Eastern Horizons: Hitchhiking the Silk Road by Levison Wood
Review by Liz Dexter It’s worth noting from the off that this is not a “new” travel book by the popular explorer, but a revisiting of a journey he made…
Icebreaker: A Voyage Far North by Horatio Clare
Horatio Clare, who is quite an accomplished nature and travel writer, having a book on container ships and several on birds to his name, takes a journey to the far…
An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn
Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Daniel Mendelsohn chairs the Humanities department at Bard College, where he was previously a Classics professor. He is the author of seven earlier books, ranging from…
The Santiago Pilgrimage by Jean-Christophe Rufin
Translated by Martina Devis & Malcolm Imrie Reviewed by Terence Jagger Monsieur Rufin is an impressive man, having founded Médecins sans Frontières, been an ambassador for France in Senegal, written…
Hamlet: Globe to Globe by Dominic Dromgoole
Reviewed by Harriet Dominic Dromgoole was the Artistic Director of London’s Globe Theatre from 2005 to 2016. During this successful period he initiated many memorable achievements, including a 2012 festival…
Walking in Berlin by Franz Hessel
Translated by Amanda DeMarco Reviewed by Rob Spence Berlin is one of my favourite cities, and I have spent a lot of time walking around its fascinating streets. So the…
The January Man by Christopher Somerville
Reviewed by Judith Wilson It was early January when I requested Christopher Somerville’s new walking book for review. I was simultaneously intrigued by its title, The January Man, and by…
Footprints in Spain by Simon Courtauld
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Written by someone who is obviously an expert on and traveller in Spain, this interesting book takes a look at the lives of British people –…
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Venice, Tokyo and London, by Lauren Elkin
Reviewed by Helen Parry ‘I think people are made of the places not only where they’ve been raised, but that they’ve loved; I think environments inhabit us […] By understanding…
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi
Translated by Robert Chandler, Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson and Irina Steinberg Reviewed by Karen Langley The Russian Revolution and ensuing Civil War were amongst the most brutal conflicts of…
Venice by Marie-José Gransard
Reviewed by Harriet I’ve been to Venice twice in my life, both times for regrettably short visits, but unforgettable ones. You can’t help being swept away by the beauty of…
60 Degrees North by Malachy Tallack
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton When I first read about 60 Degrees North in Polygon’s book list back in the spring I was intrigued. I recognised Malachy Tallack’s name from various sources but…
Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer by Ann Morgan
Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Ann Morgan is a freelance writer for the Guardian, among other publications, and also part of a dedicated tribe of book bloggers. She spent 2011 on a…
Nairn’s London by Ian Nairn
Reviewed by Karen Langley Ian Nairn was a regular TV presence in the 1960s and 1970s, but faded out of view towards the end of his life. Born in 1930,…
Goldeneye – Where Bond ws Born: Ian Fleming’s Jamaica by Matthew Parker
Reviewed by Victoria Best One of the reasons Ian Fleming wrote such good plots was because his time in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War meant that he lived…
Pleasures and Landscapes by Sybille Bedford
Reviewed by Simon Thomas Are you ready to be transported back to postwar Europe? Although this collection of essays was first published as Pleasures and Landscapes as recently as 2003, they are…
Domestic Manners of the Americans by Frances Trollope
Reviewed by Harriet Devine No author of the present day has been at once so much read, so much admired and so much abused. So wrote the New Monthly Review…
An Island Odyssey by Hamish Haswell-Smith
Reviewed by Lizzy Siddal It is a piece of weakness and folly merely to value things because of the distance from the place where we are born: thus men have…
A Long Walk Home by Judith Tebbutt
Reviewed by Victoria Best Of all the truly terrifying experiences that life can hold, I would imagine that being kidnapped and held hostage must be up there with the worst…
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