Originally published in early 1900's. A fascinating illustrated record of the author's various cruises taken from the log books of the yachts in use at that time. This book also includes a section entitled "More Cruises" by Maude Speed. Many of the earliest sailing books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Bestselling author Giles Tremlett traverses the rich and varied history of Spain, from prehistoric times to today, in a brief, accessible primer for visitors, curious readers and hispanophiles. 'Tremlett is a fascinating socio-cultural guide, as happy to discuss Spain's World Cup win as its Moorish rule' Guardian 'Negotiates Spain's chaotic history with admirable clarity and style' The Times Spain's position on Europe's south-western corner has exposed it to cultural, political and actual winds blowing from all quadrants. Africa lies a mere nine miles to the south. The Mediterranean connects it to the civilizational currents of Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians, and Byzantines as well as the Arabic lands of the near east. Bronze Age migrants from the Russian steppe were amongst the first to arrive. They would be followed by Visigoths, Arabs, Napoleonic armies and many more invaders and immigrants. Circular winds and currents linked it to the American continent, allowing Spain to conquer and colonize much of it. As a result, Spain has developed a sort of hybrid vigour. Whenever it has tried to deny this inevitable heterogeneity, it has required superhuman effort to fashion a 'pure' national identity - which has proved impossible to maintain. In Espana, Giles Tremlett argues that, in fact, that lack of a homogenous identity is Spain's defining trait.

_______________ 'A passionate love letter to language and to Italy ... a bold and quirkily engaging self-portrait' - Lee Langley, Spectator 'A writer of uncommon elegance and poise' - New York Times 'A fascinating account of her linguistic exile' - Erica Wagner, Harper's Bazaar _______________ In Other Words is a revelation. It is at heart a love story of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterwards, true mastery had always eluded her. Seeking full immersion, she decided to move to Rome with her family, for 'a trial by fire, a sort of baptism' into a new language and world. There, she began to read and to write - initially in her journal - solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice. Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

The incredible memoir by international bestselling author of Where The Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens and her then partner Mark Owens', charting their time researching wildlife in the Kalahari Desert. Reissued and in full colour, for the first time since its original publication. In the early 1970s, carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, Mark and Delia Owens caught a plane to Africa, bought a third-hand Land Rover, and drove deep into the Kalahari Desert. There they lived for seven years, in an unexplored area with no roads, no people, and no source of water for thousands of square miles. In this vast wilderness the Owenses began their zoology research, working alongside lions, brown hyenas, jackals, giraffes, and the many other creatures they came to know. Cry of the Kalahari is a gripping account of how two young Americans survived the dangers of living in one of the last pristine areas on Earth. Reissued for the first time since its original publication in 1984, this beautiful new edition contains never-seen-before, colour photographs of Mark and Delia on their adventure of a lifetime. 'A remarkable story beautifully told . . . Among such classics as Goodall's In the Shadow of Man and Fossey's Gorillas in the Mist' Chicago Tribune 'For anyone interested in animals or in real life adventure, this book is a must' Jane Goodall 'Extraordinary . . . How the couple overcome the hazards of the desert and came to appreciate its living richness makes fascinating reading . . . Read their remarkable book to be delighted, moved, and awed' People Magazine

Award-winning travel writer Lawrence Millman tromps through western Ireland's rugged countryside to record the oral history of its people before their hard-earned traditions are permanently stifled by industrialization and development. In doing so he produces a "lovely nugget of good writing" (New York Times) that relays the stories of traditional laborers-tinkers cartwrights, rat-charmers, coopers, thatchers, farriers, gleemen, pig-gelders-with candor and depth.

The written travelogue of Ella Sykes' historic first journey across central Asia, this book has been considered a classic of women's studies as well as a historic travel account. Detailing the impressions of Sykes while traveling with her diplomat brother through central Asia in the nineteenth century, this illustrated volume has a wide appeal to those interested in Iran as it used to be.

John Betjeman (1906-1984) was not only one of the best-loved Englishmen of the twentieth century, he was also the people's favourite poet and champion of many causes linked to the preservation of Britain's heritage. Whether those causes concerned buildings, bridges or railway branch lines, Betjeman was a feared adversary of bureaucratic excesses. This delightful little book is a celebration of his love of railways and rail travel. Ten letters selected by his daughter, Candida Lycett Green, each describe a journey that he made or that he planned to make or that he planned for a friend or relative. Jonathan Glancey has added his own words to each letter; words that set the scene, bring the letters to life, that describe Betjeman's moods - humorous, mischievous, brisk for business - and above all, remind us of the age of the steam locomotive in Britain and the many stations closed and track miles lost during the sixties and seventies.

