Shape of a Boy is a hilarious and eye-opening travel memoir by the mother of three boys as she documents her travels with her family around the world. 'Have kids, will travel' is veteran travel journalist Kate's mantra. Her intrepid spirit is infectious in this warm, engaging account of her family's adventures and misadventures. She shares the life lessons learnt on their travels, from overcoming disappointment in Thailand to saying sorry in Japan, discovering perseverance in Borneo and learning about conservation in Malaysia. From the jungles of southeast Asia to the waterfront in Havana and the blazing heat of Egypt, Shape of a Boy captures the essence of being a parent in the thick of it and learning on the hoof. Inspirational for anyone who has dreaded travelling with a baby, toddler, or teen, it is a life-affirming read for every wannabe-traveller. Kate's vivid evocation of the highs and lows of family time make you belly-laugh and bring a lump to your throat. "Life-affirming and laugh-out-loud funny" - HELEN FIELDING, AUTHOR OF BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY "Hilarious and wonderfully fluent, Shape of A Boy makes you see each corner of the world afresh. I read it in one long, lounging read, which took me away from Covid to a vibrant world of orangutans and elephants and a family growing together." ANDREW CLOVER, best-selling author of Dad Rules This is a must-read for every wannabe-traveller grounded by lockdown and for every parent who has dreaded travelling with a baby.

For over twenty years, people turned to A. A. Gill's columns every Sunday - for his fearlessness, his perception, and the laughter-and-tear-provoking one-liners - but mostly because he was the best. 'By miles the most brilliant journalist of our age', as Lynn Barber put it. This is the definitive collection of a voice that was silenced too early but that can still make us look at the world in new and surprising ways. In the words of Andrew Marr, A.. A. Gill was 'a golden writer'. There was nothing that he couldn't illuminate with his dazzling prose. Wherever he was - at home or abroad - he found the human story, brought it to vivid life, and rendered it with fierce honesty and bracing compassion. And he was just as truthful about himself. There have been various collections of A. A. Gill's journalism - individual compilations of his restaurant and TV criticism, of his travel writing and his extraordinary feature articles. This book showcasesthe very best of his work: the peerlessly funny criticism, the extraordinarily knowledgeable food writing, assignments throughout the world, and reflections on life, love, and death. Drawn from a range of publications, including the Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, Tatler and Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Ivy Cookbook and his books on England and America, it is by turns hilarious, uplifting, controversial, unflinching, sad, funny and furious.

Have you ever turned up on a post-heartbreak holiday hopelessly unprepared and been forced to sleep on the floor wrapped up in a curtain? How about that eagerly-awaited solo adventure when you had to be airlifted home? Or what about the time you went to a fascinating European cultural capital and neglected to visit any of the world-renowned sights because you were in the bar?

Well, Anna Hart has been on all those holidays, and more. As an avid traveller and then travel journalist, she's spent most of her working life on a plane somewhere, and over 10 years writing about the places she's ended up. In Departures she brings all of that knowledge together with the signature warmth and wit of her journalism. Anna is here to show that even the experts get it wrong, and how to get it right . . .

The islands of the Outer Hebrides are home to some of the most remote and spectacular scenery in the world. They host an astonishing range of mysterious structures - stone circles, beehive dwellings, holy wells and 'temples' from the Celtic era. Over a twelve-day pilgrimage, often in appalling conditions, Alastair McIntosh returns to the islands of his childhood and explores the meaning of these places. Traversing moors and mountains, struggling through torrential rivers, he walks from the most southerly tip of Harris to the northerly Butt of Lewis. The book is a walk through space and time, across a physical landscape and into a spiritual one. As he battled with his own ability to endure some of the toughest terrain in Britain, he met with the healing power of the land and its communities. This is a moving book, a powerful reflection not simply of this extraordinary place and its people met along the way, but of imaginative hope for humankind.

No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant hardships and victories more brilliantly than critically acclaimed author Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest work from such magazines as Outside and Smithsonian, he explores the subject from the unique and memorable perspective of one who has battled peaks like K2, Denali, Everest, and, of course, the Eiger. Always with a keen eye, an open heart, and a hunger for the ultimate experience, he gives us unerring portraits of the mountaineering experience. Yet Eiger Dreams is more about people than about rock and ice-people with that odd, sometimes maniacal obsession with mountain summits that sets them apart from other men and women. Here we meet Adrian the Romanian, determined to be the first of his countrymen to solo Denali; John Gill, climber not of great mountains but of house-sized boulders so difficult to surmount that even demanding alpine climbs seem easy; and many more compelling and colorful characters. In the most intimate piece, "The Devils Thumb," Krakauer recounts his own near-fatal, ultimately triumphant struggle with solo-madness as he scales Alaska's Devils Thumb. Eiger Dreams is stirring, vivid writing about one of the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.

