Travel and Exploration
Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the
RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title,
you will then receive another one.
If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer
Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email library@rnib.org.uk
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contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
libraryinfo@rnib.org.uk
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Historical accounts
Barr, Pat
A curious life for a lady: the story of Isabella Bird. 1970. Read by Gretel Davis,
16 hours 5 minutes. TB 2173.
The story of Isabella Bird who at the age of 40 rebelled against the conventions of
her Victorian middle-class background and set out on a series of adventurous
travels in arduous conditions to many strange places. TB 2173.
Borrow, George
Wild Wales: its people, language and scenery. 1984. Read by Ray Jones, 26
hours 35 minutes. TB 5270.
Born and bred in Norfolk, George Borrow was already a well-known travel writer,
having spent several years travelling about England, sometimes with the gypsies.
Married, he still took time to travel, and this tour of Wales was in 1854. TB 5270.
Dickens, Charles
American notes. 2000. Read by Peter Joyce, 11 hours 5 minutes. TB 12713.
To the nineteenth-century Englishman, America was not unlike Russia or China or
Cuba today - a new society, founded on new and revolutionary principles. Charles
Dickens was only one of the more famous of those Englishmen who crossed the
Atlantic to see democracy in action. Charles Dickens chronicles his five-month trip
around the United States in 1842 and records his adventures as well as his
impressions of American schools, prisons and slavery. TB 12713.
Douglas, Norman
Siren land. 1911. Read by Derek Chandler, 10 hours 44 minutes. TB 4295.
A travel book with all the elegance and style of the age in which it was first
published. The "Siren Land" is the region around Naples and more especially the
Sorrentine Peninsula and Capri. TB 4295.
Fleming, Peter
Brazilian adventure. 1933. Read by Arthur Bush, 13 hours 30 minutes. TB
2102.
A travel classic in which two young Englishmen explore unknown Amazon jungles
in search of the lost expedition of Colonel Fawcett. TB 2102.
2
Forster, E M
Alexandria: a history and a guide. 1922. Read by George Hagan, 10 hours 13
minutes. TB 5106.
The author wrote this book when, as a Red Cross volunteer during the First World
War, he was stationed in Alexandria. He viewed the sights he saw through their
history from the Pharoahs to the nineteenth century. He writes of the religions and
heresies. Michael Haag, who visited the city in 1973, brings the history up to date.
Lawrence Durrell used the book as he was writing the Alexandria Quartet and here
contributes a foreword. TB 5106.
Fountaine, Margaret
Love among the butterflies: the travels and adventures of a Victorian lady.
1980. Read by Judith Whale, 8 hours 52 minutes. TB 4068.
The author, born in 1862, left this record of sixty years of her life in sealed boxes
which were not to be opened until 1978. They contain a wonderful account of her
life and travels, and her abiding passion for butterflies. TB 4068.
Grosvenor Myer, Valarie
A Victorian lady in Africa. 1989. Read by Frances Jeater, 8 hours 46 minutes.
TB 8162.
Mary Kingsley was a fairly typical Victorian girl and young woman, apart perhaps
from her avid interest in science and engineering. Her parents died in 1892, and
Mary promptly set off for adventure in West Africa. Her experiences reveal much
about attitudes to women and African societies in the last years of the nineteenth
century. Mary Kingsley packed the remaining eight years of her life full of travel,
trade, observation, debate and an unceasing search for knowledge. TB 8162.
Hall, Richard
Lovers on the Nile. 1980. Read by Garard Green, 10 hours 34 minutes. TB
3648.
An account of the two journeys made by Samuel and Florence Baker to the lake
regions of Central Africa. TB 3648.
Horwitz, Tony
Into the blue: boldly going where Captain Cook has gone before. 2002. Read
by Jim McLarty, 21 hours 8 minutes. TB 15203.
This tale of historic adventure retraces the eighteenth century voyages of Captain
James Cook. The author vividly recounts Cook's exploration and relives his
adventures by travelling in Cook's wake to such places as Tahiti, New Zealand, the
Great Barrier Reef, Alaska and finally Hawaii. Along the way, he discovers Cook's
legacy to the present day. TB 15203.
