SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR UK NATURE WRITING Alone on a remote mountaintop one dark night, a woman hears a mysterious voice. Propelled by the memory and after years of dreaming about it, Jini Reddy dares to delve into the 'wanderlands' of Britain, heading off in search of the magical in the landscape. A London journalist with multicultural roots and a perennial outsider, she determinedly sets off on this unorthodox path. Serendipity and her inner compass guide her around the country in pursuit of the Other and a connection to Britain's captivating natural world. Where might this lead? And if you know what it is to be Othered yourself, how might this colour your experiences? And what if, in invoking the spirit of the land, 'it' decides to make its presence felt? Whether following a 'cult' map to a hidden well that refuses to reveal itself, attempting to persuade a labyrinth to spill its secrets, embarking on a coast-to-coast pilgrimage or searching for a mystical land temple, Jini depicts a whimsical, natural Britain. Along the way, she tracks down ephemeral wild art, encounters women who worship The Goddess, falls deeper in love with her birth land and struggles – but mostly fails – to get to grips with its lore. Throughout, she rejoices in the wildness we cannot see and celebrates the natural beauty we can, while offering glimpses of her Canadian childhood and her Indian parents' struggles in apartheid-era South Africa. Wanderland is a book in which the heart leads, all things are possible and the Other, both wild and human, comes in from the cold. It is a paean to the joy of roaming, both figuratively and imaginatively, and to the joy of finding your place in the world.

'I will never forget my first sight of the river in Varanasi, from the narrowness and constriction of the alleys, thronged with activity, to the sudden release of the waterfront, the labyrinth's end . . . It seems that all of life has its assigned place on the stone steps leading down to the Ganges. Some are used for bathing, others for laundry, washing buffalo, puja (worship, ceremonial offering), and this one for the business of death. The smells are of wood smoke, buffalo dung, urine and jasmine flowers. The sounds are of rustling kites and lowing cattle, crackling wood and prayer. . .'Piers Moore Ede first fell in love with Varanasi when he passed through it on his way to Nepal in search of wild honey hunters. In the decade that followed it continued to exert its pull on him, and so he returned to live there, to press his ear to its heartbeat and to discover what it is that makes the spiritual capital of India so unique. In this intoxicating 'city of 10,000 widows', where funeral pyres smoulder beside the river in which thousands of pilgrims bathe, and holiness and corruption walk side by side, Piers encounters sweet-makers and sadhus, mischievous boatmen and weary bureaucrats, silk weavers and musicians and discovers a remarkable interplay between death and life, light and dark.

“In his long career of exploration and scholarship, Hemming has become a powerful advocate for the Amazon.”—The New York Times, John Hemming Amazonia is one of the most magnificent habitats on earth. Containing the world’s largest river, with more water and a broader basin than any other, it hosts a great expanse of tropical rain forest, home to the planet’s most luxuriant biological diversity. The human beings who settled in the region 10,000 years ago learned to live well with its bounty of fish, game, and vegetation. It was not until 1500 that Europeans first saw the Amazon, and, unsurprisingly, the rain forest’s unique environment has attracted larger-than-life personalities through the centuries. John Hemming recalls the adventures and misadventures of intrepid explorers, fervent Jesuit ecclesiastics, and greedy rubber barons who enslaved thousands of Indians in the relentless quest for profit. He also tells of nineteenth-century botanists, fearless advocates for Indian rights, and the archaeologists and anthropologists who have uncovered the secrets of the Amazon’s earliest settlers. Hemming discusses the current threat to Amazonia as forests are destroyed to feed the world’s appetite for timber, beef, and soybeans, and he vividly describes the passionate struggles taking place in order to utilize, protect, and understand the Amazon.

THE STORY: The scene is a government institution, possibly mental or medical and presumably penal, where the inmates are kept behind locked gates and are referred to by number rather than name. In charge is Roote, a pompous ex-colonel who is surely

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2008 'The world's most controversial classicist debunks our movie-style myths about the Roman town with meticulous scholarship and propulsive energy' Laura Silverman, Daily Mail The ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought; or the hygiene of the baths which must have been hotbeds of germs; or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one; or the massive death count, maybe less than ten per cent of the population. An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing re-discovery, by Britain's favourite classicist.

