Oxford started as an Anglo-Saxon border outpost, with a bridge replacing the 'oxen ford' from which it takes its name. It became a centre for trade and religion and developed one of the oldest universities in Europe from the late twelfth century. Since the Middle Ages its individual colleges have gone on building--chapels, halls, accommodation, libraries--in an extraordinary variety of styles from Gothic to Brutalist. Oxford also has many churches, a Covered Market, an extraordinary museum of Natural History in soaring iron, glass and stone, and a flamboyant neo-Jacobean Town Hall. In such a place, suggested W.B. Yeats, 'one almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking'. Nevertheless, Oxford has become a busy modern city. For much of the twentieth century the car industry, established in Cowley by William Morris (Lord Nuffield), dominated local life. Today there are cinemas, theatres, innumerable restaurants, shopping centres, an ice-rink, business and technology centres, close links to London by bus and train. Amidst the expanding city Oxford University retains its academic excellence, its student exuberance and its physical beauty.And it has been joined by a notably successful second university, Oxford Brookes. Martin Garrett discusses the literature Oxford has generated: from Chaucer to Lewis Carroll, Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, Barbara Pym, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and Iris Murdoch. There are also chapters on architecture, on religion, on theatre, film and art--including Oxford's great museum of art and history the Ashmolean--and on leisure pursuits (punting and rowing, gardens, student pranks, city fairs and carnival). A chapter on commerce focuses on Victorian shops, Cornmarket and the Morris Motor Works, while a brief social history includes the former Oxford Castle and a gallery of dons as rulers--visionary or ignorant, charismatic or dull. Garrett looks at social change, especially the transformation in the position of Oxford women, and considers the city's darker side of crime. A final chapter explores its rich surroundings: the countryside where Matthew Arnold's 'black-winged swallows haunt the glittering Thames', the baroque grandeur of Blenheim Palace, the ancient windswept Ridgeway and White Horse.

The seven volcanic Canary Islands that bask in the Atlantic off shore from the north-west African coast have long had legendary connotations. To the Greeks they were the Gardens of the Hesperides, blessed with a perennial spring-like climate, while the Carthaginians christened them the 'Purple Isles' on account of the rich dye material they obtained there. Inhabitants have ranged from the early Berber-descended Guanches, of whom cultural traces still remain, to the rich blend of European and Latin peoples that evolved after the Spanish conquest in the fifteenth-century. Famous visitors have included Columbus, Humboldt and General Franco, who famously flew from Gran Canaria in a (British-piloted) Dragon Rapide in 1936 to launch Spain's Civil War. In today's cosmopolitan capitals of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spanish colonial-era buildings merge with modern centres equipped with sophisticated amenities. For holidaymakers tiny ecologically-oriented havens like Gomera vie with big brash tourist resorts like Playa del Ingles and Playa de las Americas, today's major money-makers after the brief trade boom of yesteryear. Peter Stone explores the fascinating history and culture of this archipelago, where nature and geology provide a spectacular setting for today's tourism industry. FANTASY LANDSCAPE Bone dry 'badlands', orange-grey dunes, giant craters, frozen lava flows, black-sanded coves, rich green bananas plantations and sylvan woodlands shrouded in perennial mists all form part of this multi-faceted paradise. NATIONAL PARKS AND WILD LIFE Four of Spain's fifteen great national parks are located on the islands; Tenerife's 3,700-metre Teide, the country's highest mountain, is the most visited. Island fauna vary from the desert-like lizards of Lanzarote to the rich bird life of La Palma. UNIQUE LOCAL CULTURE Local fiestas abound and traditional dance and music exhibitions are held in cultural centres like Gran Canaria's Pueblo Canario. Mould-breaking Lanzarote architect Cesar Manrique has left a supreme legacy of innovative buildings and monuments.

William Alexander is not just a Francophile, he wants to be French. It's not enough to explore the country, to enjoy the food and revel in the ambiance, he wants to feel French from the inside. Among the things that stand in his way is the fact that he can't actually speak the language. Setting out to conquer the language he loves (but which, amusingly, does not seem to love him back), Alexander devotes himself to learning French, going beyond grammar lessons and memory techniques to delve into the history of the language, the science of linguistics, and the art of translation. Along the way, during his travels in France or following his passion at home, he discovers that not learning a language may be its own reward.