3
Jeal, Tim
Stanley: the impossible life of Africa's greatest explorer. 2007. Read by Bob
Rollett, 23 hours 5 minutes. TB 15195.
Henry Morton Stanley, so the story goes, was a cruel imperialist - a bad man of
Africa - who connived with King Leopold II of Belgium in horrific crimes against the
people of the Congo. He also conducted the most legendary celebrity interview in
history, remembered in the words 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'. The reality of
Stanley's life - even by the exceptional standards of the Victorian age - is yet more
extraordinary. Rejected by both parents at birth and consigned to a Welsh
workhouse, he emigrated to America, fought in the Civil War - on both sides before becoming a journalist and then an explorer. Contains violence. TB 15195.
Jerome, Jerome K
Diary of a pilgrimage. 1891. Read by John Rye, 4 hours 10 minutes. TB 8495.
Invited to the theatre on Monday next, Jerome discovers it is at Ober-Ammergau.
He looked at his diary and saw that Aunt Emma was coming, calculated that he
would miss her and decided that he would go! And so began an epic pilgrimage. TB
8495.
Keay, Julia
With passport and parasol. 1989. Read by Anne White, 9 hours 53 minutes.
TB 9074.
The Victorians were nothing if not intrepid and this book, based on a Radio 4
series, brings together the adventures of seven "lady travellers". They include
characters as diverse as a society hostess, a journalist and a mystic. Their travels
took them as far afield as Russia, the Middle East and Central Asia. Each had a
remarkable tale to tell. TB 9074.
Kinglsey, Mary
Travels in West Africa. 1897. Read by Rosemary Davis, 33 hours 52 minutes.
TB 4754.
As a dutiful Victorian daughter, the author was thirty before being freed (by her
parents' deaths) to do as she chose. She went to West Africa in 1893 and again in
1895, to investigate the beliefs and customs of the inland tribes and also to collect
zoological specimens. She was appalled by the 'thin veneer of rubbishy white
culture' imposed by British officials and was not afraid to say so. TB 4754.
Listowel, Judith Hare
The other Livingstone. 1974. Read by Alvar Lidell, 11 hours 57 minutes. TB
2610.
The story of the four men who played a crucial part in Livingstone's discoveries,
and of the intrigue and rivalry which took place behind the scenes in Africa, away
from the rapturous public gaze of the Victorians. TB 2610.
4
MacLean, Alistair
Captain Cook. 1972. Read by Garard Green, 4 hours 30 minutes. TB 2118.
The story of James Cook, seaman, navigator and cartographer, and the three
amazing voyages he made between 1768 and 1779. TB 2118.
Morton, Henry Vollam
In the steps of St. Paul. 1936. Read by Alvar Lidell, 18 hours 22 minutes. TB
1393.
The author follows the journeys of the apostle throughout his missionary work
among the early Christians of Greece, Turkey and Syria. TB 1393.
Morton, Henry Vollam
In the steps of the Master. 1934. Read by John Webster, 18 hours. TB 2013.
A travel book composed of the thoughts and impressions of a traveller in Palestine
with the New Testament in his hands. TB 2013.
Nicholls, C S
David Livingstone. Read by Nigel Graham, 2 hours 20 minutes. TB 13134.
Isis Pocket Biographies. Livingstone has been acclaimed a hero for his discovery of
the Victoria Falls and he mapped out much of central Africa's waterways. In 1871
Henry Stanley went to Africa to find Livingstone leading to one of the most famous
meetings in exploration history. This text provides an account of Livingstone's life,
from his humble beginnings in Scotland, and his struggle to gain qualifications, to
his employment with the London Missionary Society and his search for the source
of the Nile. TB 13134.
Nichols, Peter
Evolution's captain: the tragic fate of Robert Fitzroy, the man who sailed
Charles Darwin around the world. 2003. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 12 hours 5
minutes. TB 14398.
