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Caleb's List: Climbing the Scottish Mountains Visible from Arthur's Seat
by Kellan MacInnesShortlisted for the 2013 Saltire Society Scottish First Book award. Edinburgh. 1898. On the cusp of the modern age. Caleb George Cash: mountaineer, geographer, antiquarian and teacher stands at the rocky summit of Arthur's Seat. This is the story of Caleb, me and the Scottish mountains visible from Arthur's Seat. Somehow the Cashs or the Calebs didn't sound right so I have called the hills on Caleb's list The Arthurs. More than just a climbing book this is the story of a survivor. Caleb's List is a beautifully descriptive account in which Kellan MacInnes intertwines his own personal struggle with HIV with the life story of Victorian mountaineer Caleb George Cash, beginning with the moment in 1898 when Caleb stood at the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and made a list of 20 mountains visible from its summit, from Ben Lomond in the west to Lochnager in the east. MacInnes stumbled upon this long forgotten list of hills, now dubbed the Arthurs, and in this book he sets a new hillwalking challenge … climbing the Arthurs. Drawing on history, literature and personal experience, MacInnes offers both practical and emotional insight into climbing these hills, in an account that is a must-read for hillwalkers, visitors to Edinburgh and lovers of Scotland all over the world. This is not just a book about hillwalking and history. At its heart this is powerful landscape writing that explores the strong bond between a person and the hills they love . . . The author writes with skill and considerable authority. ALEX RODDIE, author Caleb Cash himself is an important if neglected figure in the history of the Scottish outdoors and the author's personal story gives the book an emotional power unusual in a guidebook. An excellent book. CHRIS TOWNSHEND, author A triumphant debut. THE GREAT OUTDOORS A tribute to the healing power of the Scottish landscape and to survival against the odds. THE SCOTSMAN
The Call of the Mountains: Sights and Inspirations from a journey of a thousad miles across Scotland's Munro ranges
by Max LandsbergAn adventure across a thousand miles of Scotland's mountains. In this personal guide to the triumphs, hardships and perils of scaling the Munros, Landsberg brings the joys and pitfalls of hill-climbing to life. Landsberg's adventures are presented in vivid detail, with insights ranging from encompassing the wonder of unique experiences like seeing the birth of a deer to the mundane delight of the flavour of sandwich he had on a given day. Throughout his account, Landsberg provides an in-depth insight into his growing obsession with climbing the Munroes and its effect on his physical, emotional and spiritual development. With insights on the history, culture, ecology and geology of Scotland's mountains and guides to Gaelic place names, mountain safety and an analysis the science of walking, this book provides a complete guide for anyone looking for adventure in the Highlands, and is sure to inspire anyone who reads it to go climb a rock! Excerpt: One day I walked into these mountains, and I never came all the way back. For though Scotland's mountains may not be the highest in the world, they are certainly amongst the most awe-inspiring and enchanting. From the towering pinnacles of Skye, to the high rolling plateau of the Cairngorms; from the bonnie braes of Ben Lomond to the weeping cliffs of Glencoe; from the rocky battlements that encircle Loch Arkaig, to the gentle folds of Ben Lawers as it spills down to Loch Tay: here are offered scenes of unrivalled splendour, landscapes of unparalleled variety, and a magic ground for personal connection, inspiration, and transformation. These are places of accessible adventure - we leave behind the safety of the lush glen to cross the swooping moor, clamber up through craggy corridors, and with silver chuckling burn then spatey cascade as our sometime guide we reach at last the grand summits of these lands. Here beneath a hundred rainbows lie a hundred pots of gold - unclaimed scenic ingots that are yours for the taking and to which I hope to lead you, on a journey for body, for mind, and perhaps for something deeper.