The book is originally a journal or diary of our journey to Tripoli, Libya and the things we saw and did there. In those days there was no such thing as a "jet set" because jet planes were not in use, and travel to other countries was a rare event to most people. When I set out for Africa with three children in tow, it was quite an event in our family. Everyone was urging me to write it down in a journal so I wouldn't forget anything, and I could tell them all about it when I came home. This book is the result of that journal. During the last few months of our stay in Tripoli I decided to put it into the form of a book, with chapters instead of so many dates and times, to make it easier to read. When my family got together it was difficult to get a word in edgewise every now and then, let alone telling a two-year saga. A few years ago our children asked me to give them a copy of the book. When I reread it, I realized that the whole story was not there. I had glossed over some of the more difficult situations to keep the family from worrying if we went overseas again. I n addition to that, I had not known some of the details that were released later. I added these in the Perspective at the end of each chapter. Our children enjoyed the result, and they have been after me ever since to have it published. Since there are so few books about military service written from a wife's viewpoint, I decided to give it a try. And here it is.

A captivating journey along the iconic River Po and through Italian history, society and culture. 'Delightful... A wonderful cornucopia of history' TLS 'Uncovers the Po's fascinating history' Guardian 'Tobias Jones is the perfect guide' Spectator The Po is the longest river in Italy, travelling for 652 kilometres from one end of the country to the other. It rises by the French border in the Alps and meanders the width of the entire peninsula to the Adriatic Sea in the east. Flowing next to many of Italy's most exquisite cities - Ferrara, Mantova, Parma, Cremona, Pavia and Torino - the river is a part of the national psyche, as iconic to Italy as the Thames is to England or the Mississippi to the USA. For millennia, the Po was a vital trading route and a valuable source of tax revenue, fiercely fought over by rival powers. It was also a moat protecting Italy from invaders from the north, from Hannibal to Holy Roman Emperors. It breached its banks so frequently that its floodplain swamps were homes to outlaws and itinerants, to eccentrics and experimental communities. But as humans radically altered the river's hydrology, those floodplains became important places of major industries and agricultures, the source of bricks, timber, silk, hemp, cement, caviar, mint, flour and risotto rice. Tobias Jones travels the length of the river against the current, gathering stories of battles, writers, cuisines, entertainers, religious minorities and music. Both an ecological lament and a celebration of the resourcefulness and resilience of the people of the Po, the book opens a window onto a stunning, but now neglected, part of Italy.

Shortly after his death in 1957, "The New York Times" obituary of Peter Freuchen noted that "except for Richard E. Byrd, and despite his foreign beginnings, Freuchen was perhaps better known to more people in the United States than any other explorer of our time." During his lifetime, Freuchen's remarkable adventures related in his books, magazine articles, and films, made him a legend. In 1910, Freuchen, along with his friend and business partner, Knud Rasmussen, the renowned polar explorer, founded Thule-a Greenland Inuit trading post and village only 800 miles from the North Pole.

Freuchen lived in Thule for fifteen years, adopting the ways of the natives. He married an Inuit woman, and together they had two children. Freuchen went on many expeditions, quite a few of which he barely survived, suffering frostbite, snow blindness, and starvation. Near the North Pole there is no such thing as an easy and safe outing.

In "Arctic Adventure" Freuchen writes of polar bear hunts, of meeting Eskimos who had resorted to cannibalism during a severe famine, and of the thrill of seeing the sun after three months of winter darkness. Trained as a journalist before he headed north, Freuchen is a fine writer and great storyteller (he won an Oscar for his feature film script of Eskimo). He writes about the Inuit with genuine respect and affection, describing their stoicism amidst hardship, their spiritual beliefs, their ingenious methods of surviving in a harsh environment, their humor and joy in the face of danger and difficulties, and the social politics behind such customs as "wife-trading." While his experiences make this book a page-turner, Freuchen's warmth, self-deprecating wit, writing skill and anthropological observations make this book a literary stand out.

