw not only recounts her adventures but she also describes the customs and lifestyles of the native populations as well as giving an exhaustive picture of the region's fauna and wildlife. The book also contain accounts of cannibalism, head-hunting, poisoning and tribal magic.

Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance, 1545-1625 (Paperback): Andrew Hadfield Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance, 1545-1625 (Paperback)
Andrew Hadfield
R1,939 Discovery Miles 19 390 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

What was the purpose of representing foreign lands for writers in the English Renaissance? This innovative and wide-ranging study argues that writers often used their works as vehicles to reflect on the state of contemporary English politics, particularly their own lack of representation in public institutions. Sometimes such analyses took the form of displaced allegories, whereby writers contrasted the advantages enjoyed, or disadvantages suffered, by foreign subjects with the political conditions of Tudor and Stuart England. Elsewhere, more often in explicitly colonial writings, authors meditated on the problems of government when faced with the possibly violent creation of a new society. If Venice was commonly held up as a beacon of republican liberty which England would do well to imitate, the fear of tyrannical Catholic Spain was ever present - inspiring and haunting much of the colonial literature from 1580 onwards. This stimulating book examines fictional and non-fictional writings, illustrating both the close connections between the two made by early modern readers and the problems involved in the usual assumption that we can make sense of the past with the categories available to us. Hadfield explores in his work representations of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East, selecting pertinent examples rather than attempting to embrace a total coverage. He also offers fresh readings of Shakespeare, Marlowe, More, Lyly, Hakluyt, Harriot, Nashe, and others.

Java, the Garden of the East - Travel and Adventures of an American Woman in Java in 1897 (Paperback): Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore Java, the Garden of the East - Travel and Adventures of an American Woman in Java in 1897 (Paperback)
Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore
R506 Discovery Miles 5 060 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Eliza Rumaha Scidmore was born October 14, 1856 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America and died November 3, 1928 in Geneva, Switzerland. She was a journalist and a traveller and spent long periods in in Alaska, Japan, China, Java and India. In this book about Java written in 1912, Scidmore, who clearly loved the subject is very enthusiastic about the country and the traditions that have made Java such a unique place. It still remains a little known country nowadays but by reading Eliza Scidmore, we are transported to the beauty of the tropical gardens, the volcanoes, the magnificent buddhist temple of Borobudur, the impact of the conquest by Islam, its unique culture and so many places that I bet you did not even know they existed.

Across China on Foot (Paperback): Edwin J. Dingle Across China on Foot (Paperback)
Edwin J. Dingle
R634 Discovery Miles 6 340 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This book, first published in 1911, is one of the most important and best written travel books from old China. Edwin Dingle recounts his adventures as he travels up the Yangtze River from Shanghai and then by foot southwest across some of China's most wild and woolly territory to Burma. Along the way, Dingle absorbed an enormous amount of about life and society in southwest China, and describes what he sees in a readable and sensitive way.

William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier (Paperback, New edition): Edward J. Cashin William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier (Paperback, New edition)
Edward J. Cashin
R904 Discovery Miles 9 040 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In Travels, the celebrated 1791 account of the "Old Southwest," William Bartram recorded the natural world he saw around him but, rather incredibly, omitted any reference to the epochal events of the American Revolution. Edward J. Cashin places Bartram in the context of his times and explains his conspicuous avoidance of people, places, and events embroiled in revolutionary fervor. Cashin suggests that while Bartram documented the natural world for plant collector John Fothergill, he wrote Travels for an entirely different audience. Convinced that Providence directed events for the betterment of mankind and that the Constitutional Convention would produce a political model for the rest of the world, Bartram offered Travels as a means of shaping the new country. Cashin illuminates the convictions that motivated Bartram-that if Americans lived in communion with nature, heeded the moral law, and treated the people of the interior with respect, then America would be blessed with greatness.

Florence - A Traveller's Reader (Paperback): Edward Chaney Florence - A Traveller's Reader (Paperback)
Edward Chaney; Introduction by Harold Acton 1
R407 R370 Discovery Miles 3 700 Save R37 (9%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