As the seat of prince-bishops it found wealth and power, as the birthplace of Mozart it found fame, and as a festival city it found its purpose and destiny. But can today's Salzburg really be described by anything more than music and majestic baroque architecture? Hubert Nowak, who lived and worked in Salzburg for many years, sets out to find the lesser-known side of the city. Leaving the festival district, he plunges into the atmospheric old quarter and places known only to natives - and often not even to them. Through the stories of those who visited the city over the centuries, he gives the reader a fresh perspective and gives the old city new life. Salzburg: A City of Culture is essential reading for anyone interested in visiting the city.

In July 1942, the French police in Paris, acting for the German military government, arrested Victor Ripp's three-year-old cousin, Alexandre. Two months later, the boy was killed in Auschwitz. To try to make sense of this act, Ripp looks at it through the prism of family history. In addition to Alexandre, ten members of Ripp's family on his father's side died in the Holocaust. His mother's side of the family, numbering thirty people, was in Berlin when Hitler came to power. Without exception, they escaped the Final Solution. Hell's Traces tells the story of the two families' divergent paths. To spark the past to life, Ripp visits Holocaust memorials throughout Europe. A memorial in Warsaw that includes a boxcar like the ones that carried Jews to Auschwitz made him contemplate the horror of Alexandre's ride to his death. A memorial in Berlin invoked the anti-Jewish laws of 1930s. This allowed Ripp to better understand how his mother's family escaped the Nazis. Ripp sees thirty-five memorials in six countries. He encounters the artists who designed the memorials, historians who recall the events that the memorials honor, and Holocaust survivors with their own stories to tell. Hell's Traces is structured like a travel book where each destination provides an example of how memorials can recover and also make sense of the past.

Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West's classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country's history as well as its daily life.

Henrietta Lovell is best known as 'The Rare Tea Lady'. She is on a mission to revolutionise the way we drink tea by replacing industrially produced teabags with the highest quality tea leaves. Her quest has seen her travel to the Shire Highlands of Malawi, across the foothills of the Himalayas, and to hidden gardens in the Wuyi-Shan to source the world's most extraordinary teas.

Infused invites us to discover these remarkable places, introducing us to the individual growers and household name chefs Lovell has met along the way - and reveals the true pleasures of tea. The result is a delicious infusion of travel writing, memoir, recipes, and glorious photography, all written with Lovell's unique charm and wit.

The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is the latest in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisines and cultures. Includes winners from the annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. Introduction by Rolf Potts In The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11, readers will: Piece together the puzzle of life in rural Cambodia Reawaken the joy of travel on a bus ride through Mexico Reexamine war memories with former soldiers in Vietnam Learn the ropes and the art of sailing with a "good captain" on the Pacific Find a true soul sister in the highlands of Ecuador Follow Vincent van Gogh's footsteps in France Survive (or not) a home invasion in Brazil...and much more

Before The Perfect Storm, before In the Heart of the Sea, Steven Callahan’s dramatic tale of survival at sea was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than thirty-six weeks. In some ways the model for the new wave of adventure books, Adrift is an undeniable seafaring classic, a riveting firsthand account by the only man known to have survived more than a month alone at sea, fighting for his life in an inflatable raft after his small sloop capsized only six days out. “Utterly absorbing” (Newsweek), Adrift is a must-have for any adventure library.

At the heart of this book is a previously unpublished account of Ben Jonson's celebrated walk from London to Edinburgh in the summer of 1618. This unique firsthand narrative provides us with an insight into where Jonson went, whom he met, and what he did on the way. James Loxley, Anna Groundwater and Julie Sanders present a clear, readable and fully annotated edition of the text. An introduction and a series of contextual essays shed further light on topics including the evidence of provenance and authorship, Jonson's contacts throughout Britain, his celebrity status, and the relationships between his 'foot voyage' and other famous journeys of the time. The essays also illuminate wider issues, such as early modern travel and political and cultural relations between England and Scotland. It is an invaluable volume for scholars and upper-level students of Ben Jonson studies, early modern literature, seventeenth-century social history, and cultural geography.