FRIDTJOF NANSEN ... TOP-. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS TO THE VOLGA Translated by G. G. WHEELER ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK W W NORTON COMPANY, ING Publishers From a sketch made at Geneva, 1929 PREFACE The journey described in this book was made in the summer of 19255 and was the continuation of the one described in an earlier book, Armenia and the Near East Gjennem Armenia . The author gladly uses this opportunity to express his gratitude to Presidents Sainursky and Korkmazov in the Repub lic of Daghestan for the extraordinary hospitality shown to his fellow-traveller and himself during their interesting stay in this remarkable land. He would also like to thank the local authorities in the different places they came to, especially in Astrakhan, for their friendly welcome. It is not possible in a short sketch such as this to give in any way complete impressions of the lands and the many peoples the journey took them through, especially when it was made so quickly, and the impressions were so changing and over whelming. For fuller information as to the natural conditions and the manifold peoples in the Caucasus and Daghestan the reader may be referred to the following among others Erckert, Der Kaukasus und seine Volker, 1887 Merzbacher, AILS den Hochregionen des Kaukasus, 1901 Freshfield, The Exploration of the Caucasus, 1902 the various descriptions of travels by C. Hahn Aus dem Kaukasus, 1892, and others in 1896, 1900, and 1911. A good account of our knowledge of the anthropology and customs of the 5 THROUGH THE CAUCASUS TO THE VOLGA Caucasian peoples will be found in Arthur Byhan, Die kaukasischen Volker in Buschan, Ulustrierte voL II, part 2, 1926. The most Important sources for the study of theCaucasian peoples 3 long-drawn-out fight for freedom against the Russians are the many Russian military reports from the campaigns, and the many Russian accounts of the course of the fighting and so on. It Is mainly on these Russian printed sources that J. F. Baddeley based his work. The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, 1908, which describes the struggle of the Daghestaners and the Chechens for freedom. As a result of the nature of these sources and the lack of sources from the other side, it is only to be expected that this valuable work, in part at least, should express the Russian outlook on the course of the fighting and the conditions In Daghestan, even though the author has tried his best to guard himself against this. Bodenstedts account in Die Volker des Kaukasus und ihre Freiheitskdmpfe gegen die Russen, 1855, seems, on the other hand, to be less coloured by a Russian point of view but he did not have access to the rich Russian material we now have. Olaf Lange, Kavkasus, Copenhagen, 1891, gives an entertaining survey of Muridism and Daghestans fight for freedom, mostly based, it is true, on Bodenstedt. The Pole, Lapinski Tefik Bey, in his Die Bergwlker des Kaukasus und ihr Freiheitskampf gegen die Russen, 1863, gives an interesting description of 6 PREFACE the fighting by the Circassians and Abkhasians, and of Ms share in it. These introductory words cannot be brought to an end without my hearty thanks to Captain Vidkum Quisling for his untiring kindness as a travelling companion, and for the valuable help he has given the author through his knowledge of Russian and his many-sided attainments. FRIDTJOF NANSEN LYSAKER, Mommber 1929 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE 5 I. TIFLIS 15H. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS 33 HI. THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLES NEAR THE MILITARY ROAD 53 IV. OVER THE CAUCASUS 73 V. TO DAGHESTAN 93 VI. MURIDISM AND THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM 121 VII. SHAMYL 139 VHI. EXCURSIONS IN DAGHESTAN 179 DC. OVER THE CASPIAN TO ASTRAKHAN 2Og X. THE VOLGA 225 INDEX 253 ILLUSTRATIONS DR...

Originally published in 1879. Author: Richard F. Burton Language: English Keywords: History Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A stunningly illustrated history of Venice, from its beginnings as 'La Serenissima' – 'the Most Serene Republic' – to the Italian city that continues to enchant visitors today. 'Everything about Venice,' observed Lord Byron, 'is, or was, extraordinary – her aspect is like a dream, and her history is like a romance.' Dream and romance have conditioned myriad encounters with Venice across the centuries, but the city's story embodies another kind of experience altogether – the hard reality of an independent state built on conquest, profit and entitlement and on the toughness and resilience of a free people. Masters of the sea, the Venetians raised an empire through an ethos of service and loyalty to a republic that lasted a thousand years. In this new and beautifully illustrated study of key moments in Venice's history, from its half-legendary founding amid the collapse of the Roman empire to its modern survival as a fragile city of the arts menaced by saturation tourism and rising sea levels, Jonathan Keates shows us just how much this remarkable place has contributed to world culture and explains how it endures as an object of desire and inspiration for so many.

Travel writing has, for centuries, composed an essential historical record and wide-ranging literary form, reflecting the rich diversity of travel as a social and cultural practice, metaphorical process, and driver of globalization. This interdisciplinary volume brings together anthropologists, literary scholars, social historians, and other scholars to illuminate travel writing in all its forms. With studies ranging from colonial adventurism to the legacies of the Holocaust, The Long Journey offers a unique dual focus on experience and genre as it applies to three key realms: memory and trauma, confrontations with the Other, and the cultivation of cultural perspective.

