Tired of airport security queues, delays and all those extra taxes and charges, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a series of high-speed adventures across the Continent on its fast trains instead. From shiny London St Pancras, Tom travels to places that wouldn't feature on a standard holiday wish-list, and discovers the hidden delights of mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, much-maligned Frankfurt and lovely lakeside Lausanne, via a pop concert in Lille. It's 186 mph all the way - well, apart from a power cut in the Channel Tunnel on the way to Antwerp. Is our idea of 'Europe' changing as its destinations become easier to reach? And what fun can you have at the ends of the lines? Jump on board and find out!

Die fassinerende ontwikkelingsgeskiedenis van Berlyn loop baie nou saam met die ontwikkeling van die staat Pruise, die Eerste Wereldoorlog, die opkoms van Nazisme, die konsentrasiekampe naby die stad en die gruwels van die Tweede Wereldoorlog. Daar word ook uitgewei oor die bloeityd van die kabaret en film in die tyd tussen die oorloë en na die verdeling van die stad in Oos- en Wes-Berlyn ná die Tweede Wêreldoorlog.

Contents Include: John Farquharson - Lonavey - Lost on the Grampians - A Glorious Twalt O' August! - A Dundonian's Lesson in Deerstalking - Two Days with John Farquharson - Athole Gamekeepers Cleverly Outwitted - How They Carried off the Deer - An English Sportsman's Initiation - Sportsmen Sold: Gamekeepers made Game of - Seven deer Shot Within a Minute - Stalking the Stalkers - Running the Blockade - A Wonderful Dream - Minor Incidents, Bamboozling Glenshee Gamekeepers, Deer Attacked by an eagle, Two Close Shaves - Ranter's Famous Fox Chase - All About "Nell," Farquharson's Pointer - Alexander Davidson

There's never been a better time to live on this planet London - the Jolly Pilgrim sets off on a bicycle ride to Istanbul, planning a rendezvous with the girl he wants to marry. Eighteen months later and halfway around the world, following hospitalisations, financial meltdown, torment and heartbreak, he goes to live as a hermit in South America, to explore a bunch of ideas about humanity's place in the universe. He swims the Bosporus and works in a drag club, hitchhikes across Australia and dances salsa in an Ecuadorian prison, experiences rapture and revelation amidst talismanic historical and religious sites, endures love, voyeurism, bees, ants, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and in response, conceives a message of hope for civilisation. Part adventure story, part reflection on the state of our species, this profoundly uplifting, real-life odyssey ends with a call-to-arms for the human race to be more honest about itself. It's time to think bigger Welcome to enlightenment 2.0

First published in 1937 this is a collection of articles written by the author under the pseudonym 'Waseda Eisaku' for the Japan Tourist Bureau's magazine over twenty five years. Intended to satisfy the intellectual curiosity of cultivated tourists from abroad by giving the insider's view of all things Japanese, it was published as a book just before the outbreak of World War II.

Writing in the first person, Katsumata becomes both guide and confidante, writing about his own travel experiences in Japan and about Japanese customs and practices that interest him, such as traditional incense ceremonies, or fishing with rod and creel. This personal approach results in an unusual selection of topics and itineraries including tray landscapes, old Japanese clocks, hot springs, Japanese humour, sumo wrestling, pines in Japanese scenery, the Japanese sun flag and Buddhist temple bells. The author not only describes, but draws the reader into his own experiences - his joy on buying an antiquarian book he cannot really afford, the monotony he feels when travelling too long through snowy landscapes, the delight he takes in telling you that the best bait for carp fishing is sweet potato. Katsumata's unconventional choice of subjects and his informal and individualistic writing style make this a refreshingly different guide to Japan, and a valuable record of the period in which it was written.

A special anniversary edition with an updated chapter set 25 years on by Chris Stewart. Over two decades ago we set up Sort of Books to help our friend, the some-time Genesis drummer Chris Stewart, bring his sunlit stories of life on a Spanish mountain farm to print. Ever the optimist, Chris hoped to earn enough money to buy a second-hand tractor for his farm. He got his tractor, as the book spent a year on the Sunday Times Top 10 charts and went on to sell a million and a half copies. His story is a classic. A dreamer and an itinerant sheep shearer, he moves with his wife Ana to a mountain farm in Las Alpujarras, an oddball region in the south of Spain. Misadventures gleefully unfold as Chris discovers that the owner had no intention of leaving. He meets their neighbours, an engaging mix of farmers, shepherds and New Age travellers, and their daughter Chloe is born, linking them irrevocably to their new life. The hero of the piece, however, is the farm itself - a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves, sited on the wrong side of a river, with no access road, water supply or electricity. Could life offer much better than that?