In 2016, desperate for a drastic change, Bex Band decided to walk the length of Israel with her husband: a 1000km trek including a dangerous crossing through the vast Negev desert. She'd never done anything like it before and the experience changed her life, building back her confidence and self-esteem. Three Stripes South tells the story of this transformative adventure - battling heat, exhaustion, self-doubt and prejudice - and the new life Bex built for herself when she got home, founding the Love Her Wild women's adventure community. 'Lacking confidence is something that a lot of women can relate to' says Bex. 'For me personally, it began at school with undiagnosed dyslexia and bullying. This fed into my adult years where I found myself in a vicious cycle of unhappy jobs and bouts of depression. I had low self-esteem and a belief that I really wasn't capable of achieving much in life.' Fast forward to today and Bex has transformed her life, tackling gender inequality in adventure travel, and championing women in the outdoors through regular talks, blogging and leading women on adventures all over the world. Nominated for multiple awards for her work advocating women in adventure, her story is an inspiration.

The Inuit Way is a mesmerising take on Polar travel by explorer and award-winning researcher Edward Cooper. It is a gripping account of the author's travels across northwest Greenland, where he spent several months living and hunting with the Inuit. From there, Cooper and teammate venture across the sea ice on to the Canadian Arctic islands. Here, Cooper's quest is to track down a note left by David Haig-Thomas, a British Arctic explorer, nearly a hundred years previously. Suffering from snow blindness and frostbite, Fighting off hungry polar bears, surrounded by the white wolves of Ellesmere Island, Edward Cooper and teammate, who was suffering from snow blindness and frostbite, discover a land steeped in culture and history. Part travelogue, part adventure and part history, this is a thrilling Polar travel narrative that offers insights into the people that live in the Arctic year-round. Meet Mikael, a young Inuit hunter who sleeps in a small tent on the sea ice, and fishes for halibut during the winter months. Join Cooper in watching Inuit hunters coach crack teams of dogs across the ice in the year's first dog race. Get to know a former Danish drug smuggler turned hunter. Experience the realities of Arctic life - drinking water carved from icebergs by giant trucks, and the constraints imposed on sanitation by permafrost and freezing temperatures. And journey with Cooper on a life-endangering expedition, where he falls through a crack in the ice into icy waters while watching his teammate continue onwards, oblivious to danger. Reflecting on his experience, Cooper appraises Haig-Thomas's legacy from his time in Greenland, and considers how life has evolved for Inuit families across the following century. Above all, Cooper sensitively discusses Greenland as a litmus test for a world that is evolving geopolitically and through climate change. The Inuit Way is a fascinating book that will be enjoyed by intrepid travellers, adventure junkies, Polar enthusiasts, and armchair or real-life explorers as well as people interested in the environment, fishing or indigenous communities.

An enchanting and fascinating insight into Japanese landscape, culture, history and future. Originally written in Japanese, this passionate, vividly personal book draws on the author's experiences in Japan over thirty years. Alex Kerr brings to life the ritualized world of Kabuki, retraces his initiation into Tokyo's boardrooms during the heady Bubble Years, and tells the story of the hidden valley that became his home. But the book is not just a love letter. Haunted throughout by nostalgia for the Japan of old, Kerr's book is part paean to that great country and culture, part epitaph in the face of contemporary Japan's environmental and cultural destruction. Winner of Japan's Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize, and now with a new preface. Alex Kerr is an American writer, antiques collector and Japanologist. Lost Japan is his most famous work. He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in Japan.

Scott's influence on Scottish tourism is widely discussed among scholars. However, only a few have provided a holistic analysis of the relationship between Scott and Scottish tourism from the 19th to the 21st Century in a theoretical framework. This book reveals how the myth of Scott has been created and appropriated at different stages of the development of the Scottish tourism industry by drawing upon Roland Barthes' analysis of myth. The study is largely based on an analysis of 110 travel accounts and 48 guidebooks written between the 1770s and the 2010s. The author argues that Scott's influence on the Scottish tourism industry is strongly ensured by a wide participation of various actors in continuously changing forms.

Borat has got it all wrong. Kazakhstan is far more interesting and entertaining than he'd have us believe. In fact it's probably the most surprising country on earth, and certainly one of the most tolerant.The only thing most people know about Kazakhstan is that it is homeland to Borat - and he isn't even real. Actually this vast place - the last unknown inhabited country in the world - is far more surprising and entertaining. For one thing, it is as varied as Europe, combining stupendous wealth, grinding poverty, exotic traditions and a mad dash for modernity.Crisscrossing a vanished land, Christopher Robbins finds Eminem by a shrinking Aral Sea, goes eagle-hunting, visits the scene of Dostoyevsky's doomed first love, takes up residence beside one-time neighbour Leon Trotsky and visits some of the most beautiful, unspoilt places on earth.

