Containing more than 600 entries, this valuable resource presents all aspects of travel writing. There are entries on places and routes (Afghanistan, Black Sea, Egypt, Gobi Desert, Hawaii, Himalayas, Italy, Northwest Passage, Samarkand, Silk Route, Timbuktu), writers (Isabella Bird, Ibn Battuta, Bruce Chatwin, Gustave Flaubert, Mary Kingsley, Walter Ralegh, Wilfrid Thesiger), methods of transport and types of journey (balloon, camel, grand tour, hunting and big game expeditions, pilgrimage, space travel and exploration), genres (buccaneer narratives, guidebooks, New World chronicles, postcards), companies and societies (East India Company, Royal Geographical Society, Society of Dilettanti), and issues and themes (censorship, exile, orientalism, and tourism). For a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia website.

How has the valley of Kashmir, famed for its beauty and tranquility, become the focus of a dispute with the potential for nuclear conflict? How does the Kashmir separatist movement challenge the integrity of the Indian state and threaten the stability of a region of tremendous strategic importance? As Pakistan and India square up for what may become a major regional conflict, Victoria Schofield's timely book examines the Kashmir question, from the period when the valley was an independent kingdom to its current status as a battleground for two of the world's newest nuclear powers: India and Pakistan. Schofield now traces the origins of the conflict in the 19th century and explains the serious issues that divide India and Pakistan and assesses the military positions of both states as their troops mass along the border.

Containing more than 600 entries, this valuable resource presents all aspects of travel writing. There are entries on places and routes (Afghanistan, Black Sea, Egypt, Gobi Desert, Hawaii, Himalayas, Italy, Northwest Passage, Samarkand, Silk Route, Timbuktu), writers (Isabella Bird, Ibn Battuta, Bruce Chatwin, Gustave Flaubert, Mary Kingsley, Walter Ralegh, Wilfrid Thesiger), methods of transport and types of journey (balloon, camel, grand tour, hunting and big game expeditions, pilgrimage, space travel and exploration), genres (buccaneer narratives, guidebooks, New World chronicles, postcards), companies and societies (East India Company, Royal Geographical Society, Society of Dilettanti), and issues and themes (censorship, exile, orientalism, and tourism). For a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia website.

‘A beautifully written, meticulously researched journey through time in Kashmir’ – Basharat Peer The very name Kashmir conjures up magical images, from the real garden paradise of Shalimar to Thomas Moore’s fantastic descriptions in “Lalla Rookh”. Recounting the story of this colourful and fascinating region as it appears in travel writing, literature, and historical works from ancient times to the present day, Travels in Kashmir offers a lively and comprehensive guide to a land little understood in the West. Beginning with an informal history of Kashmir – from the legends of the twelfth-century Kalhana to the accounts of British colonial rulers – the book brings together a wide variety of engaging travellers’ tales, reports, and descriptions that vividly illustrate the changing perceptions of the area – both Indian and European – throughout the years. Of particular interest is a section on the arts, crafts, and craftspeople of Kashmir, which focuses specifically on the shawl-weaving, carpet-making, and papier mâché works that have gained international renown. Throughout, Keenan proves a sharp as well as sympathetic observer with an eye for the amusing and the poignant, and the entertaining way she unfolds the story of Kashmir’s people, places, and crafts makes this a book that will be enjoyed by tourists, readers of travel writing, and anyone interested in one of the most unusual and beautiful places in the world.

Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe polarised opinion in early 20th India by his unconventional methods of educating Kashmiris and, through them, changing the social order of a society steeped in old superstitions. He was a man of contradictions: a Christian and a boxer, a missionary who made very few converts, a staunch supporter of British imperialism and a friend of Kashmir's political reformers. He made enemies of the Hindu Establishment, who described him as 'exceedingly a bad man and one too much fond of cricket,' but earned the respect of two successive Hindu Maharajas, as well as the Muslim leader, who succeeded them. He was 27 when he became the Principal of the Church Missionary Society's school in Kashmir in 1890 and he left as India gained independence in 1947. His vision was of a school in action, vigorously involved in the affairs and problems of the city of Srinagar, to support the weak and to fight corruption wherever it occurred. Under his leadership the masters and boys were engaged in fighting fires in the city, saving people from drowning, taking hospital patients for outings on the lakes, helping women and removing the ban on the remarriage of young widows. His avowed purpose was to make his students into honest, fearless leaders, who would serve their beloved country of Kashmir. The book begins with the medieval condition of Kashmir in the nineteenth century; describes the development of his unusual approach to education; explores the many challenges he had to overcome, including his chronic bad health, his difficulties with the CMS and the opposition of the Hindu establishment and State Government; and contrasts this with the speedy and enthusiastic acceptance by his young Kashmiri teachers and students of what he was offering and how together they transformed their society and prepared Kashmir for independence.