'The best conceivable guide to the city' - an essential cultural history for all visitors of Florence The rich and glorious past of one of the best loved cities in the world, Florence, is brought vividly to life for today's visitor in this collection which draws on letters, diaries and memoirs of travellers to Florence and the Florentines themselves. Of all Italian cities, Florence has always had the strongest English accent: the Goncourt brothers in 1855 called it 'ville tout anglaise'. Though that accent is diminished now, Florence remains for the English-speaking traveller what it always has been - one of the best loved, and most visited, of cities. In this Traveller's Reader, Florence's rich and glorious past is brought vividly to life for the tourist of today through the medium of letters, diaries and memoirs of travellers to Florence from past centuries and of the Florentines themselves. The extracts chosen by cultural historain Edward Chaney include: Boccaccio on the Black Death; Vasari on the building of Giotto's Campanile; an eye-witness account of the installation of Michaelangelo's 'David'; the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning at the Casa Guidi; and D. H. Lawrence and Dylan Thomas on twentieth-century Florentine society. Sir Harold Acton's introduction provides a concise history of the city from its origins, through its zenith as a prosperous city state which, under the Medici, gave birth to the Renaissance, and up to the Arno's devastating flood in 1966. Sir Harold Acton, man of letters, historian, aesthete, novelist and poet, spent most of his life in Florence. Among his best-known books is The Last Medici, Memoirs of an Aesthete.

Across the Empty Quarter (Paperback): Wilfred Thesiger Across the Empty Quarter (Paperback)
Wilfred Thesiger 2
R124 Discovery Miles 1 240 Ships in 2 - 4 working days

Restless, gripped by an overwhelming wish to make a name for himself in a world ever more hemmed in by progress and 'civilization', Thesiger (1910-2003) embarked on his amazing journeys across Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter to test himself and to show what could still be done. The result was a monument both to his resilience and to the Bedu who guided him and who emerge as the book's real heroes. "Great Journeys" allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries - but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.

The Travels of Ibn Battuta (Paperback): Ibn Battuta The Travels of Ibn Battuta (Paperback)
Ibn Battuta
R464 R440 Discovery Miles 4 400 Save R24 (5%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In 1326, Ibn Battuta began a pilgrimage to Mecca that ended 27 years and 75,000 miles later. His engrossing account of that journey provides vivid scenes from Morocco, southern Russia, India, China, and elsewhere. "Essential reading . . . the ultimate in real life adventure stories." -- "History in Review."

Running Mad for Kentucky - Frontier Travel Accounts (Hardcover, New): Ellen Eslinger Running Mad for Kentucky - Frontier Travel Accounts (Hardcover, New)
Ellen Eslinger
R1,164 Discovery Miles 11 640 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

" The crossing of America's first great divide -- the Appalachian Mountains -- has been a source of much fascination but has received little attention from modern historians. In the eighteenth century, the Wilderness Road and Ohio River routes into Kentucky presented daunting natural barriers and the threat of Indian attack. Running Mad for Kentucky brings this adventure to life. Primarily a collection of travel diaries, it includes day-to-day accounts that illustrate the dangers thousands of Americans, adult and child, black and white, endured to establish roots in the wilderness. Ellen Eslinger's vivid and extensive introductory essay draws on numerous diaries, letters, and oral histories of trans-Appalachian travelers to examine the historic consequences of the journey, a pivotal point in the saga of the continent's indigenous people. The book demonstrates how the fabled soil of Kentucky captured the imagination of a young nation.

Travel in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor (Hardcover): Thomas Witlam Atkinson Travel in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor (Hardcover)
Thomas Witlam Atkinson
R403 Discovery Miles 4 030 Ships in 12 - 19 working days
From Pole to Pole (Hardcover): Sven Hedin From Pole to Pole (Hardcover)
Sven Hedin
R285 Discovery Miles 2 850 Ships in 12 - 19 working days
The Southern Highlander and His Homeland (Paperback): John C. Campbell The Southern Highlander and His Homeland (Paperback)
John C. Campbell
R1,152 Discovery Miles 11 520 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

" In 1908 John C. Campbell was commissioned by the Russell Sage Foundation to conduct a survey of conditions in Appalachia and the aid work being done in these areas to create "the central repository of data concerning conditions in the mountains to which workers in the field might turn." Originally published in 1921, The Southern Highlander and His Homeland details Campbell's experiences and findings during his travels in the region, observing unique aspects of mountain communities such as their religion, family life, and forms of entertainment. Campbell's landmark work paved the way for folk schools, agricultural cooperatives, handicraft guilds, the frontier nursing service, better roads, and a sense of pride in mountain life -- the very roots of Appalachian preservation.

Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales in the Year 1813 (Paperback): Gregory Blaxland Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales in the Year 1813 (Paperback)
Gregory Blaxland
R255 Discovery Miles 2 550 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains in New South Wales in the Year 1813 was first published in 1823. It is a romantic and descriptive narrative of the journey to find a path across the Blue Mountains and received a great reception both in England and in Australia.

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