WINNER OF THE SCOTTISH NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2021 A FINANCIAL TIMES, I PAPER AND STYLIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 'In his absorbing book about the lost and the gone, Peter Ross takes us from Flanders Fields to Milltown to Kensal Green, to melancholy islands and surprisingly lively ossuaries . . . a considered and moving book on the timely subject of how the dead are remembered, and how they go on working below the surface of our lives.' - Hilary Mantel 'Ross is a wonderfully evocative writer, deftly capturing a sense of place and history, while bringing a deep humanity to his subject. He has written a delightful book.' - The Guardian 'The pages burst with life and anecdote while also examining our relationship with remembrance.' - Financial Times (best travel books of 2020) 'Among the year's most surprising "sleeper" successes is A Tomb with a View. In a year with so much death, it may have initially seemed a hard sell, but the author's humanity has instead acted as a beacon of light in the darkness.' - The Sunday Times 'Fascinating . . . Ross makes a likeably idiosyncratic guide and one finishes the book feeling strangely optimistic about the inevitable.' - The Observer 'Ross has written [a] lively elegy to Britain's best burial grounds.' - Evening Standard (*Best New Books of Autumn 2020*) 'One of the non-fiction books of the year.' - The i paper (*2020 Best Books for Christmas*) 'Brilliant.' - Stylist (*Best Christmas books for Christmas 2020*) 'Never has a book about death been so full of life. James Joyce and Charles Dickens would've loved it - a book that reveals much gravity in the humour and many stories in the graveyard. It also reveals Peter Ross to be among the best non-fiction writers in the country.' - Andrew O'Hagan 'His stories are always a joy.' - Ian Rankin 'I'm a card-carrying admirer of Peter Ross.' - Robert Macfarlane 'A startling, delight-filled tour of graveyards and the people who love them, dazzlingly told.' - Denise Mina 'A phenomenal, lyrical, beautiful book.' - Frank Turner 'A walk through the graveyards of Britain guided by one of the most engaging wordsmiths willing to take you by the hand.' - The Big Issue (*Best Books 2020*) 'A celebration of life and of love. It confronts our universal fate but tends towards a comforting embrace of mortality. It is also imbued with something deeply moving.' - The Herald 'Beautifully written and strangely life affirming.' - Norman Blake, Teenage Fanclub For readers of The Salt Path, Mudlarking, Ghostland, Kathleen Jamie and Robert Macfarlane. Enter a grave new world of fascination and delight as award-winning writer Peter Ross uncovers the stories and glories of graveyards. Who are London's outcast dead and why is David Bowie their guardian angel? What is the remarkable truth about Phoebe Hessel, who disguised herself as a man to fight alongside her sweetheart, and went on to live in the reigns of five monarchs? Why is a Bristol cemetery the perfect wedding venue for goths? All of these sorrowful mysteries - and many more - are answered in A Tomb With A View, a book for anyone who has ever wandered through a field of crooked headstones and wondered about the lives and deaths of those who lie beneath. So push open the rusting gate, push back the ivy, and take a look inside...

______________ 'A stylish, deftly erudite and enormously diverting book' - Sunday Telegraph 'An artfully aimless pleasure cruise around Paris' - Guardian 'White's genius as a flaneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation' - New Yorker ______________ A unique and eclectic view of Paris through the eyes of a fierce and witty intellect. A flaneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the streets he walks - and is in covert search of adventure, aesthetic or erotic. Acclaimed writer Edmund White, who lived in Paris for sixteen years, wanders through the avenues and along the quays, into parts of the city virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many locals, luring the reader into the fascinating and seductive backstreets of his personal Paris. ______________ 'One has the impression of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn't otherwise see ... White tells such a good story that I'm ready to listen to anything he wants to talk about' - New York Times Book Review

This entertaining and endlessly surprising book takes us on an exploration into every aspect of Japanese society from the most public to the most intimate. A series of meticulous investigations gradually uncovers the multi-faceted nature of a country and people who are even more extraordinary than they seem. Our journey encompasses religion, ritual, martial arts, manners, eating, drinking, hot baths, geishas, family, home, singing, wrestling, dancing, performing, clans, education, aspiration, sexes, generations, race, crime, gangs, terror, war, kindness, cruelty, money, art, imperialism, emperor, countryside, city, politics, government, law and a language that varies according to whom you are speaking. Clear-sighted, persistent, affectionate, unsentimental and honest - Alan Macfarlane shows us Japan as it has never been seen before.