What makes a nation happy? Is one country's sense of happiness the same as another's? In the last two decades, psychologists and economists have learned a lot about who's happy and who isn't. The Dutch are, the Romanians aren't, and Americans are somewhere in between... After years of going to the world's least happy countries, Eric Weiner, a veteran foreign correspondent, decided to travel and evaluate each country's different sense of happiness and discover the nation that seemed happiest of all. *He discovers the relationship between money and happiness in tiny and extremely wealthy Qatar (and it's not a good one) *He goes to Thailand, and finds that not thinking is a contented way of life. *He goes to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, and discovers they have an official policy of Gross National Happiness! *He asks himself why the British don't do happiness? In Weiner's quest to find the world's happiest places, he eats rotten Icelandic shark, meditates in Bangalore, visits strip clubs in Bangkok and drinks himself into a stupor in Reykjavik. Full of inspired moments, The Geography of Bliss accomplishes a feat few travel books dare and even fewer achieve: to make you happier.

At the end of the 1960s, Kenneth Allsop, a famous television presenter and literary man-about-town, left London and settled amid the sunken lanes, ancient forests and chalk streams of west Dorset. He was at his very happiest here. He thought it the loveliest place on earth, and for three years he devoted a weekly newspaper column to his day-to-day life at the mill, brimming with humor and delight for the wildlife which shared his home. In the Country is not rustic or romantic. It is never unrealistic about agricultural modernisation and social change in the countryside. Yet, steeped with a deep sense of the past, Kenneth Allsop's writing speaks in defense of the natural world and stands firmly against the unchecked exploitation of the land. First published 1972 by Hamish Hamilton.

In his hair-raising adventures across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Chris Thorogood treads a death-defying path over cliffs, up erupting volcanoes, through typhoons, and out into the very heart of the world's vast, green wilderness. Along the way, he encounters pitcher plants, irises and orchids more heart-piercingly beautiful than you could ever imagine. An internationally acclaimed botanical illustrator, Thorogood conjures his adventures back to life in his electric paintings, which feature throughout the book. Joining his wild adventures is to be under a green spell: you'll never think of plants the same way again.

In the face of widespread misinformation and misunderstanding, a climate scientist ventures into the vast heart of America's new oil country on just two wheels. Recently recovered from his epic bicycle journey that took him from the Delaware shore to the Oregon coast, distinguished climate scientist David Goodrich sets out on his bike again to traverse the Western Interior Seaway-an ancient ocean that once spread across half of North America. When the waters cleared a geologic age ago, what was left behind was vast, flat prairie, otherworldly rock formations, and oil shale deposits. As Goodrich journeys through the Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park and across the prairies of the upper Midwest and Canada, we get a raw and ground-level view of where the tar sands and oil reserves are being opened up at an incredible and unprecedented pace. Extraordinary and unregulated, this "black goldrush" is boom and bust in every sense. In a manner reminiscent of John McPhee and Rachel Carson, combined with Goodrich's wry self-deprecation and scientific expertise, A Voyage Across an Ancient Ocean is a galvanizing and adventure-filled read that gets to the heart of drilling on our continent.

Three men. 470 kilometres. Twenty-one days. Welcome to the Downhill Hiking Club . . . At a boozy, cricket-filled afternoon at Lord's, Dom Joly convinces his two closest friends to agree to the unthinkable: a challenging hike across Lebanon, from the Israeli border in the south, along the spine of the country's mountain range, all the way to the Syrian border in the north. For Joly it is something of a homecoming, having grown up in Beirut. It was a happy childhood, though he did go to school with Osama bin Laden. Arriving in Lebanon armed with copious amounts of Vaseline - and no walking experience, bar taking the dog for the occasional stroll - Dom, Chris and Harry don't quite know what they've got themselves into. Joined by their bemused chaperone Caroll, they meet a variety of characters along the way including Ali, a stony-faced Hezbollah Museum guide who seems unperturbed by circling Israeli jets, and part-time Londoner Raf, who challenges Dom and the boys to a brain-freeze drinking contest. From a hair-raising creep along the 'Valley of the Skulls' to accidentally flashing an unsuspecting Ethiopian cook, the three friends just about manage to keep going. With more than a smattering of persiflage and some cringe-worthy moments, The Downhill Hiking Club is a big-hearted, witty and affectionate love letter to Lebanon and its rich history with a meditation on family and homeland at its heart. Written with Dom's trademark humour, it is a paean to both the simple joys of friendship and to growing old disgracefully.

John Harrison's Forgotten Footprints is the untold story of the sailors, sealers and eccentrics who discovered the last continent: Antarctica. A thrilling record of lost triumph and tragedy, a saga of adventure and ambition against all odds, and a compelling insight into extraordinary personalities and the times that shaped them, Forgotten Footprints captures the fascination of this most extreme, mysterious and beautiful of environments in John Harrison's characteristically vivid and affecting prose.