| In
this monthly feature, we'll talk travel books, films, travel writers, and
reviews.
This month's
contributor is Tom Glaister is the author of "Hand to Mouth to India"
and founder along with Jim Kleban of Roadjunky.com. Glaister claims, "In
an age of consumer travel and guide books that repeat the same old tired
cliches and platitudes, Road Junky was founded to put the spirit back into
travel, encountering the world anew with the spirit of gonzo journalism,
writing about travel with a highly subjective voice." Check it out at RoadJunky.com.
Here is Glaister's selection of best travel books followed by those he
deems most influential in inspiring a generation to travel.
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Dark Star Safari - By Paul Theroux
Theroux travels overland from Cairo to Capetown in search of the real Africa that the news just doesn't cover. A modern travel classic. |
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Dispatches - By Michael Herr
The only book about Vietnam you'll ever need to read. A must for any budding travel writer. |
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| Hand to Mouth to India - Tom Thumb |
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| Deccan Tamasha - Robin Brown |
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Arabian Sands - By Wilfred Thesiger
Legendary tale of 5 years with the Bedouin in the desert. |
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| In Baghdad Without a Map - Tony Horwitz |
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| Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah - Richard Burton |
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Hashish - By Henry de Monfreid
He doesn't know what hashish is yet but is determined to smuggle it from Greece to Egypt in his small boat. A classic. |
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| Johnathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels |
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Travelogues
that inspired a generation to travel
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Papillon - By Henri de
Charriere
The epic true
story of a man who escaped from the penal colonies in South America a dozen
times before getting free. |
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The Motorcycle Diaries
The film directed by Walter Salles, depicts young Che Guevara touring South America on an ancient Norton motorbike. |
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Paddle to the Amazon - By Don Starkell
12,000+ mile canoe journey from Canada to the Amazon River. |
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Adrift - By Steve Callahan
Seventy-six days lost at sea in the Atlantic. Fire yourself up a plate of raw bird and dig in. |
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The Pillars of Hercules - By Paul Theroux
Travels around the Mediterranean through the vulgar, the war-torn and the beautiful. |
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First Footsteps in East Africa - By Richard Burton
A 19th century travel legend, Burton endeavours to become the first white man to enter the forbidden city of Harar in Somalia.
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Marco Polo's Travels - By Marco Polo
The Old Man of the Mountains, Kublai Khan's concubines and the birth of sex tourism? |
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Heart of Darkness - By Joseph Conrad
Perhaps the greatest travel novel, a masterpiece on the inner journey that accompanies the outer travels. |
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In An Antique Land - By Amitav Ghosh
In a leisurely blend of travelogue, history and cross-cultural analysis, Indian writer Ghosh reconstructs a 12th-century master-slave relationship that confounds modern concepts of slavery. |
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A Book of Traveller's Tales - Compiled by Eric Newby
Travel stories from conquistadores, missionaries, beatniks and wanderers from all corners of the world. |
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