The early 19th century was a heroic age for British maritime exploits. Small naval
vessels were sent around the world to make charts, plot the oceans and ease the
way for empire. One such vessel was the Beagle. The Admiralty despatched it to
Tierra del Fuego - some of the wildest and most dangerous seas in the world - to
chart the waters. The first captain, Stokes, committed suicide, dying slowly and
painfully from his gunshot wounds. The second, Robert Fitz Roy was little happier.
He was a sailor in the heroic mould, but his plan to take four 'savages' hostage
when one of the Beagle's dinghies was stolen went drastically wrong. York Minster,
Jenny Button, and two others were taken to Britain to be educated as Christian
gentlefolk. And then to be returned to their native lands on the next expedition - the
one made famous by the presence on the boat of Charles Darwin. Like all the best
5
made plans, it did not work out like that. This true story is intriguing history and it
reveals great science in the making. TB 14398.
Priestley, J B
English journey: being a rambling but truthful account of what one man saw
and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the
autumn of the year 1933. 1977. Read by Brian Perkins, 14 hours 11 minutes.
TB 4651.
The author sub-titles this book 'a rambling but truthful account of what one man
saw and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the
autumn of the year 1933.' It gives a fair and rounded picture of England, its people
and landscape, its towns and countryside with a bonus of unexpected events,
amusing characters and his own racy comments. TB 4651.
Russell, Mary
The blessings of a good thick skirt: women travellers and their world. 1986.
Read by William Abney, 9 hours 21 minutes. TB 6637.
From the early days of Christian pilgrimage, women have been escaping from the
shackles of duty or domesticity and setting off on a variety of pretexts: to bring the
Bible to China; to forget a broken love affair, to expiate a past guilt or study plant
life - or simply to have fun. Some of the most remarkable journeys have been made
by women who have not only pushed to the limit their own strength and endurance,
but have sought to define their own identity by breaking down barriers. TB 6637.
Salmond, Anne
The trial of the cannibal dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas. 2004. Read by
Frances Edmond, 25 hours 48 minutes. TB 15289.
This is an account of Cook's South Sea voyages, in which he plunges south to
discover Antarctica and then veers north to discover Hawaii. Cook's ships, far from
remaining little wooden islands of Englishness in a Polynesian sea, become tangled
in the worlds they encounter. TB 15289.
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes. 1879. Read by Robert Trotter, 2 hours
25 minutes. TB 9458.
On 23 September 1878 Stevenson set out from Le Monastier in the Haut Loire, to
tramp through the wild region of the Cevennes. His only companion was a small
donkey to carry basic necessities, and a commodious "sleeping sack". In the next
12 days, at a pace dictated by the donkey and carrying most of the supplies
himself, he travelled 120 miles across rivers, mountains and forests. His stylish and
witty account was published in 1879. TB 9458.
6
World travel
A book of travellers' tales. 1985. Read by Frank Duncan, 21 hours 51 minutes.
TB 7013.
One of the great travel writers in English presents an anthology of writings by his
peers that spans the globe from Africa to Antarctica and from Penzance to Poona
and covers over 2000 years. He uses the same eye for the curious and the
unexpected that distinguishes his own writing. His travellers are brave and
resourceful. The extracts are arranged by continent and within that scheme
chronologically. TB 7013.
A taste for travel: an anthology. 1985. Read by Gene Foad, 25 hours 47
minutes. TB 6369.
An anthology of nearly 400 extracts from the huge diversity of travel literature,
grouped not in time or by country but according to aspects or themes of travel.
They represent the experiences of leaving and homecoming, of encounters and
perils, of seasons and terrains - in short, all the many meanings of being abroad.
TB 6369.
Bryson, Bill
The lost continent: travels in small town America, and, Neither here nor there:
travels in Europe. 1992. Read by John Chancer, 22 hours 20 minutes. TB
10290.
Here in one volume are two comic masterpieces by Bill Bryson, the books that have
brought him acclaim as one of the funniest writers at work today. "The Lost
Continent" is the story of Bryson's return to America, the land of his youth, after ten
years in England. He borrowed his mother's car and set out, and his account of his
journey has become a classic. In "Neither here nor there" Bryson is in Europe,
travelling from Hammerfest in Norway to Istanbul. Fluent in at least one language, a
backpack on his shoulders and a tight fist on his wallet, Bryson is an hilarious
guide. Contains strong language. TB 10290.