From Michael Palin to Nicholas Crane, a riveting anthology of railway travel covers every kind of train from the luxurious Orient Express to the insanely crowded commuter trains of Bombay In an age when low-cost airlines have reduced travel to a point-to-point aerial bus service, the train can still take travelers on a genuine journey, nosing through sweeping valleys, across vertiginous viaducts, and stopping at tiny halts in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. For better or worse, it brings along its own shotgun traveling community: the delightful breakfast companions chance-met in the dining car or the crazy loner with whom one faces the prospect of sharing a sleeper compartment across the Urals. Here, Michael Kerr has gone through the archives to compile a riveting anthology of all the best railway travel that has appeared in the Daily Telegraph. Here are epic forays from Wick in northernmost Scotland all the way to Vladivostok, Moscow to Peking, and on the Sunset Express across the United States to California. Historic events such as the last day of steam in Britain and less momentous but equally emblematic experiences such as the signal failure in the Midlands are also highlighted. By turns hilarious and alarming, this is armchair travel at its very best and the perfect book indeed for a long train journey.

With a healthy but not slavish attention to veracity, a popular southern humorist casts an evil eye on the New Millennium South in this entertaining collection of essays that "acts rurally but swears globally." Topics range from the blues and the electricity of Muddy Waters, to the fate of the Cypress Garden mermaids, to the inventor of sweat -- Richard M. Nixon. Dees takes us through the southern seasons and the majesty of deer at dawn, the true meaning of homegrown tomatoes, how to ruin a perfectly good fishing hole, and the fragile physics of gin and tonic. Essays titled "My Dog Can Mix Drinks," "Elvis in the Afternoon," "High and Inside: A TV Season with the Cubs," "I Am the Love Child of James Brown," and "Pulp Fishin'" offer a fresh perspective on life in and around Oxford, Mississippi.

Shadow of the Silk Road records a journey along the greatest land route on earth. Out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran and into Kurdish Turkey, Colin Thubron covers some seven thousand miles in eight months. Making his way by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart and camel, he travels from the tomb of the Yellow Emperor, the mythic progenitor of the Chinese people, to the ancient port of Antioch—in perhaps the most difficult and ambitious journey he has undertaken in forty years of travel. The Silk Road is a huge network of arteries splitting and converging across the breadth of Asia. To travel it is to trace the passage not only of trade and armies but also of ideas, religions and inventions. But alongside this rich and astonishing past, Shadow of the Silk Road is also about Asia today: a continent of upheaval. One of the trademarks of Colin Thubron's travel writing is the beauty of his prose; another is his gift for talking to people and getting them to talk to him. Shadow of the Silk Road encounters Islamic countries in many forms. It is about changes in China, transformed since the Cultural Revolution. It is about false nationalisms and the world's discontented margins, where the true boundaries are not political borders but the frontiers of tribe, ethnicity, language and religion. It is a magnificent and important account of an ancient world in modern ferment.

South America will uplift your senses with the tropical sunrising over a palm-fringed beach, or a bracing wind blowing off the southernice fields. Light can be blinding on the high-altitude salt flats, or dense andgreen in the rain forest. The gentle scent of the ripe guava fills thecountryside, but the fire of chilli from that innocent-looking jar willelectrify your taste buds. Explore the cities of prehispanic civilizations and thechurches of colonial times, immerse yourself in the present with itscelebrations and social dilemmas. Where past and present mix, there arefestivals, crafts and gastronomy, from the humble potato in its umpteenvarieties to the most sophisticated of wines. If you are looking for something more active, throw yourselfoff a giant sand dune into a lake, or climb the highest mountain. Walk in thetree-tops of the rainforest, at eye level with birds and monkeys, dance in anAndean village square to a solo violin, or to techno brega in a warehouse-sizedclub in Belem. Whatever South America inspires you to do, you will find thatthere is no limit to the passion that it fires within you. In this era of countless websites which bring images and informationfrom every barrio and pueblito, the South American Handbook gives he details onhow to navigate between each place, big or small. It is a celebration of thespirit of adventure and independence that characterizes travel in this part ofthe world. Drawing on the expertise of correspondents in the region and the experiencesof travellers, this 94th edition of the Handbook provides the threadfrom Acandi to Ushuaia and everywhere you may wish to stop off in between. The guide provides comprehensive coverage ofArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay,Venezuela, the Guianas, and the Falkland Islands. Extensive coverageof the most famous and lesser-knownsites, from the awe-inspiring Machu Picchu and iconic Christ the Redeemer tothe wilderness of the Guianas and rolling hills of Uruguay Highlights sectionso you know what not to miss Practical informationon how to get to each country andaround, plus suggested itineraries to help you plan your trip, whether you aretravelling for a week or a month Well-researched cultural and historical backgroundsectionsavailable as an online resource Tips for travelling with your kids Overview mapfor each country and region which includes'Don't miss' destinations, local information on how to get around and detailedstreet maps where relevant Authoritative advice and recommendationsto ensure youfind the best accommodation, restaurant or local tour operator Footprint's legendary South American Handbook covers thecontinent in amazing detail, enabling you to explore for yourself. Fromspectacular carnivals to shuddering glaciers, this guide will open your way tothe irresistible spirit of the world's greatest continent.