Camping by the Waterside: The Best Campsites by Water in Britain and Ireland
by Stephen NealeThis stylish and inspiring book contains all the information campers need to make the most of the wonderful waterside locations throughout the UK and Ireland. Covering all kinds of camping (caravan, campsite and wild), the book starts by showing how to plan your trip, what gear to take and how to get stuck into all the fantastic water-based activities on offer, such as sailing, kayaking, angling, surfing and wild swimming. Tip boxes, Top 10 features and photos combine to give readers all the knowledge and inspiration they need to get out there, whether they're on their own, part of a family or with a group of friends.The main part of the guide is organised by region, but also searchable by activity. Each region has an overview, and within it the best sites to visit, with useful information (best times of year to go, activities on offer, facilities, cost), advice on most attractive pitches, contact details and photos. There is a huge variety of sites here, all with something unique to offer, and helpful maps plot each one clearly.With a Foreword by One Man and his Campervan's Martin Dorey, this is the essential guidebook for all campers, showing how it really is possible to pitch up in paradise.
Changing Gears: A Pedal-powered Detour From The Rat Race
by Greg FoysterGreg Foyster quits his job in advertising and decides to live more simply. Looking for inspiration, he and his partner Sophie cycle from Melbourne to Far North Queensland (via Tasmania, naturally) scouting out ideas. Preposterously underprepared, they are propelled by the inspiring and eccentric characters they meet along the way - from a forest activist living up a tree to an 18th-century woodsman and a monk walking barefoot through Queensland. Featuring eye-opening encounters with DIY downshifters and leading figures in sustainability,Changing Gears is a jaunty adventure that explores an important question for the future: can we be happier with less?
The Cheese and I: An Englishman's Voyage Through the Land of Fromage
by Matt FerozeMatt Feroze had a rather unusual dream: to become a cheesemonger in the highly competitive French cheese industry. To accomplish this, however, he would have to make huge sacrifices: give up a good job as an accountant in England and say goodbye to his friends and family, moving to a country in which he struggled with the language and knew next to nothing about the profession he wished to enter.Yet only a year later he was being crowned Champion de France des Fromagers, beating veteran French cheesemongers to the title and opening up a wealth of new opportunities for himself. The Cheese and I is the remarkable story of how he pulled off such an incredible feat.This is the inspirational tale of how an Englishman sacrificed so much to pursue and realize his goal, and proves that, with enough determination, it is possible to achieve anything you desire.
Children of the Country: Coast to Coast Across Africa
by Joseph Hone'Joseph Hone went to Zaire for the BBC. His aim was a series of talks about crossing Africa from coast to coast, as Stanley had done. That intention began, and ended, in Kinshasha... Having fallen in love in boyhood with the idea of Africa, he had looked for 'great liberating spaces', and found himself in a city from which there was no escape without a private plane.' Guardian'For those who like to read, in comfort, about uncomfortable journeys, frightful hotels, dreadful meals, and broken-down capitals, I strongly recommend Children of the Country. The section on Kinshasha, in particular, is both alarming and hilarious.' Richard Cobb, Spectactor 'Books of the Year''A darkly coloured personal odyssey.... Hone hopes to achieve some kind of perspective on his unraveling marriage here in the landscape of his boyhood fantasies... His ability to articulate his own reactions to the landscape, combined with his precise notation of detail, lend his narrative freshness and vitality.' Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Children's Games In Street And Playground
by Iona Opie Peter OpieIn the 1960s, Iona and Peter Opie observed that although many books had been written about how children should play, none had been written about how they actually played. To fill the gap they carried out an exhaustive survey, through the decade, of the games that children 'in fact play' when aged roughly between six and twelve years of age, and when outdoors -- and usually when out of sight. The result was their classic work 'Children's Games in Street and Playground'. It records games played in streets, parks, playgrounds and wastelands by more than 10,000 children from the Shetland Isles to the Channel Islands, although the majority of the information comes from children living in big cities such as London, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow. In all, around 125 games are described in detail, including the rhymes and sayings children repeat while playing them, together with the different names they are called. Brief historical notes are also included where relevant. There are important lessons to be learned from this book about giving children the time and physical space to be themselves with other children.
