As the title implies, Simon Armitage's flesh-and-blood account of numerous personal journeys reads like a private encyclopaedia of emotion and health. Vivid and engaged, the poems range from the rainforests of South America to the deserts of Western Australia, but are set against the ultimate and most intimate of all landscapes, the human body. Equally, the body politic comes into question, through subtle enquiries into Englishness and the idea of home.

CONTENTS Introductron . . . . . . . . . . Medical Dictionary and Encyclopzdia A to Z . . . . A Practical and Upto-Date Guide to the Structure and Functions of the Human Body. Its Care in Health and Sickness the Symptoms and Treatment of Disease Massage Medicines Drugs Medicinal Herbs Anzsthetin Sick Nursing Hospitals Surgical Instruments National Health Insurance the Law in Relation to Medicine, etc.

Simon Armitage once observed that there are two types of poems - those that try to work out the chemical equation for language, and those that tell stories and sings songs. These are very much the latter, a handful of lyrics and verses written over number of years, many being commissioned to celebrate or commemorate public events, others being part of larger projects in theatre, radio and television. Erotic, witty, flippant, poignant and always melodic, Travelling Songs is a kind of busker's handbook, the kind of work that might win a poet a decent meal when singing for his supper. Or as the author comments, 'Describing yourself as a poet is often seen as a challenge or even an alibi. In those circumstances, it's worth having a few tunes up your sleeve to prove it.'