The first of its kind: an exploration of one of the most mysterious countries in the world, as told by one of the first outsiders to access the country in its entirety

For almost fifty years Burma was ruled by a paranoid military dictatorship and isolated from the outside world. A historic 2015 election swept an Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government to power and was supposed to usher in a new golden era of democracy and progress, but Burma remains unstable and undeveloped, a little-understood country.

Nothing is straightforward in this captivating land that is home to a combustible mix of races, religions and resources. A Savage Dreamland: Journeys in Burma reveals a country where temples take priority over infrastructure, fortune tellers thrive and golf courses are carved out of war zones. Setting out from Yangon, the old capital, David Eimer travels throughout this enigmatic nation, from the tropical south to the Burmese Himalayas in the far north, via the Buddhist-centric heartland and the jungles and mountains where rebel armies fight for autonomy in the longest-running civil wars in recent history. The story of modern Burma is told through the voices of the people Eimer encounters along the way: former political exiles, the squatters in Yangon's shanty towns, radical monks, Rohingya refugees, princesses and warlords, and the ethnic minorities clustered along the country's frontiers.

In his vivid and revelatory account of life, history, culture and politics, David Eimer chronicles the awakening of a country as it returns to the global fold and explores a fractured nation, closed to foreigners for decades. Authoritative and ground-breaking, A Savage Dreamland: Journeys in Burma is set to be a modern classic of travel writing.

Seven Days is a story of adventure and spirituality as father and son travel the "Rue du Bonjour" across the pilgrim route of the high Pyrenees.It is a journey with a writer grappling with some of the questions of modern life, his love for the mountains, his beliefs and aspirations and examples set both by his father and the enigmatic fellow traveller they meet in a remote auberge who comes to symbolise and shadow their sojourn, a man he nicknames Hemingway, although he is neither a writer nor an American.A wonderfully engaging work of travel, discovery, and contemplation by an exciting new voice.

Car parks: commonplace urban landscapes, little-explored and rarely featured in art and music, yet they shape the aesthetics of our towns and cities. Hotspots for crime, rage and sexual deviancy; a blind spot in which activities go unnoticed. Skateboarding, car stunts, drug dealing, dogging, murder. Gareth E. Rees believes that the retail car park has as much mystery, magic and terror as any mountain, meadow or wood. He's out to prove it by walking the car parks of Britain, journeying across the country from Plymouth to Edinburgh, much to the horror of his family, friends - and, most of all - himself. He finds Sir Francis Drake outside B&Q, standing stones in a retail park, and a dead body beside Sainsbury's. In this darkly satirical work of non-fiction, Gareth E. Rees presents a troubling vision of Brexit Britain through a common space we know far less about than we think.

_______________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: the remarkable true story of the exploration ship featured in The Terror In the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time. On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror. Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years. Then, in 2014, she was found. This is her story. _______________ Now available: Michael Palin's North Korea Journals _______________ A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Beyond terrific . . . I didn't want it to end.' Bill Bryson 'Illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It's a fascinating story that [Palin] brings full-bloodedly to life.' Guardian 'This is an incredible book . . . The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we've all been waiting for.' Nicholas Crane 'Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.' Sunday Times 'A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes - as you might expect - very funny Palin style.' David Baddiel, Daily Mail 'Magisterial . . . Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.' The Times

'Profound [and] compelling' Spectator 'Vivid' Observer 'A noble endeavour' New Statesman ***A WATERSTONES BEST BOOKS OF 2022 PICK*** 'The Western Front Way, an idea that waited 100 years for its moment, is the simplest and fittest memorial yet to the agony of the Great War. Anthony Seldon's account of how he walked it, and what it means to all of us, will be an inspiration to younger generations.' Sebastian Faulks 'A deeply informed meditation on the First World War, an exploration of walking's healing power, a formidable physical achievement... and above all a moving enactment of a modern pilgrimage.' Rory Stewart 'A journey of self-discovery and a pilgrimage of peace... A remarkable book by a remarkable man.' Michael Morpurgo 'An incredible journey that will move and inspire.' Bear Grylls ____________________________________________ Without a permanent home, a wife or a job, and with no clear sense of where his life was going, Anthony Seldon set out on a 35-day pilgrimage from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel. The route of his 1,000 kilometre journey was inspired by a young British soldier of the First World War, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a 'Via Sacra' that the men, women and children of Europe could walk to honour the fallen. Tragically, Gillespie was killed in action, his vision forgotten for a hundred years, until a chance discovery in the archive of one of England's oldest schools galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established. Tracing the historic route of the Western Front, he traversed some of Europe's most beautiful and evocative scenery, from the Vosges, Argonne and Champagne to the haunting trenches of Arras, the Somme and Ypres. Along the way, he wrestled heat exhaustion, dog bites and blisters as well as a deeper search for inner peace and renewed purpose. Touching on grief, loss and the legacy of war, The Path of Peace is the extraordinary story of Anthony's epic walk, an unforgettable act of remembrance and a triumphant rediscovery of what matters most in life. ____________________________________________ 'Timely, poignant and passionate. Seldon skillfully weaves the personal with the historical.' Katya Adler 'A timely, eloquent and convincing reminder that to forget the carnage of the past is to open the door to it happening again.' George Alagiah 'A haunting, intense, enjoyable and memorable book.' Tristan Gooley 'A dazzling journey... The Path of Peace is a beautiful and generous gift.' Olivette Otele