City of Women
by David GillhamCity of Women by David Gillham is a gripping tale of life in Berlin at the height of the Second World War. 'In the very darkest hour, who do you trust, who do you love, and who can be saved?'It is 1943 - the height of the Second World War. With the men taken by the army, Berlin has become a city of women. And while her husband fights on the Eastern Front, Sigrid Schroder is, for all intents and purposes, the model soldier's wife: she goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother-in-law. But behind this facade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman who dreams of her former Jewish lover, who is now lost in the chaos of the war. Sigrid's tedious existence is turned upside-down when she finds herself hiding a mother and her two young daughters: could they be her lover's family? Now she must make terrifying choices that could cost her everything.'Gillham's Berlin is a terrified city, where nobody dare speak the truth and the smallest decision can cost you your life. A terrifically tense first novel' The Times'In this moving and masterful debut, David Gillham brings war-torn Berlin to life and reveals the extraordinary mettle of women tested to their limits and beyond. Powerful and piercingly real. You won't soon forget these characters.' Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife'David Gillham's excellent new novel, City of Women, is built on one of the most extraordinary and faithful recreations of a time in history - Berlin in World War II - that I've ever read.' Alan FurstDavid Gillham lives with his family in western Massachusetts.
Clarissa's England: A gamely gallop through the English counties
by Clarissa Dickson WrightThe quintessential Englishwoman Clarissa Dickson Wright, one of the Two Fat Ladies and author of Spilling the Beans, takes us on a personal journey through the country of her birth.From Cornwall to Cumbria, Norfolk to Northumbria she brings her extraordinary knowledge, huge passion, forthright opinions and inimitable wit to the distinctive history and regional character of every corner of England.In her cornucopia of local knowledge she reveals, for example, how Boudicca was the original Essex girl, that Lincolnshire has a coriander crop second only in size to India's, and just why a Cornish pasty should never contain carrots.As much an entertaining narrative as it is a travel companion, Clarissa's England will amuse, enlighten, surprise and delight all those who read it.
Classic Mountain Scrambles in Scotland
by Andrew DempsterScrambling is the highly popular pursuit which combines the freedom enjoyed by the hillwalker with the more immediate excitement of the rock climber. An essential guide to the best scrambling in Scotland, this book covers both the mainland and the inner hebrides, and is suitable for scramblers of all skill levels, from complete beginner to seasoned enthusiasts.This comprehensive guide contains:Maps and images for each scramble, as well as instructions for OS maps.An introduction to the art of scrambling, and to all equipment that may be necessary.Routes for all scrambles, and easy to follow grading and quality ratings, enabling the reader to pick a scramble for any ability level. Scrambles include mountain routes such as Aonach Eagach and the Cuillin Ridge, as well as the lesser known Northern Pinnacles of Liathach.
Coconut Chaos: Pitcairn, Mutiny And A Seduction At Sea
by Diana SouhamiAt dawn on 27 April 1789 Fletcher Christian, master's mate on HMS Bounty, took a coconut to quench his thirst from the supply on the quarterdeck. This seemingly insignificant act resulted in mutiny, chaos and a chain of events that leads right up to the present day. With a story driven by hazardous and extraordinary sea voyages and a cast that includes the Bounty mutineers, an eccentric lesbian aristocrat, Pitcairn Island sex offenders and the narrator's ancient mother, this sparkling and original book weaves together fact and fiction, history and autobiography, humour and danger in inimitable style.
Come Out Swinging: The Changing World of Boxing in Gleason's Gym
by Lucia TrimburGleason's Gym is the last remaining institution of New York's Golden Age of boxing. Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Hector Camacho, Mike Tyson--the alumni of Gleason's are a roster of boxing greats. Founded in the Bronx in 1937, Gleason's moved in the mid-1980s to what has since become one of New York's wealthiest residential areas--Brooklyn's DUMBO. Gleason's has also transformed, opening its doors to new members, particularly women and white-collar men. Come Out Swinging is Lucia Trimbur's nuanced insider's account of a place that was once the domain of poor and working-class men of color but is now shared by rich and poor, male and female, black and white, and young and old. Come Out Swinging chronicles the everyday world of the gym. Its diverse members train, fight, talk, and socialize together. We meet amateurs for whom boxing is a full-time, unpaid job. We get to know the trainers who act as their father figures and mentors. We are introduced to women who empower themselves physically and mentally. And we encounter the male urban professionals who pay handsomely to learn to box, and to access a form of masculinity missing from their office-bound lives. Ultimately, Come Out Swinging reveals how Gleason's meets the needs of a variety of people who, despite their differences, are connected through discipline and sport.
