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Books > Travel > Travel writing
For those who believe that the best way to understand someone is to walk a mile in his or her shoes, Florida's rich history features those whose footwear ranged from Native American moccasins to astronauts' boots. And there are plenty of opportunities to "actually "walk in those shoes. You can join in all sorts of historical reenactments--in full costume if you like. You have the unique opportunity to relive a part of Florida's long and fascinating past. You can also travel forward into the future. The Florida peninsula has been like a springboard from which human beings can rocket into space or dive beneath the surfaces of its nearly surrounding waters. This unique guidebook offers you time travel. The day has arrived for this new kind of travelogue, which reveals not only places to visit but also time periods to experience. This is a book for today's explorers of place and space, past and future. This is "The Time Traveler's Guide to Florida." A sample of the times you can visit:
People have been attracted to the lure of distant, exotic places throughout the ages, and over the centuries a vast store of legends and lore relating to travel have grown up. This encyclopedia represents a complilation of travel legends and lore of civilizations throughout the world.
The story of John Devoy's 1876 Catalpa rescue is a tale of heroism, creativity, and the triumph of independent spirit in pursuit of freedom. The daily log on board the whaling ship Catalpa begins with the typical recount of a crew intact and a spirit unfettered, but such quiet words deceive the truth of the audacious enterprise that came to be known as one of the most important rescues in Irish American history. John Devoy's men aided in the break-in and subsequent rescue of Irish political prisoners from the Australian coast, allowing millions of fellow Irishmen and American-Feninans, many of whom secretly financed the dangerous plot, to draw courage from the newly exiled prisoners. Philip Fennell and Marie King, both descendants of pardoned Fenian prisoner, tell the story from the John Devoy's own records and from the ship's logbooks. John Devoy's Catalpa Expedition includes an introduction by Terry Golway and the personal diaries, letters, and reports from John Devoy and his men.
Buz Donahoo is a larger than life character. From boyhood Miami to the beaches of exotic islands, the high mountain peaks of the Andes and Himalayas to the jungles of the Amazon, his life is painted upon a broad canvas. From a promising career as an architect to starting his own adventure tour company and guiding people to remote corners of the earth, Buz traces the contours of his life in A Ticket, A Pack and A Chart. Within the pages of this book we learn of the unique places he has traveled to and the equally unique people who have traveled there with him. While Buz Donahoo can paint in broad strokes with his words, he is at his best filling in the fine detail of the lives of the people he meets and the places he visits. He reminds us that it is often the little things we encounter in life and travel that leave a lasting impression. Whether studying at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, serving as a lieutenant in Watts during the 1965 riots, dining on the small, sun-drenched patio of an isolated restaurant in the Greek Isles, or scaling the heights of Aconcagua, South America's highest peak, we feel as though we're right there beside Buz, taking in each moment and each detail with him. Living according to his own set of rules, Buz's view of the world is refreshing and entertaining. The contents of his book truly capture episodes from the life of a man who lives a borderless life. Once you have traveled with him through these pages, you may find yourself yearning to travel to some far-flung, exotic location for an adventure of your own.
Old Wires and New Waves- The History of the Telegraph, Telephone and Wireless By Alvin F. Harlow. Originally published in 1936. FOREWORD: THERE may be those who will think that a disproportionate amount of space is given in this book to the early history of the telegraph, as against the remarkable technical develop ments of the past quarter or half century. May it be suggested that the birth and infancy of ideas are intrinsically more note worthy, more important, than their middle age The centuries of groping for a method of quick communication, the one long century of mans striving to make electricity his servant, the pioneer days of the telegraph, when not only it but all America was simple and crude these are to most folk to-day so exotic, the last-named phase is to the student so significant a picture of the youth of American society and the nation, that, in the judgment of the author, they should be dealt with in detail for the benefit of a generation which knows them not. On the other hand, the rapid developments in telegraph, tele phone, and wireless in recent days are described at length in newspapers and magazines as they appear and they come so swiftly and we are so inured to them that the astounding inven tion of yesterday has to-day become a commonplace, and to morrow is superseded by something still more miraculous. It is therefore scarcely worth while for so slowly built and so final a publication as a book to attempt chronicling all the - minor de tails of recent progress in communication, especially since these matters become so complex and so abstruse that full explanation of their development and functioning would be too complicated for non-technically minded readers.Nevertheless, these modern developments have not been neglected, but are treated as fully as space limitations and the need for clarity seem to dictate. As usual, I have leaned heavily in my research upon the original documents and other materials in the collections of the New York Public Library and the New York Historical So ciety. The latters Henry ORielly Collection is one of the most valuable telegraph sources in existence. The great communications companies have all been very help ful. Through the good offices of Mr. William P. Banning, Assis tant Vice-President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, I spent many hours in personally conducted tours through that companys three huge operating buildings in New York City, any one of which is worth a trip to New York to see I was overwhelmed with pamphlets, reports, documents, magazine articles, and books and any and all photographs I desired for illustrations were at my disposal. Mr. Langdon, the librarian Miss Winburg, keeper of the photographs Messrs. Fowler and Mills of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Rood and Lea of the Long Lines Building Carl and Sedgwick of the New York Telephone Company, all gave their assistance with the courtesy characteristic of the organization. Mr. E. W. Goode, of the publicity department of the Inter national Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, supplied all the data at his command, loaned books not to be found elsewhere, procured permission for me to see the companys operating rooms, gave me whatever photographs I desired, and searched the country over for older ones which were not in his files. The Radio Corporation of America, through Messrs. Galvin, Wright, and Weaver, was also veryhelpful. I was conducted through its operating building and was supplied with photographs and technical information as needed...