An unforgettable spiritual journey through the Himalayas by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), the National Book Award-winning author of the new novel "In Paradise"
In 1973, Peter Matthiessen and field biologist George Schaller traveled high into the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, was also on a spiritual quest to find the Lama of Shey at the ancient shrine on Crystal Mountain. As the climb proceeds, Matthiessen charts his inner path as well as his outer one, with a deepening Buddhist understanding of reality, suffering, impermanence, and beauty. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by acclaimed travel writer and novelist Pico Iyer.

As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review, "For more than 20 years, Travelers' Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim cafe, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories." Now, new from Travelers' Tales comes The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 12: True Stories from Around the World-the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves. "In story after story," McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women's Travel Writing, "the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world." The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience. In The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 12, you will... Settle a thirteen-year debt in Cuba Learn to survive in the polar regions of Canada Witness an amateur autopsy in Ireland Get chloroformed, robbed, read to, and propositioned in Italy Summit Kilimanjaro in Tanzania Get lost and found on a dark and rainy morning in northern France Find joy in Azerbaijan while walking across two continents Explain American reality TV to a bewildered bunch in Bolivia Fear for your life on a stormy Adriatic Sea Bear witness at the site of a volcano disaster in Indonesia Contemplate the perils of too much safety in Nepal Get conned and taken for a ride in Colombia Track one of the world's most elusive animals in India Travel the world on stolen plane tickets Outgrow nihilism and embrace friendship at a convent in Spain ...and much more!

The attractiveness of Austria has long made it into a desirable travel destination for European and American visitors. People came to enjoy the beautiful landscapes, and many were so captivated by the enchanting atmosphere that they wrote down their impressions. This anthology of original texts, offering a look at Austria from the outside, is unique in that it gives a picture of the entire German-speaking part of the Monarchy in the 19th century, not only Vienna. The editors have collected informative accounts from letters, journals, newspaper articles and books written by more than fifty American or British travellers - including famous names like Washington Irving, Frances Trollope, Longfellow, Sir Humphry Davy, Asa Gray, Mark Twain, Henry Adams, and D H Lawrence - which give a colourful account of the rich tapestry of Austria, ranging from its natural beauty to its social and political life, often challenging the conventional image of Austria. This history of travel from stagecoach and river boat to train travel reflects Austria's political history as witnessed by foreign visitors.;It traces the dual image of Austria abroad that still prevailed in the twentieth century: a country of dramatic politics and natural beauty. It documents the fascinating development of Austria into a major tourist country in the modern sense.

In 1968 newlyweds Lucy Moore and her husband moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Chinle, Arizona, where he had taken a job with the recently created Navajo legal services program. They were part of a wave of young 1960s idealists determined to help others less fortunate than themselves.

After fulfilling the two-year commitment with the legal program, Lucy and Bob stayed for another five years. "Into the Canyon" is her account of the places and people they came to love and the lessons they learned from their Navajo neighbors.