Come Out Swinging: The Changing World of Boxing in Gleason's Gym (PDF)
by Lucia TrimburGleason's Gym is the last remaining institution of New York's Golden Age of boxing. Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Hector Camacho, Mike Tyson--the alumni of Gleason's are a roster of boxing greats. Founded in the Bronx in 1937, Gleason's moved in the mid-1980s to what has since become one of New York's wealthiest residential areas--Brooklyn's DUMBO. Gleason's has also transformed, opening its doors to new members, particularly women and white-collar men. Come Out Swinging is Lucia Trimbur's nuanced insider's account of a place that was once the domain of poor and working-class men of color but is now shared by rich and poor, male and female, black and white, and young and old. Come Out Swinging chronicles the everyday world of the gym. Its diverse members train, fight, talk, and socialize together. We meet amateurs for whom boxing is a full-time, unpaid job. We get to know the trainers who act as their father figures and mentors. We are introduced to women who empower themselves physically and mentally. And we encounter the male urban professionals who pay handsomely to learn to box, and to access a form of masculinity missing from their office-bound lives. Ultimately, Come Out Swinging reveals how Gleason's meets the needs of a variety of people who, despite their differences, are connected through discipline and sport.
Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians (PDF)
by Karl B Mcknight Joseph R. Rohrer Kirsten Mcknight Ward Warren J. PerdrizetThis is the first book to help general readers recognize 200 common mosses of the Northeast and the Appalachian Mountains. With just this field guide, a hand lens, and a spray bottle--no microscopes necessary--readers will be able to identify and name many of the common species of mosses growing in the region's backyards, parks, forests, wetlands, and mountains. At the heart of this guide is an innovative, color-tabbed system that helps readers pick out small groups of similar species. Illustrated identification keys, colorful habitat and leaf photos, more than 600 detailed line drawings, and written descriptions help differentiate the species. This accessible book allows all nature enthusiasts to make accurate identifications and gain access to the enchanting world of mosses. 200 species included More than 600 detailed line drawings More than 400 color photographs Innovative color-tabbed system for species identification Illustrated species identification keys Helpful tips for moss collecting
The Condor and the Cows: A South American Travel Diary
by Christopher IsherwoodWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PICO IYERIn September 1947, long before mass tourism and with no knowledge of Spanish, Christopher Isherwood and William Caskey left for a six-month tour of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. The Condor and the Cows is Isherwood’s unsentimental and wonderfully rich account of that journey, during which he bumped into a handful of old acquaintances on a brand-new continent.
Conferences and Conventions 3rd edition: A Global Industry
by Tony RogersConferences and Conventions: A Global Industry 3rd edition provides a comprehensive introduction to the key elements of the global conference, convention and meetings industry. It examines the industry’s origins, structure, economic, social and environmental impacts, education, training and career opportunities, and the industry's future development. It also explores its links with the wider tourism industry, and suggests that there should be a realignment of these links, putting a greater focus on designing, executing and measuring meeting and convention contents so that they have a purposeful impact on participants, thus creating greater value for stakeholders. It suggests that there should be greater emphasis on the role that meetings play in economic, professional and educational development, promoting the benefits they provide in knowledge exchange, scientific research, technology transfer, networking and motivation and showing clearly what such business events actually accomplish. This revised 3rd edition has been updated to reflect current trends and emerging topics and achieve a more international approach. This edition has also been updated with the following features: New content on social media, web based marketing, the use of technology, experiential marketing and events, the role of trade shows in conventions,?issues of sustainability, and moves to create a profession for event management. Fully integrated and updated case studies to highlight current issues and demonstrate theory in practice. Also contains new case studies on the growth markets of Asia, Brazil and the Middle East. A detailed meetings and events industry lexicon. This book is written in an accessible and engaging style and structured logically with useful features throughout to aid students’ learning and understanding. This book is an invaluable resource to students following Events Management, Hospitality and Tourism courses. ?
