Some Interesting Travel Books I’ve Found Recently
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There's no shortage of interesting travel books out there - discovering they exist is the hardest part. Here's some of my favourites from this year so far.
Traversa - Fran Sandham
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Traversa is the word used to describe crossing from one coast of Africa to the other - it's the route followed by Dr Livingstone, his subsequent discoverer Stanley and now Fran Sandham, who decided to retrace the traversa across Africa from the Skeleton Coast in Namibia to the Indian Ocean in Zanzibar on foot. On his own. Without any backup. It's a frankly lunatic idea but Sandham's deft way with explaining the explorers' history and context as they guide his contemporary trek creates a pageturning narrative that helps the reader empathise with why he felt compelled to make the crossing in this most difficult yet rewarding way.
Tracking The Ark Of The Covenant - Charles Foster
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Too easy to say "the real Indiana Jones", but hard to resist given the epic nature of Foster's quest. Lots of ancient history and Biblical reference trying to be lined up with the maps of the modern day world lead Foster all over the Middle East. It can be a bit hard going if, like me, you know little about the area's history outside of the Bible - however, Foster does his best to bring it to life and injects his own quest with huge enthusiasm and an acceptance of the absurd.
Disappearing Destinations - Kimberly Lisagor and Heather Hansen
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I got sent a copy of this and I've only skimmed it, but it's hard to argue with its importance. Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places In Peril And What Can Be Done To Help Save Them outlines how tourism left unchecked is damaging many places in the world, alongside climate change and environmental exploitation. The book looks to places on all 5 continents, with particular emphasis on the USA. Each chapter is short and tightly written, focussing on the problem and what can be done rather than platitudes. It's not cheery reading but as a primer to how holidays affect the wider world, it's hard to beat.
The Water In Between - Kevin Patterson
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I found this completely at random in a Bangkok bookshop and my interest picqued by how Kevin Patterson managed to sail from America to Tahiti even though he didn't know how to sail. It starts off fairly standard - military doctor with broken heart want to get away from it all - and then Patterson starts making some great jumps with his prose, waxing philosophical about the beauty and danger of the ocean. It's a great mix of travelogue, memoir, history and bitching about love, and while Patterson doesn't come off as the most sympathetic of characters, he does a great job of conveying how happiness returned into his life thanks in part to taking to the ocean.
Bruce Chatwin - Nicholas Shakespeare
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This is an oldie but a goodie - Shakespeare's biography of Chatwin is a masterpiece of research and empathetic writing about a man who was fascinating but incredibly hard work to be friends with. Shakespeare outlines Chatwin's years-long struggle with writing before he found any success, which then snowballed and led him to transform the very nature of how travel writing should be perceived. Always controversial, especially around the Australian epic The Songlines, Chatwin's writing had a power to it that was and is still seemingly unique, whatever his original sources and obscuring of the truth. Shakespears makes no apologies for being deeply affectionate of Chatwin even as he lays bare his often thoughtless behaviour. The joy he brought into the lives of those closest to him even as drove them to distraction is shown in the final, horrific yet moving chapters about Chatwin's succumbing to AIDS and relying on his friends to nurse him. Shakespeare's biography is a superb introduction to Chatwin and his preoccupations with Afghanistan, Patagonia and Australia, as well as the nature of travel writing itself.
Lonely Planet: The Middle Of Nowhere -
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Finally, this Lonely Planet book is a breathtaking diversion from their usual guidebook fare - stunning photography and short essays about true wildernesses. While the world is heavily travelled, there are still plenty of places that remain remote and truly spectacular for each of us to discover.
Other Travelhappy posts of interest:
- Lost On Planet China - J. Maarten Troost
- Free Travel Books
- Book Review: Tony Wheeler’s Bad Lands: A Tourist On The Axis Of Evil
- Bangkok Lonely Planet: New Edition
- Where Do You Want To Travel Next?