"Ms. Moore's recollection of time spent in Navajo County is a beautiful and spirited tribute to Chinle culture. Moreover, we are given a glimpse into what it means to be affected by a place, time, and people. Beautifully constructed."--"Women Writing the West"

"Never a false note. Clearly written, candid, and funny . . . an engaging read."Peter Iverson, historian and award-winning author of "Din" and "For Our Navajo People"

"Lucy Moore tells this story with humor, sensitivity, and grace. Her absorbing memoir of seven years living, working, and being herself with Navajo people is a journey of discovery not only of 'the other' but, even more important, a confrontation with her own identity as a white person."Mark Rudd, last national secretary of SDS, founder of the Weather Underground, teacher, and activist

"A delight to read; an invaluable historical and cultural narrative. . . . A good deal of my first novel, "Ceremony, " was inspired by Chinle, but I didn't fully appreciate just how much was going on during those years until I readLucy's book."Leslie Silko, author of "Gardens In the Dunes" and "Ceremony"

In March 2022, Michael Palin travelled the length of the River Tigris through Iraq to get a sense of what life is like in a region of the world that once formed the cradle of civilisation, but that in recent times has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. In the journal he kept during his trip he describes the war-ravaged city of Mosul and the children he encounters growing up amid its ruins. He contemplates the graffiti-strewn ruins of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, and he notes the constant presence of armed guards. But there are patches of light amid the dark: boisterous New Year celebrations in Akre, the friendliness of generals and colonels at 'Checkpoint Cheerful', and public poetry readings in Baghdad. People getting on with their lives. At the same time, Michael charts the course of one of the great rivers of the world, showing how the water that gave life to such ancient settlements as Babylon and Ur is now becoming a scarce and hotly contested resource. And he considers the role that Iraq's other great natural resource - oil - plays in both providing wealth and threatening political stability. Illustrated throughout with colour photographs taken on the trip, and permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country.

Born to transcend the social constraints of Victorian England, Gertrude Bell left the comforts of her privileged life for the unconventional--but thrilling--world of the Middle East. One of the first women to graduate from Oxford, she traveled to Persia and became passionately drawn to the Arab people, the language, and their architecture. A skilled archeologist, historian, and linguist, Bell traveled the world and wrote compelling, perceptive accounts of her daring journeys. "The Desert and the Sown" is considered to be one of her masterpieces. A magnificent account of personal discovery and political history, this intriguing narrative traces Bell's 1905 sojourn through Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. With an eye for vivid detail, "the female Lawrence of Arabia" offers intriguing images from her often dangerous "wild travel" through regions never seen by another foreign woman. One hundred sixty extraordinary photos illustrate camel caravans; ruins of castles and monasteries; local markets and bazaars; Damascus with its gardens, domes, and minarets; and more. But it's Bell's impressions and conversations with contacts and confidantes of varied cultures that will hold you captive. An inspiring portrait of a woman who overcame the barriers of her generation, as well as a piece of history that offers insight into current events in the Middle East, "The Desert and the Sown" is fascinating reading for travelers, explorers, and citizens of the world. Map included.

The land of Tuscany has nurtured and inspired artists for centuries. In Volume I by Paula Chamlee, and Volume II by Michael A Smith, the glorious tradition continues and is even enhanced in their deeply personal and beautiful photographs of one of the most alluring and romantic places in the world. In the spring of 1999 and 2000, and in the autumn of 2001, Michael A Smith and Paula Chamlee shipped their old Land Rover to Europe, after configuring it to accommodate their large-format camera equipment and camping gear. They then drove to Italy, where they travelled together, yet worked separately while exploring the landscape and the small towns and villages of Tuscany -- each recording their own visual responses to a land they had come to love. During their travels and adventures, Smith and Chamlee photographed from the quarries in the Carrara region in the north to the old Etruscan towns in the south, and from the Val di Chiana and Cortona in the east to the Island of Elba off the coast to the west. Their photographs, full of warmth and life, yet demanding in their complex visual elements, are the culmination of those three extensive trips.

Perceptive, funny, and nostalgic, E.B. White's stroll around Manhattan remains the quintessential love letter to the city, written by one of America's foremost literary figures. "The New York Times" has named "Here is New York" one of the ten best books ever written about the metropolis, and "The New Yorker" calls it "the wittiest essay, and one of the most perceptive, ever done on the city.

Medina Tenour Whiteman stands at the margins of whiteness and Islam. An Anglo-American born to Sufi converts, she feels perennially out of place-not fully at home in Western or Muslim cultures. In this searingly honest memoir, Whiteman contemplates what it means to be an invisible Muslim, examining the pernicious effects of white Muslim privilege and exploring what Muslim identity can mean the world over-in lands of religious diversity and cultural insularity, from Andalusia, Bosnia and Turkey to Zanzibar, India and Iran. Through her travels, she unearths experiences familiar to both Western Muslims and anyone of mixed heritage: a life-long search for belonging and the joys and crises of inhabiting more than one identity.