Conferences and Conventions 3rd edition: A Global Industry
by Tony RogersConferences and Conventions: A Global Industry 3rd edition provides a comprehensive introduction to the key elements of the global conference, convention and meetings industry. It examines the industry’s origins, structure, economic, social and environmental impacts, education, training and career opportunities, and the industry's future development. It also explores its links with the wider tourism industry, and suggests that there should be a realignment of these links, putting a greater focus on designing, executing and measuring meeting and convention contents so that they have a purposeful impact on participants, thus creating greater value for stakeholders. It suggests that there should be greater emphasis on the role that meetings play in economic, professional and educational development, promoting the benefits they provide in knowledge exchange, scientific research, technology transfer, networking and motivation and showing clearly what such business events actually accomplish. This revised 3rd edition has been updated to reflect current trends and emerging topics and achieve a more international approach. This edition has also been updated with the following features: New content on social media, web based marketing, the use of technology, experiential marketing and events, the role of trade shows in conventions,?issues of sustainability, and moves to create a profession for event management. Fully integrated and updated case studies to highlight current issues and demonstrate theory in practice. Also contains new case studies on the growth markets of Asia, Brazil and the Middle East. A detailed meetings and events industry lexicon. This book is written in an accessible and engaging style and structured logically with useful features throughout to aid students’ learning and understanding. This book is an invaluable resource to students following Events Management, Hospitality and Tourism courses. ?
Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin in the Middle Taiga
by Sylvain TessonIn Consolations of the Forest, Sylvain Tesson explains how he found a radical solution to his need for freedom, one as ancient as the experiences of the hermits of old Russia: he decided to lock himself alone in a cabin in the middle taiga, on the shores of Baikal, for six months. From February to July 2010, he lived in silence, solitude, and cold. His cabin, built by Soviet geologists in the Brezhnev years, is a cube of logs three meters by three meters, heated by a cast iron skillet, six-day walk from the nearest village and hundreds of miles of track. To live isolated from the world while retaining one's sanity requires a routine, Tesson discovered. In the morning, he would read, write, smoke, or draw, and then devoted hours to cutting the wood, shoveling snow, and fishing. Emotionally, these months proved a challenge, and the loneliness was crippling. Tesson found in paper a valuable confidant, the notebook, a polite companion. Noting carefully, almost daily, his impressions of the silence, his struggles to survive in a hostile nature, his despair, his doubts, but also its moments of ecstasy, inner peace and harmony with nature, Sylvain Tesson shares with us an extraordinary experience.Writer, journalist and traveler, Sylvain Tesson was born in 1972. After a world tour by bicycle, he developed a passion for Central Asia, and has travelled tirelessly since 1997. He came to prominence in 2004 with a remarkable travelogue, Axis of Wolf (Robert Laffont). Editions Gallimard have already published his A Life of a Mouthful (2009) and, with Thomas Goisque and Bertrand de Miollis, High Voltage (2009). In 2009 he won the Prix Goncourt for A Life of a Mouthful, and in 2011 won the Prix Médicis for non-fiction for Consolations of the Forest: Alone in Siberia.
Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco
by Gary KamiyaCool, Gray City of Love brings together an exuberant combination of personal insight, deeply researched history, in-depth reporting, and lyrical prose to create an unparalleled portrait of San Francisco. Each of its 49 chapters explores a specific site or intersection in the city, from the mighty Golden Gate Bridge to the raunchy Tenderloin to the soaring sea cliffs at Land's End.This unique approach captures the exhilarating experience of walking through San Francisco's sublime terrain, while at the same time tying that experience to a history as rollicking and unpredictable as the city herself. From her absurd beginnings as the most distant and moth-eaten outpost of the world's most extensive empire, to her instantaneous fame during the Gold Rush, from her apocalyptic destruction by earthquake and fire to her perennial embrace of rebels, dreamers, hedonists and misfits of all stripes, the City by the Bay has always followed a trajectory as wildly independent as the untrammeled natural forces that created her.This ambitious, eclectic, and beautifully written book draws on everything from on-the-ground reporting to obscure academic papers to the author's 40-year life in San Francisco to create a rich and insightful portrait of a magical corner of the world. Complete with hand-drawn maps ofthe 49locations, this handsome package will sit comfortably on the short shelf of enduring books about places, alongside E. B. White's Here is New York, Jose Saramago's Journey to Portugal, or Alfred Kazin's A Walker in the City.
The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939
by Ella K. MaillartIn 1939 Swiss travel writer and journalist Ella K. Maillart set off on an epic journey from Geneva to Kabul with fellow writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach in a brand new Ford. As the first European women to travel alone on Afghanistan’s Northern Road, Maillart and Schwarzenbach had a rare glimpse of life in Iran and Afghanistan at a time when their borders were rarely crossed by Westerners. As the two flash across Europe and the Near East in a streak of élan and daring, Maillart writes of comical mishaps, breathtaking landscapes, vitriolic religious clashes, and the ingenuity with which the women navigated what was often a dangerous journey. In beautiful, clear-eyed prose, The Cruel Way shows Maillart’s great ability to explore and experience other cultures in writing both lyrical and deeply empathetic. While the core of the book is the journey itself and their interactions with people oppressed by political conflict and poverty, towards the end of the trip the women’s increasingly troubled relationship takes center stage. By then the glamorous, androgynous Schwarzenbach, whose own account of the trip can be found in All the Roads Are Open, is fighting a losing battle with her own drug addiction, and Maillart’s frustrated attempts to cure her show the profound depth of their relationship. Complete with thirteen of Maillart’s own photographs from the journey, The Cruel Way is a classic of travel writing, and its protagonists are as gripping and fearless as any in literature.
The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939
by Ella K. MaillartIn 1939 Swiss travel writer and journalist Ella K. Maillart set off on an epic journey from Geneva to Kabul with fellow writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach in a brand new Ford. As the first European women to travel alone on Afghanistan’s Northern Road, Maillart and Schwarzenbach had a rare glimpse of life in Iran and Afghanistan at a time when their borders were rarely crossed by Westerners. As the two flash across Europe and the Near East in a streak of élan and daring, Maillart writes of comical mishaps, breathtaking landscapes, vitriolic religious clashes, and the ingenuity with which the women navigated what was often a dangerous journey. In beautiful, clear-eyed prose, The Cruel Way shows Maillart’s great ability to explore and experience other cultures in writing both lyrical and deeply empathetic. While the core of the book is the journey itself and their interactions with people oppressed by political conflict and poverty, towards the end of the trip the women’s increasingly troubled relationship takes center stage. By then the glamorous, androgynous Schwarzenbach, whose own account of the trip can be found in All the Roads Are Open, is fighting a losing battle with her own drug addiction, and Maillart’s frustrated attempts to cure her show the profound depth of their relationship. Complete with thirteen of Maillart’s own photographs from the journey, The Cruel Way is a classic of travel writing, and its protagonists are as gripping and fearless as any in literature.
The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939
by Ella K. MaillartIn 1939 Swiss travel writer and journalist Ella K. Maillart set off on an epic journey from Geneva to Kabul with fellow writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach in a brand new Ford. As the first European women to travel alone on Afghanistan’s Northern Road, Maillart and Schwarzenbach had a rare glimpse of life in Iran and Afghanistan at a time when their borders were rarely crossed by Westerners. As the two flash across Europe and the Near East in a streak of élan and daring, Maillart writes of comical mishaps, breathtaking landscapes, vitriolic religious clashes, and the ingenuity with which the women navigated what was often a dangerous journey. In beautiful, clear-eyed prose, The Cruel Way shows Maillart’s great ability to explore and experience other cultures in writing both lyrical and deeply empathetic. While the core of the book is the journey itself and their interactions with people oppressed by political conflict and poverty, towards the end of the trip the women’s increasingly troubled relationship takes center stage. By then the glamorous, androgynous Schwarzenbach, whose own account of the trip can be found in All the Roads Are Open, is fighting a losing battle with her own drug addiction, and Maillart’s frustrated attempts to cure her show the profound depth of their relationship. Complete with thirteen of Maillart’s own photographs from the journey, The Cruel Way is a classic of travel writing, and its protagonists are as gripping and fearless as any in literature.
