A portrait of the nation through tales of travelers who have traversed the breadth and depth of America the beautiful.

Travel anthology on Alaska.

Winner of the Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Book, this newly designed collection paints a unique portrait of a complex and captivating land. One contributor lives as a monk for a month, gaining an inside look at monastic life. Another discovers Bangkok’s riverine pleasures, a world away from its car-choked streets. Yet another finds refuge as the houseguest of an isolated tribesman. Through these engaging personal stories, readers witness how Thailand satisfies just about any traveler’s hunger for the exotic, the beautiful, the thrillingly different. Writers include Pico Iyer, Norman Lewis, Diane Summers, Simon Winchester, Ian Buruma, Thalia Zepatos, and Tim Ward. “The breadth and color of the collective portrait [the contributors] provide of Thailand is remarkable.” — Los Angeles Times

Travelers' Tales China is a must for any traveler to China, to anyone wanting to learn more about the Middle Kingdom, offering a breadth and depth of experience from both new and well-known authors, and helps make the China experience unforgettable and transforming. These pages take you through 6,000 years of history to modern-day socialist China, from the Silk Road to the high-tech center of Beijing. Explore the old as well as the new--from the tombs of dead emperors to the world's largest dam. Roam around one of China's 700 nature preserves in a country that boasts more wildlife than any other in the world. Wander the vastness of the Gobi Desert and skirt the darkness of history while exploring the assault on Nanking, and be shaken by observations of death during the upheavals of the Red Guard. Go riding with Ghengis Khan, explore the Forbidden City, and walk along sections of the Great Wall that are seldom visited. You can taste and smell the food as it is cooked in alleys and inns, reach down and touch relics older than most of Europe, and enjoy the sights and the sounds of the Dragon Boat Festival.

When a modern-day woman finds herself stranded in a medieval world, an attractive outlaw offers her protection in the role of his 'wife', and promises to help her find a way back home. Until then, Martha must attempt to fit into medieval society, avoid the Evil Earl and his minions, and learn how to trust her heart again.

Losing the twenty-first century was bad enough, but Martha Bigalow's situation is about to become a whole lot worse. Only days after her marriage to Vadim-a handsome outlaw stalked by grim shadows of the past-she is captured by his nemesis, the evil Earl of Edgeway. While awaiting her fate in a dank dungeon beneath Edgeway's castle, Anselm-Vadim's twisted foster brother-offers her a way out, an alternative to a tortuous and painful death. Forced into a life of deceit, Martha discovers friendship where she least expects to find it, even within the stronghold of the enemy, and by the time war descends on Edgeway, the boundary between black and white-friend and foe-is less distinct. As the castle braces itself for a bitter siege, Martha's loyalty is divided, her love for Vadim tested to its limit... and may even prove to be yet another casualty of war.

What is it about Japan that so beguiles foreigners? It is a small country and yet an economic powerhouse, a land of great natural beauty -- from green-cloaked mountains to glistening rice paddies -- a place of intricate arts and crafts and amazing cuisine, and home to a people whose kindness and sensitivity surprise westerners at each turn. It is no wonder that Japan simultaneously astonishes, delights, and frustrates travelers, and the diverse tales in this book reveal the nation in all its contradictions: a place of tranquil temples and high-tech toilets, exquisite ancient inns and lurid love hotels, where electric baths sit beside indoor ski slopes, and cherry blossoms fall on kindly grandmothers, cynical salarymen, wise monks, and wild lovers alike. Gathered in this collection are pieces by several notable authors, each offering anecdotes that tell of encounters to be had or avoided, each with uncommon insight to enrich the traveler's experience.