Paul Theroux, the author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. He hops aboard as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From the barren deserts of Xinjiang to the ice forests of Manchuria, from the dense metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton to the dry hills of Tibet, Theroux offers an unforgettable portrait of a magnificent land and an extraordinary people.
Zenas Leonard was a wilderness explorer who journeyed across and charted the perilous Rocky Mountains in the early 19th century, keeping this diary as he went. Embarking on his spectacular journey with a company of seventy like-minded fellows, Leonard chronicles the many perils and trials the group encountered through their lengthy voyage deep into unknown territory. The band of explorers are beset with difficulties; the harsh, craggy lay of the land, ferocious creatures, and the various Native American tribes put the men through the greatest physical and mental tests. Many members of the group were fur traders by profession; in scouting the vast landscape of the Rockies, they hoped to discover new and prized game to catch. However their ambitions are sorely tested by hunger and thirst, while dangerous creatures such as the grizzly bear strike terror in their hearts.
The small island archipelago of St Kilda, which rises majestically from the stormy waters of the North Atlantic, has a magic and allure which is both enduring and inexplicable. For centuries, St Kilda's remoteness (it lies sixty miles west of the Scottish Hebrides), together with the way of life of its inhabitants, has attracted huge attention from outsiders, who have been fascinated by this small community literally clinging to the edge of the world. Although St Kildans were always few in number (the population was under 100 when Hirta, the only inhabited island, was evacuated in 1930), their society was extraordinarily well developed - they famously had their own daily 'parliament', at which the men of the island would meet and discuss the tasks of the day. This remains a work of vital importance for the understanding of this fascinating island society.
When Charles Darwin, then age 22, first saw the HMS Beagle, he thought it looked "more like a wreck than a vessel commissioned to go round the world." But travel around the world it did, taking Darwin to South America, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and of course the Galapagos Islands, in a journey of discovery that lasted almost five years. Now, in Fossils, Finches and Fuegians, Richard Keynes, Darwin's great grandson, offers the first modern full-length account of Darwin's epoch-making expedition. This was the great adventure of Charles Darwin's life. Indeed, it would have been a great adventure for anyone--tracking condor in Chile, surviving the great earthquake of 1835, riding across country on horseback in the company of gauchos, watching whales leaping skyward off Tierra del Fuego, hunting ostriches with a bolo, discovering prehistoric fossils and previously unknown species, and meeting primitive peoples such as the Fuegians. Keynes captures many of the natural wonders that Darwin witnessed, including an incredible swarm of butterflies a mile wide and ten miles long. Keynes also illuminates Darwin's scientific work--his important findings in geology and biology--and traces the slow revolution in Darwin's thought about species and how they might evolve. Numerous illustrations--mostly by artists who traveled with Darwin on the Beagle--grace the pages, including finely rendered drawings of many points of interest discussed in the book. There has probably been no greater or more important scientific expedition than Darwin's voyage on the Beagle. Packed with colorful details of life aboard ship and in the wild, here is a fascinating portrait of Charles Darwin and of 19th century science.
