A memoir about silence, from the mysterious things the adults didn't talk about during his childhood, to the vast silences of the Arctic that have occupied so much of his own adult life as w... read more
Islands of banishment approached through three lives: New Caledonia in the South Pacific, where Louise Michel, grandmother of French anarchy and a leader in theParis Commune, was sent for s... read more
The range of Blackburn's books testifies to her profound curiosity about the world. This account of her journey (imaginative as well as physical) among the little-known South African people ... read more
Some may have supposed that Thubron had done his last Big Journey, but this is arguably his biggest yet, and most arduous. Indomitable, venerable, he follows this immense river from its sour... read more
That venerable and dedicated historian of ancient India travelled half a century ago to northern and north-western China to work at the cave sites of Maijishan and Dunhuang; based on her dia... read more
In this new book Sinclair has abandoned London for Peru, in an attempt to understand his great-grandfather's colonial career. The narrative Sinclair grew up with ends up as self-serving flot... read more
In 1849 Garibaldi gave up the defence of Rome to the besieging French troops and made his way northwards with a few thousand volunteers; this is an earlier phase of the attempt at Italian li... read more
A fascinating Great-Game-ish romp with yaks , spies, political intrigue and a cast that includes not only the Viceroy Curzon but the rather overlooked figure of Sir Charles Bell, British Pol... read more
An illustrated book examining our fascination with islands. Interweaving his own travels with psychology, philosophy and literary voyages, the author explores our contradictory needs for con... read more