Following on from her hugely popular books, My Good Life in France and My Four Seasons in France, ex-pat Janine Marsh shares more heart-warming and entertaining stories of her new life in rural France. Since giving up their city jobs in London and moving to rural France over ten years ago, Janine and husband Mark have renovated their dream home and built a new life for themselves, adjusting to the delights and the peculiarities of life in a small French village. Including much-loved village characters such as Mr and Mrs Pepperpot, Jean-Claude, Claudette and the infamous Bread Man, in Toujours la France! Janine also introduces readers to some new faces and funny stories, as she and Mark continue their lives in this special part of northern France. With fantastic food, birthday parties, rural traditions old and new - Jean-Claude introduces snail racing to the village - and trouble with uninvited animals, there is never a quiet moment in the Seven Valleys.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER With a foreword by Diana Gabaldon. Two men. One country. And a lot of whisky. As stars of Outlander, Sam and Graham eat, sleep and breathe the Highlands on this epic road trip around their homeland. They discover that the real thing is even greater than fiction. Clanlands is the story of their journey. Armed with their trusty campervan and a sturdy friendship, these two Scotsmen are on the adventure of a lifetime to explore the majesty of Scotland. A wild ride by boat, kayak, bicycle and motorbike, they travel from coast to loch and peak to valley and delve into Scotland's history and culture, from timeless poetry to bloody warfare. With near-death experiences, many weeks in a confined space together, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Graham and Sam's friendship matures like a fine Scotch. They reflect on their acting careers in film and theatre, find a new awestruck respect for their native country and, as with any good road trip, they even find themselves. Hold onto your kilts... this is Scotland as you've never seen it before.

Rome Through the Mist: Walks Among the Fountains of the Eternal City invites readers to join Joe Gartman, long-time culture columnist for Italia! Magazine, on a journey among 80 of Rome's celebrated fountains, to find a more intimate way of experiencing the Eternal City. On foot with book in hand, or simply in imagination, each chapter takes readers on a vividly described walk, enhanced with colorful, subtly revealing photographs of Roman life. Every fountain in Rome tells a story; every story is about Rome: her history, her legends, and her extraordinary people, from poets to popes, artists to models, architects to emperors. Every street, piazza, wall and garden that contains a fountain has a past worth knowing. You are invited to follow the paths in this book, with 15 different turn-by-turn walking tours, 17 maps, and 182 photos. There are plenty of hints, too, about things to see and experience along the way, especially the matchless artistic treasures that await behind unexpected doors. In your armchair or on your feet, journey from Trevi's torrents to the Naiad's naughty nymphs; from the quiet basins in Piazza San Simeone to Bernini's mighty Four Rivers in Piazza Navona; from the Dark Fountains in Villa Borghese to the charming lionesses in Piazza del Popolo; and listen to the voices of the waters.

'One of the greatest mountaineering survival stories never told.' - The Sunday Times Some mountains are high; some mountains are hard. Few are both. On the afternoon of 13 July 1977, having become the first climbers to reach the summit of the Ogre, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington began their long descent. In the minutes that followed, any feeling of success from their achievement would be overwhelmed by the start of a desperate fight for survival. And things would only get worse. Rising to over 7,000 metres in the centre of the Karakoram, the Ogre - Baintha Brakk - is notorious in mountaineering circles as one of the most difficult mountains to climb. First summited by Scott and Bonington in 1977 - on expedition with Paul 'Tut' Braithwaite, Nick Estcourt, Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine - it waited almost twenty-four years for a second ascent, and a further eleven years for a third. The Ogre, by legendary mountaineer Doug Scott, is a two-part biography of this enigmatic peak: in the first part, Scott has painstakingly researched the geography and history of the mountain; part two is the long overdue and very personal account of his and Bonington's first ascent and their dramatic week-long descent on which Scott suffered two broken legs and Bonington smashed ribs. Using newly discovered diaries, letters and audio tapes, it tells of the heroic and selfless roles played by Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine. When the desperate climbers finally made it back to base camp, they were to find it abandoned - and themselves still a long way from safety. The Ogre is undoubtedly one of the greatest adventure stories of all time.

It's two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm on the wrong side of a river in the mountains of southern Spain and his daughter Chloee is preparing to fly the nest for university. In this latest, typically hilarious dispatch from El Valero we find Chris, now a local literary celebrity, using his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip; cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef, Rick Stein; discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking; and recalling his own first foray into the adult world of work. Yet it's at El Valero, his beloved sheep farm, that Chris remains in his element as he, his wife Ana and their assorted dogs, cats and sheep weather a near calamitous flood and emerge as newly certified organic farmers. His cash crop? The lemons and oranges he once so blithely drove over, of course.