In a life full of momentous episodes, Theodore Roosevelt's fifteen-month post-presidential odyssey to Africa and Europe has never been given its due place. In 1909 and 1910, fresh from the presidency, Rooosvelt embarked on a grand expedition that fulfilled a long-held dream for the hunter-naturalist. Moving from Egypt to British East Africa to the Belgian Congo, Roosevelt hunted elephants and rhinos, parlayed with mercenaries and tribal kings, and observed the changes wrought by European colonialism. Along with his big game rifles, Roosevelt also brought his bully pulpit and accompanying ideals, lecturing diplomats and politicians on both continents on the exertions required to maintain the burden of empire. In this engaging narrative, J. Lee Thompson traces the exhilarating adventures Roosevelt undertook as well as periods of doubt and disillusionment. Even as TR realized one dream of nature on safari, he came to believe another, more vital to his heart and legacy, was being undermined at home by President William Howard Taft. Having initially assumed that the new president would continue his predecessor's cherished conservation policies, Roosevelt came to realize that Taft, left alone in the political jungles of Washington, was directly undermining his legacy. This led to an acrimonious split between the two old friends, Roosevelt's explosive return to the American political stage, and ultimately the election of Woodrow Wilson. A tale of daring adventure, international celebrity, a friendship lost, and a political legacy transformed, "Theodore Roosevelt Abroad "is the first full account of a critical episode in the life of an American icon.
In this sequel to the wildly successful Hey Ranger: True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks, former ranger Jim Burnett casts his net globally in search of the most outrageous and humorous stories of man in his eternal quest to experience the natural world. Burnett tells of campers being belted by mysterious objects falling from the sky, like potatoes and ice cream; wildlife photos that went awry, including a ground squirrel that outwits a photographer; dumb crooks in parks, such as the drunk driver who mistakenly knocked on a judge's door to report an accident; and drivers who went over the hill and into the woods instead of to Grandma's house. Burnett also assembles contenders for the strangest questions ever asked of a park ranger, lessons on how not to pick a campsite, life lessons you can learn from a canoe trip, as well as some classic bear stories. As always, Burnett's stories are meant to inform as well as entertain, and serve as cautionary tales on how not to become "a victim of your vacation." Told in Burnett's classic, conversational style, Hey Ranger 2 will not disappoint.
HMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is the most celebrated craft afloat and one
of the greatest technical achievements of the 20th century. In her
construction and maintenance are involved almost every science,
profession, and trade known to civilization. On her bridge stand
officers, who besides being the pick of the Royal Navy, have passed
rigid examinations in all studies pertaining to winds, tides,
currents, navigation, and the geography of the sea.
The origins of anthropology lie in expeditionary journeys. But since the rise of immersive fieldwork, usually by a sole investigator, the older tradition of team-based social research has been largely eclipsed. Expeditionary Anthropology argues that expeditions have much to tell us about anthropologists and the people they studied. The book charts the diversity of anthropological expeditions and analyzes the often passionate arguments they provoked. Drawing on recent developments in gender studies, indigenous studies, and the history of science, the book argues that even today, the 'science of man' is deeply inscribed by its connections with expeditionary travel.
Various unique facts and oddities observed by the author during his employment in Saudi Arabia by Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company) in 1954 are presented, and these are contrasted to changes observed later in 1982 when he returned as a contractor. All photographs were made by the author. The style of the author is similar to that of James Burke in his TV Series "Connections" in which various topics connect to other seemingly unrelated subjects. Thus, a chapter on The Holy Land and one on the origins of the New Testament are included. Many of the topics discussed in this book-customs, contracting and government in particular-give background and insight into today's situation in the Middle East.
Over two decades of turmoil and change in the Middle East, steered via the history-soaked landscape of Palestine. This new edition includes a previously unpublished epigraph in the form of a walk. When Raja Shehadeh first started hill walking in Palestine, in the late 1970s, he was not aware that he was travelling through a vanishing landscape. These hills would have seemed familiar to Christ, until the day concrete was poured over the flora and irreversible changes were brought about by those who claim a superior love of the land. Six walks span a period of twenty-six years, in the hills around Ramallah, in the Jerusalem wilderness and through the ravines by the Dead Sea. Each walk takes place at a different stage of Palestinian history since 1982, the first in the empty pristine hills and the last amongst the settlements and the wall. The reader senses the changing political atmosphere as well as the physical transformation of the landscape. By recording how the land felt and looked before these calamities, Raja Shehadeh attempts to preserve, at least in words, the Palestinian natural treasures that many Palestinians will never know.
Innocents Abroad began as a series of travel letters written by Mark Twain mainly for the Alta California, a San Francisco paper that sponsored his participation in the trip to Europe and the Holy Land in 1867 aboard the steamship Quaker City. On the excursion from New York to Palestine they traveled a distance of over 20,000 miles by land and sea through France, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Russia, Turkey and Egypt.
Travel and Representation is a timely volume of essays that explores and re-examines the various convergences between literature, art, photography, television, cinema and travel. The essays do so in a way that appreciates the entanglement of representations and travel at a juncture in theoretical work that recognizes the limits of representation, things that lie outside of representation and the continuing power of representation. The emphasis is on the myriad ways travelers/scholars employ representation in their writing/analyses as they re-think the intersections between travelers, fields of representation, imagination, emotions and corporeal experiences in the past, the present and the future. |
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