Diary of a Journey Across Tibet Originally published in 1894, this is Captain Hamilton Bower's detailed diary of his travels through Tibet and China before the turn of the century. The book is extemely rare in its original format, and this is the first time it has ever been republished. The book contains a great deal of information for bot hhistorical and geographical interest, along with over 30 illustrations. Excerpt - This book is the plain unvarnished diary kept during my journey across Tibet and China, written often with half-frozen fingers in a tent on the Chang, or by a flickering light in Chinese rest-houses, a chapter on the Country, Religion, Fauna, etc., only having since been added. Contents include: From Simla to the Frontier, Commencement of Exploration, Deserted by our Guides, Meeting with Nomads, In the Neighbourhood of Lhaha, Negotiations with Lhaha Officials, Marching Northwards, Entering Inhabited Country, Country With Stone Houses, Deserted by the Guides, In the Neighbourhood of Chiando, Chiando to Garthok, Garthok to Lithang, Lithang to Ta Chen Lu, Through China back to India, Religion, Country, People, etc. + Full Index. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Story of J. R. "Model-T" Tate's thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail
• Recollections of grueling climbs, knee-wrecking descents, mountaintop thunderstorms, snakes underfoot, and the myriad characters encountered on an AT thru-hike
• Conveys the beauty of the trail and the community that surrounds it

Often through ordinary things and ordinary events we glimpse the divine. Living the Sacred Story tells of a seemingly ordinary journey that yielded extraordinary spiritual growth and understanding. From her arrival in Istanbul to her extended sojourn in the Old City of Jerusalem, Bonnie Glassford recounts scenes from an ancient landscape in which people of today live and work. From the perspective of the Ecce Homo Convent in Jerusalem, she encounters Christians, Jews and Muslims living their lives against the rich backdrop of the Holy Land. Living the Sacred Story follows the footsteps of Biblical figures. It combines travel, spirituality, humour, pathos, new insights, personal growth and Biblical reflection. Within an exotic landscape that is the cradle of western civilization, through encounter with the lands described in classical literature and the Bible, and through meeting the people who now live in those lands, the reader becomes aware of a rich inner landscape that we carry around with us. Ultimately the story arrives at the awareness that in the most ordinary events, and the lives of the most ordinary folk, we see the divine.

For centuries creative people in all fields have had a thinking place - a private retreat where they have worked regularly, hoping to find inspiration. The authors have chosen thirty-one creative people who vaulted from their thinking places to well-deserved fame or international recognition. These special retreats varied from architectural jewels to humble huts to chosen sites in nature itself. George Bernard Shaw's was a simple garden hut with one window and one door - and a turntable underneath. Shaw captured the prevailing sunlight with a push and a turn.
In their journeys, Carolyn and Jack Fleming discovered that many thinking places still seem to exude an atmosphere of creativity. The Flemings have recorded the details of their searches for you, the reader to duplicate - in reality or in imagination. In their travels the authors discovered much little known information, which they have included in sprightly written vignettes. What was Charles Dickens' long kept secret? What beloved figure did Life magazine proclaim "the unofficial president of the United States"? Who received what the U.S. Patent office states is the most valuable patent ever issued? What two leading educators rose from slavery and extreme poverty to world-wide fame? The reader will discover that the thirty-one people selected were as intriguing as they were creative.
Besides descriptive journeys, vignettes and thinking places, the reader will also receive thirty-one instances of lagniappe, a Cajun word for "a little something extra." Read Thinking Places and see what something extra may be in store for you.

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - THIS volume of papers, unconnected as they are, it will be better to read through from the beginning, rather than dip into at random. A certain thread of meaning binds them. Memories of childhood and youth, portraits of those who have gone before us in the battle - taken together, they build up a face that "I have loved long since and lost awhile," the face of what was once myself. This has come by accident; I had no design at first to be autobiographical; I was but led away by the charm of beloved memories and by regret for the irrevocable dead; and when my own young face (which is a face of the dead also) began to appear in the well as by a kind of magic, I was the first to be surprised at the occurrence. My grandfather the pious child, my father the idle eager sentimental youth, I have thus unconsciously exposed. Of their descendant, the person of to-day, I wish to keep the secret: not because I love him better, but because, with him, I am still in a business partner-ship, and cannot divide interests.