Suitable for researchers, and graduate students in the field of transportation and urban planning in general, and in travel behaviour analysis in particular, this volume of the 11th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research, held in Kyoto, Japan, in August 2006, examines key issues and emerging trends in the field of travel behaviour.

The books that we read, whether travel-focused or not, may influence the way in which we understand the process or experience of travel. This multidisciplinary work provides a critical analysis of the inspirational and transformational role that books play in travel imaginings. Does reading a book encourage us to think of travel as exotic, adventurous, transformative, dangerous or educative? Do different genres of books influence a reader's view of travel in multifarious ways? These questions are explored through a literary analysis of an eclectic selection of books spanning the period from the eighteenth century to the present day. Genres covered include historical fiction, children's books, westerns, science-fiction and crime fiction.