Travel Book suggestions

[Stanfordian]

I love reading travel books and also those about second world war escapes.

I have read a number of travel books such as:
The Motorcycle Diaries/Ernesto "Che" Guevara;
Long Way Round (and follow ups)/ Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
Jupiter's Travels/Ted Simon

I have read several war escapes books:
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me/Josef M. Bauer
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom/Slavomir Rawicz
Colditz series

Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks

[umslopogaas]

Cant help on the war escapes, although John Le Carre's 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' might count as a sort of Cold War escape. Its a good read, though exceedingly bleak. If you like that, good news, he's written lots: the George Smiley trilogy ('Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'The Honorable Schoolboy,' 'Smiley's People') are particularly good and so is 'A Small Town In Germany'. The only one I'd avoid is 'The Naive And Sentimental Lover': it may just be me, but I dont think that one worked, he's much better on spy stories than love stories.

But travel? Have you read anything by Bill Bryson? He's very funny. 'Down Under' (Australia), 'Notes From A Small Island' (UK) and 'The Lost Continent' (USA) are all excellent entertainment. 'Down Under' is particularly good, full of Aussie humour.

[Stanfordian]

Cant help on the war escapes, although John Le Carre's 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' might count as a sort of Cold War escape. Its a good read, though exceedingly bleak. If you like that, good news, he's written lots: the George Smiley trilogy ('Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'The Honorable Schoolboy,' 'Smiley's People') are particularly good and so is 'A Small Town In Germany'. The only one I'd avoid is 'The Naive And Sentimental Lover': it may just be me, but I dont think that one worked, he's much better on spy stories than love stories.

But travel? Have you read anything by Bill Bryson? He's very funny. 'Down Under' (Australia), 'Notes From A Small Island' (UK) and 'The Lost Continent' (USA) are all excellent entertainment. 'Down Under' is particularly good, full of Aussie humour.

Thanks umslopogaas but its strictly non-fiction books that I am after in both the travel books and also those about second world war escapes.

[verismissimo]

Anything by Patrick Leigh Fermor, Stan!

[Belgrove]

Rory Stewart (ex soldier, diplomat and now MP for a constituency in Cumbria) wrote `The Places in Between' about his crossing Afghanistan on foot in the early 2000's. A very courageous thing to do, he faced mortal danger on more than one occasion.

Colin Thubron's `To a Mountain in Tibet' is a wonderful book about his trekking to the sacred Mt Kailas. It ends up being a rumination on Tibetan Buddhism and the earlier Bon religion which is still current in that very remote part of Tibet.

Both of these books are written in very beautiful prose. Travel literature at its best.

[umslopogaas]

The Bryson titles will fit the bill, they are all non-fiction, they are Bryson's very funny descriptions of the various countries he has visited. I found the Australia one 'Down Under' particularly enjoyable.

[Extended Play]

Delving back into 20th Century travel writing, might I suggest:

Robert Byron The Road to Oxiana (first published in 1937) and
Gerald Brenan South from Granada (1957)

Two classics of the genre.

[Flosshilde]

Robert Byron The Road to Oxiana (first published in 1937)

That would have been one of my suggestions - absolutely wonderful & filled me with a longing to go to Persia/Iran. Another book I'd suggest, that crosses both your categories, is Eric Newby's Love & war in the Apennines, detailing his role in a commando landing in Italy, subsequent capture & imprisonment by the Italian army, & escape & travel throught the mountains, helped by numerous Italians on the way, including his future wife.

If you are interested in women travellers in the late 19th & Early 20th century (or even if you're not ) I'd suggest Travels in High Albania, by Edith Durham, a remarkable woman who became greatly respected by the people of the region. It was republished by Virago in the 70's or 80's - not sure if it's still in print, but well worth looking for.

[Nick Armstrong]

Eric Newby's Love & war in the Apennines, detailing his role in a commando landing in Italy, subsequent capture & imprisonment by the Italian army, & escape & travel throught the mountains, helped by numerous Italians on the way, including his future wife.

That's lovely stuff

Bryson very readable and capable of making one chuckle for ages. One not mentioned about is 'Neither Here Nor There' about Europe. (The chapter on Amsterdam is pure genius)

One other book with some wonderful humour is Into The Heart Of Borneo by Redmond O'Hanlon (who travels with his friend, the poet James Fenton. Fenton's escapades made me cry with laughter)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Heart-B...mm_pap_title_0

[aeolium]

Norman Lewis I think is an interesting travel writer. I liked A Dragon Apparent - Travels in Indo-China. Also Wilfred Thesiger, a curious character and perhaps one of the last old-style explorers - his Arabian Sands is good, as is his autobiography The Life of My Choice (which also includes some narrative about his 2nd world war experiences with the fledgling SAS in Italian-occupied Abyssinia).

[Stanfordian]

That would have been one of my suggestions - absolutely wonderful & filled me with a longing to go to Persia/Iran. Another book I'd suggest, that crosses both your categories, is Eric Newby's Love & war in the Apennines, detailing his role in a commando landing in Italy, subsequent capture & imprisonment by the Italian army, & escape & travel throught the mountains, helped by numerous Italians on the way, including his future wife.

If you are interested in women travellers in the late 19th & Early 20th century (or even if you're not ) I'd suggest Travels in High Albania, by Edith Durham, a remarkable woman who became greatly respected by the people of the region. It was republished by Virago in the 70's or 80's - not sure if it's still in print, but well worth looking for.

I've just received Eric Newby's Love & war in the Apennines and Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There with Rory Stewart's The Places in Between on order. Thanks, there are some great suggestions. More please.

[vinteuil]

Does anyone still read Norman Douglas?

I was a great fan. Siren Land, Fountains in the Sand, Old Calabria, Together, Alone - I thought they were the best.

[johncorrigan]

Just back from holiday where I read William Dalrymple's 'In search of Xanadu' in which he attempted to follow (very roughly) Marco Polo's journey from Jerusalem to Kubla Khan's palace in Xanadu. It is a great mixture of story, history, geography and theory ( there's a great story about the Magi in there). I had been along some of this road at one time and was, as usual, fed up at what I had missed ( I was a rubbish tourist) - Sultaniya in Iran, for example which sounded amazing - he's got a good turn of phrase too - eg 'While we waited for the old man to return from the mosque, the Afghans broke into a chorus of contented flatulence.' Really enjoyed it.

[kernelbogey]

....Colin Thubron's `To a Mountain in Tibet' is a wonderful book about his trekking to the sacred Mt Kailas. It ends up being a rumination on Tibetan Buddhism and the earlier Bon religion which is still current in that very remote part of Tibet.....

I endorse this recommendation and would add The snow leopard by Peter Matthiessen, which describes trekking in Nepal with George Schaller, a journey that was also an inner spiritual quest.

I also endorse all the Bill Bryson travel books.

If you haven't read The wooden horse by Eric Williams, it is a classic and the basis of The great escape movie.

[kernelbogey]

Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin: he describes swimming in the sea, rivers, old lidos etc across the UK. Beautifully written and entertaining.

If you like this two other titles by him (I've read only the first): Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees and Notes From Walnut Tree Farm. Sadly, the last two were published posthumously.