A Cult Classic, "The Way of the World" is one of the most beguiling travel books ever written. Reborn from the ashes of a Pakistan rubbish heap, it tells of a friendship between a writer and an artist, forged on an impecunious, life-enhancing journey from Serbia to Afghanistan in the 1950s. On one level it is a candid description of a road journey, on another a meditation on travel as a journey towards the self, all written by a sage with a golden pen and a wide infectious smile. It is published here for the first time in English with the Vernet drawings which are such a dynamic part of its whole.

What makes Nicolas Bouvier such a well?loved travel writer is his exquisite sensitivity to the beauties of life, and his ability to capture those elusive moments in a style that is light, yet pregnant with wonder. Whether he s delirious in the wintery Aran Isles, where the air `unites the virtues of champagne, cocaine, caffeine, and the ecstasy of love or singing the praises of his Chinese tour guide, this collection of his shorter travel pieces brims with his particular joie de vivre.