Hundreds of hardy people have tried to carve a living in the Alaskan bush, but few have succeeded as consistently as Heimo Korth. Originally from Wisconsin, Heimo traveled to the Arctic wilderness in his feverous twenties. Now, more than three decades later, Heimo lives with his wife and two daughters approximately 200 miles from civilization -- a sustainable, nomadic life bounded by the migrating caribou, the dangers of swollen rivers, and by the very exigencies of daily existence.
In "The Final Frontiersman," Heimo's cousin James Campbell chronicles the Korth family's amazing experience, their adventures, and the tragedy that continues to shape their lives. With a deft voice and in spectacular, at times unimaginable detail, Campbell invites us into Heimo's heartland and home. The Korths wait patiently for a small plane to deliver their provisions, listen to distant chatter on the radio, and go sledding at 44 below zero -- all the while cultivating their hard-learned survival skills that stand between them and a terrible fate.
Awe-inspiring and memorable, "The Final Frontiersman" reads like a rustic version of the American Dream and reveals for the first time a life undreamed by most of us: amid encroaching environmental pressures, apart from the herd, and alone in a stunning wilderness that for now, at least, remains the final frontier.

Chris Stewart's Driving Over Lemons (9780956003805) told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras - an oddball region of Spain, south of Granada. Funny, insightful and real, the book became an international bestseller. A Parrot in the Pepper Tree, the sequel to Lemons, follows the lives of Chris, Ana and their daughter, Chloe, as they get to grips with a misanthropic parrot who joins their home, Spanish school life, neighbours in love, their amazement at Chris appearing on the bestseller lists . . and their shock at discovering that their beloved valley is once more under threat of a dam. A Parrot in the Pepper Tree also looks back on Chris Stewart's former life - the hard times shearing in midwinter Sweden (and driving across the frozen sea to reach island farms); his first taste of Spain, learning flamenco guitar as a 20-year old; and his illustrious music career, drumming for his school band Genesis (sacked at 17, he never quite became Phil Collins), and then for a circus.

George Sand recounts the story of her 1838 winter in Majorca, a winter she passed in the company of Frederick Chopin. She describes the natural beauties of Majorca as well as the rumblings of approaching war.

As America's finest writer, Mark Twain could make entertaining reading -- and great literature -- out of almost anything. Here we have a book begun out of adversity. The great novelist, satirist, and public celebrity was broke, ruined by various ill-advised investment schemes; but, being a man of honor on a public stage, he resolved to pay off every cent of his crushing debt. He did so by going on a two-year, round-the-world lecture tour, where he spoke to sold-out houses in Europe, India, and Australia, all the while gathering material for yet another best-selling travel book, filled with his trademark wit and brilliant observation. Even after more than a century this book is still a must-read. Whatever has been forgotten about the times and places Twain describes he has recreated for us, vividly and forever.

For nearly forty years John Wilson travelled the length and breadth of Scotland as a school inspector. From orkney to campbeltown and Jura to Dundee, he visited hundreds of schools and met thousands of teachers and pupils. In these memoirs, first published in 1928, he paints an insightful yet humorous picture of life in the country's schools after the 1872 education Act, which brought free schooling for all Scottish children between the ages of five and ten.

Adventure writer Richard Grant takes on "the most American place on Earth" the enigmatic, beautiful, often derided Mississippi Delta. Richard Grant and his girlfriend were living in a shoebox apartment in New York City when they decided on a whim to buy an old plantation house in the Mississippi Delta. This is their journey of discovery into this strange and wonderful American place. Imagine A Year In Provence with alligators and assassins, or Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with hunting scenes and swamp-to-table dining. On a remote, isolated strip of land, three miles beyond the tiny community of Pluto, Richard and his girlfriend, Mariah, embark on a new life. They learn to hunt, grow their own food, and fend off alligators, snakes, and varmints galore. They befriend an array of unforgettable local characters, blues legend T-Model Ford, cookbook maven Martha Foose, catfish farmers, eccentric millionaires, and the actor Morgan Freeman. Grant brings an adept, empathetic eye to the fascinating people he meets, capturing the rich, extraordinary culture of the Delta, while tracking its utterly bizarre and criminal extremes. Reporting from all angles as only an outsider can, Grant also delves deeply into the Delta's lingering racial tensions. He finds that de facto segregation continues. Yet even as he observes major structural problems, he encounters many close, loving, and interdependent relationships between black and white families and good reasons for hope. Dispatches from Pluto is a book as unique as the Delta itself. It's lively, entertaining, and funny, containing a travel writer's flair for in-depth reporting alongside insightful reflections on poverty, community, and race. It's also a love story, as the nomadic Grant learns to settle down. He falls not just for his girlfriend but for the beguiling place they now call home. Mississippi, Grant concludes, is the best-kept secret in America.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was an American poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride," "A Psalm of Life," "The Song of Hiawatha," "Evangeline," and "Christmas Bells." In 1839 he published "Hyperion," a book of travel writings discussing his trips abroad.