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Books > Travel > Travel writing > Classic travel writing
The ultimate travel companion for voracious voyagers.
Do you yearn for a life off the beaten track? Brought to you by Wanderlust, the original travel magazine, this bite-sized guide is jam-packed with trivia, facts and quotes to help cure even the most serious cases of itchy feet. Find out which country has a museum dedicated exclusively to Pot Noodles, which country has more islands than any other nation and which holiday destination you're likely to prefer based on whether you're an extrovert or an introvert. With inspiring quotes from seasoned travellers, The Little Book of Wanderlust is the perfect gift for jetsetters and journeyers.
This work examines the travel account of a German baroque author
who journeyed in search of silk from Northern Germany, through
Muscovy, to the court of Shah Safi in Isfahan.
Adam Olearius introduced Persian literature, history, and arts
to the German-speaking public; his frank appraisal of Persian
customs foreshadows the enlightened spirit of the eighteenth
century (influencing Montesquieu's "Persian Letters" as well as
Goethe's "West-Eastern Divan") and prepares the way for German
Romanticism's infatuation with Persian poetry.
Brancaforte focuses on the visual and discursive nexus uniting
Olearius's text with the numerous engravings that supplement the
book. The emphasis falls on contextualized readings of Olearius's
decorative frontispieces and his new and improved map of Persia and
the Caspian Sea, as expressions of early modern subjectivity.
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Constantinople
(Paperback)
Edmondo De Amicis; Translated by Stephen Parkin
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R309
R253
Discovery Miles 2 530
Save R56 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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A remarkable nineteenth-century account of Istanbul - which begins
with a dazzling description of the city gradually appearing through
the fog as the author's ship approaches the harbour -
Constantinople expertly combines personal anecdote, breathtaking
visual observation and entertaining historical information. An
invaluable record of the metropolis as it used to be - a
fascinating crossroads between Eastern and Western civilization and
one of the most cosmopolitan cities of its time - as well as a
vivid example of a European tourist's reaction to it - part
delight, part incomprehension - this book will provide an enriching
read for lovers of history or those planning to visit Istanbul
themselves.
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.
Europe has been widely acclaimed as among the finest achievements
of 'one of our greatest living writers' (The Times). A personal
appreciation, fuelled by five decades of journeying, this is Jan
Morris at her best - at once magisterial and particular, whimsical
and profound. It is a matchless portrait of a continent.
'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.' Henry James
left America for England in 1876 and remained in his adopted
country for the next three decades. Arriving in Liverpool, he made
his way first to London, the 'dreadful, delightful city', which he
would come to both love and hate. James revelled in the exoticism
and immensity of all that was unknown to him and his writing spills
over with youthful excitement, humour and vivid descriptions of the
people, landscapes, towns and cities he encountered. In London, he
marvelled at the architecture of Christopher Wren and the glamour
of the Strand and observed with equal pleasure the seedier parts of
the city, where gin shops glowed on the corners of dark alleys. He
later set out to explore the English countryside: Chester, Warwick,
Devon, Wells, Salisbury, Suffolk and Rye, where he eventually
settled, bought Lamb House and wrote prolifically - producing some
of his finest works, including What Maisie Knew, The Wings of the
Dove, The Golden Bowl and The Middle Years. First published in
1905, English Hours is one of Henry James' most loved works of
travel and a now-classic portrait of England by one of the great
masters of 19th century literature.
In 1851, Robert Macalister, a Scottish gentleman living in Ireland,
took a journey back to his native homeland with the intention of
reacquainting himself with old friends, family, villages, and
sights. By steamboat, train, and omnibus he made his way through an
autumnal, industrialising Scotland to Paisley, the town of his
birth. Having been absent for many years, he found landscapes and
people changed, taking wonder in the modernising world whilst
dwelling on those that didn't live to see his return. Along the
way, for the entertainment and education of his children, Robert
wrote his experiences in a journal he affectionately called 'Papa's
Sketches', filling it with drawings and watercolour paintings.
These scribblings and sketches give a sense of immediacy, of
intimacy and warmth, and feel as vibrant to us now as they did over
a hundred years ago, to Robert's own children. Here, Robert's
journals are painstakingly transcribed and his sketches reproduced.
Accompanying the journal, Marion Palmann's own extensive research
illuminates the world in which Robert lived, giving us context,
clarity, and closure to his story. Palmann presents readers with an
unprecedented snapshot in the life of a father, emigre, and
gentleman. Poetic, heartfelt, and at times startlingly modern,
these journals have a lasting appeal that Robert Macalister
couldn't have guessed at, sketching on a cold, autumnal day in
1851.
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The Travels
(Paperback, Reissue)
Marco Polo; Translated by Ronald Latham; Introduction by Ronald Latham; Notes by Ronald Latham
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R450
R374
Discovery Miles 3 740
Save R76 (17%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Despite piracy, shipwreck, brigandage, and wild beasts, Polo moved in a world of highly organized commerce. This chronicle of his travels through Asia, whether read as fact or fiction, is alive with adventures, geographical information, and descriptions of natural phenomena.
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.
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