The Cruel Way: Switzerland to Afghanistan in a Ford, 1939
by Ella K. MaillartIn 1939 Swiss travel writer and journalist Ella K. Maillart set off on an epic journey from Geneva to Kabul with fellow writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach in a brand new Ford. As the first European women to travel alone on Afghanistan’s Northern Road, Maillart and Schwarzenbach had a rare glimpse of life in Iran and Afghanistan at a time when their borders were rarely crossed by Westerners. As the two flash across Europe and the Near East in a streak of élan and daring, Maillart writes of comical mishaps, breathtaking landscapes, vitriolic religious clashes, and the ingenuity with which the women navigated what was often a dangerous journey. In beautiful, clear-eyed prose, The Cruel Way shows Maillart’s great ability to explore and experience other cultures in writing both lyrical and deeply empathetic. While the core of the book is the journey itself and their interactions with people oppressed by political conflict and poverty, towards the end of the trip the women’s increasingly troubled relationship takes center stage. By then the glamorous, androgynous Schwarzenbach, whose own account of the trip can be found in All the Roads Are Open, is fighting a losing battle with her own drug addiction, and Maillart’s frustrated attempts to cure her show the profound depth of their relationship. Complete with thirteen of Maillart’s own photographs from the journey, The Cruel Way is a classic of travel writing, and its protagonists are as gripping and fearless as any in literature.
The Cruel Way: A John Murray Journey (Overcoming Books)
by Ella K MaillartINTRODUCED BY FIONA MOZLEY, Booker-shortlisted author of ElmetWITH EXCERPTS FROM ALL THE ROADS ARE OPEN BY ANNEMARIE SCHWARZENBACH'We were both travellers - she always running away from an emotional crisis (not seeing that she was already wishing for the next), I always seeking far afield the secret of harmonious living, or filling up time by courting risk, caught by the clean sharp "taste" it gives to life.'In 1939, adventurer and writer Ella Maillart set off on an epic drive from Geneva to Kabul, accompanied by journalist and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who later became an antifascist and lesbian icon. The two women travelled partly to escape the coming war in Europe, embarking on a daring, and often dangerous, journey through regions where European women were a rarity. But Schwarzenbach was also fighting a losing battle with morphine addiction, and the women's close but often troubled relationship takes centre stage in the narrative as the journey progresses through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Encountering breathtaking landscapes, ancient ruins and nomadic peoples, The Cruel Way is a gripping, lyrical and deeply empathetic portrait of places, people and friendship. Brought together for the first time with excerpts from All the Roads are Open, Annemarie Schwarzenbach's parallel account of the journey.
Cruising French Waterways
by Hugh McKnightCruising French Waterways has rapidly become the leading descriptive guide to the astonishingly varied network of rivers and canals that penetrate almost every region of France. Winner of the Thomas Cook Guide Book Award, it is full of fascinating information on the history and commercial activities of each area, as well as the historical sites, chateaux and scenic attractions of the many villages and towns which await discovery by water. Practical details include the maps and guides available for each area, maximum craft dimensions, bankside facilities, moorings, repair yards, shops, restaurants, fuel and water sources, waterways museums and wine regions. Beautifully illustrated, the fourth edition covers all recently restored waterways and explains newly introduced requirements for licenses and personal qualifications. 'So comprehensive, it is now the standard work on the waterways of France' Waterways 'Handsome... beautifully illustrated' Sunday Telegraph