The city of Manila is uniquely significant to Philippine, Southeast Asian and world history. It played a key role in the rise of Western colonial mercantilism in Asia, the extinction of the Spanish Empire and the ascendancy of the USA to global imperial hegemony, amongst other events. This book examines British and American writing on the city, situating these representations within scholarship on empire, orientalism and US, Asian and European political history. Through analysis of novels, memoirs, travelogues and journalism written about Manila by Westerners since the early eighteenth century, Tom Sykes builds a picture of Western attitudes towards the city and the wider Philippines, and the mechanics by which these came to dominate the discourse. This study uncovers to what extent Western literary tropes and representational models have informed understandings of the Philippines, in the West and elsewhere, and the types of counter-narrative which have emerged in the Philippines in response to them.

In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte won the Philippine presidential election by a landslide. Infamous for his bombastic temper and un-PC wisecracks, he is waging a brutal drug war that has killed more than 12,000 people so far. Over the last nine years, British writer Tom Sykes has travelled extensively in the Philippines in order to understand the Duterte phenomenon, interviewing friends and enemies of 'The Punisher' -- as he is known -- in politics, the media, the arts and civil society. Sykes witnesses anti-government demonstrations in the capital Manila and visits the provincial city of Davao, where Duterte began his crusade against crime using police and vigilante death squads. By delving into Duterte's troubled childhood of violent rebellion, Sykes discovers what motivates the man today in his pursuit of a merciless 'war on the poor' -- as Amnesty has described it -- that has no end in sight. The Realm of the Punisher also examines oppressed and marginalized groups in the modern Philippines through encounters with a transgender rights campaigner, an 86-year-old former sex slave to the Japanese in the Second World War, a public artist who must work while under attack from Maoist rebels, and slum-dwellers resisting violent eviction by a real estate company. The past is never far away from these present-day problems and Sykes' travels to festivals, cemeteries, war memorials and a tomb housing an embalmed corpse reveal the ways in which key figures in Philippine history -- from Jose Rizal to Ferdinand Marcos -- have influenced current affairs. Funny, tragic, enlightening and uncompromising -- and infused with the author's strong sense of social justice -- The Realm of the Punisher is the first major travel book by a Westerner to explore Duterte's Philippines.

This new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt's Ivory Coast remains the only English-language guidebook to focus solely on this culturally rich West African country, a place of crimson savannas, sublime mountains and cream-hued beaches that is becoming increasingly popular for ecotourism and wildlife, surfing and off-the-beaten track travel. Written in easy-to-navigate geographical structure, chapters on background and practical information are followed by dedicated sections on Abidjan and the surrounding area; the southeast, including Grand-Bassam and Assinie; the southwest, including Sassandra, San-Pedro and the Parc National de Tai; and the centre: Yamoussoukro, Bouake, Daloa and Abengourou. Moving up the country, the Dix-Huit Montagnes area is covered, including Man and Touba, followed by a chapter on the North, including Odienne, Korhogo, Kong, Parc National de la Comoe and Bondoukou. From wildlife and birdwatching to hiking, trekking, chocolate and twerking, Bradt's Ivory Coast lifts the lid on what gives this country its unique flavour. Tribal arts, vibrant reggae, Afrobeat and traditional folk-music scenes, and delicious Ivorian food are all covered, as are hotels, the extraordinary mud mosques of Kong and the far north, Drummologie and 'talking drums', football (the 2023 Africa Nations Cup will be held here), and unprecedented pricing and timetabling information for the full range of transport options. Having only recently re-opened for tourism, Ivory Coast is West Africa's hidden treasure. Packed with vivid descriptions, detailed maps and essential practical advice, Bradt's Ivory Coast is the ideal companion for a perfect trip, whatever your interest.

The news of Isabella Blow's suicide in 2007 shocked the international fashion world. A true patron of couture, she is credited with having discovered and fostered the careers of famed designers Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy, among others, becoming their great muse, friend, and confidante. She also discovered models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl, yet it was images of Issie in these designers' creations that became instantly iconic. Isabella's aristocratic ancestry was as colorful as her manner of dress, her childhood was adventurous and, at times, tragic, and her thirty-year career in fashion was legendary.

Written with compassion, adoration, and deep insight by Detmar Blow, her devoted husband of eighteen years, in collaboration with writer Tom Sykes. "Blow by Blow" is, at once, an outrageous behind-the-scenes romp through the worlds of fashion and high society, and a poignantly candid view of the tortured inner life of a rare and conflicted spirit.

In this entertaining volume, you'll find Governor General Award-winner Margaret Avison and American sci-fi novelist Piers Anthony rubbing shoulders with Blag Dahlia and Ben Bachelder. You'll read of Jello Biafra's encounter with shoe-eating cows, Alan Dean Foster's ride on a whale shark, and Kage Baker's hilarious account of actors broken down on Interstate 5. Filmmakers, politicians, stand-up comedians, poets, journalists, and carpenters all come together through the shared experience of hitching a ride. Throughout the '60s and '70s -- the heyday of hitchhiking -- this form of travel was a key means of transportation. Today, people continue to hitchhike all over the world. Money never changes hands, but all manner of social transactions take place. Hilarious, sad, nostalgic, sometimes scary, and always entertaining, these travelers' tales will open your eyes and take you back -- or forward. Just when you think you've heard it all, turn the page. You'll discover you haven't!

The city of Manila is uniquely significant to Philippine, Southeast Asian and world history. It played a key role in the rise of Western colonial mercantilism in Asia, the extinction of the Spanish Empire and the ascendancy of the USA to global imperial hegemony, amongst other events. This book examines British and American writing on the city, situating these representations within scholarship on empire, orientalism and US, Asian and European political history. Through analysis of novels, memoirs, travelogues and journalism written about Manila by Westerners since the early eighteenth century, Tom Sykes builds a picture of Western attitudes towards the city and the wider Philippines, and the mechanics by which these came to dominate the discourse. This study uncovers to what extent Western literary tropes and representational models have informed understandings of the Philippines, in the West and elsewhere, and the types of counter-narrative which have emerged in the Philippines in response to them.