Cahill, Tim
Pecked to death by ducks. 2008. Read by Jeff Harding, 13 hours 43 minutes.
TB 16077.
From the waters of Antarctica to the blazing oil fields of Kuwait, Cahill offers a tour
of the Earth's remote, exotic, and dismal places, learning valuable life lessons
along the way. TB 16077.
7
Cahill, Tim
Pass the butterworms. 2008. Read by Jeff Harding, 11 hours 26 minutes. TB
15725.
Cahill takes us to the steppes of Mongolia, where he spends weeks on horseback
alongside the descendants of Genghis Khan and masters the Mongolian death trot;
to the North Pole, where he goes for a pleasure dip in 36-degree water; to Irian
Jaya New Guinea, where he spends an evening with members of one of the last
head-hunting tribes. Contains strong language. TB 15725.
Chatwin, Bruce
What am I doing here? 1989. Read by Nigel Graham, 12 hours 12 minutes. TB
7679.
A collection, selected by the author, of his own stories, profiles of fascinating
people, and travelogues covering his visits to Russia, China and Afghanistan,
amongst other places. A wide variety of pieces, all written with great depth and the
author's unique and penetrating perception of the world around him. TB 7679.
Coleridge, Nicholas
Around the world in 78 days. 1984. Read by Gordon Dulieu, 8 hours 5
minutes. TB 5713.
For a writer who arrives in one country only to start planning how to get to the next,
the idea of following the legendary route taken for a bet by Phileas Fogg had
immediate appeal. He was to find that travel had become an hilariously more
complicated matter. TB 5713.
Fiennes, William
Snow geese. 2001. Read by Steve Hodson, 9 hours 30 minutes. TB 12601.
Snow geese spend their summers in the Canadian Arctic. Each autumn they
migrate south, to Delaware and the Gulf of Mexico. In the spring they fly out north
again. William Fiennes decided to go with them and to write about his travels. TB
12601.
Gellhorn, Martha
Travels with myself and another. 1983. Read by Liza Ross, 12 hours 21
minutes. TB 12657.
This text describes the travels of Martha Gellhorn, and could more aptly be
described as an account of 'best horror journeys' than a travel book. Contains
strong language. TB 12657.
8
Keay, John
Eccentric travellers. 1982. Read by John Richmond, 8 hours 51 minutes. TB
4415.
The stories of seven extraordinary figures whose thirst for travel and exploration led
them into adventures in remote parts of the world: including that of James Holman
who travelled further than all the others put together, yet was completely blind. TB
4415.
Knox Mawer, Ronnie
A case of bananas: and other South sea trials. 1992. Read by Ronald
Markham, 5 hours 23 minutes. TB 9900.
No doubt Ronnie Knox Mawer did his best to uphold the dignity of British justice in
the South Seas, but his best was often not good enough. Trying to cope with the
manic eccentricities of the District Commissioner and the curious customs of the
Polynesians, he inevitable fell short of the standards demanded by Mr Pandit Raj
Sharma, his Court Registrar. Noel Coward, visiting him, observed that "social life in
the South Pacific has its limits", but Ronnie could never find out what they were. TB
9900.
McCarthy, Pete
The road to McCarthy. 2002. Read by Christopher Scott, 16 hours 41 minutes.
TB 12754.
Setting off from Ireland, Pete McCarthy takes us on a journey around the weird and
wonderful Irish communities of the world. He recounts his adventures and
escapades as, in Morocco he meets the head of Clan McCarthy, and then goes on
to visit the renowned Irish peoples of New York. He journeys to the southern
hemisphere and then back again to the United States before ending up in a small
town called McCarthy in Alaska. Contains strong language. TB 12754.
McGregor, Ewan
Long way round: chasing shadows across the world. 2004. Read by Peter
Kenny and Alistair Petrie, 9 hours 53 minutes. TB 13927.
In this book, fellow film actors and bike enthusiasts Ewan McGregor and Charley
Boorman travel 20,000 miles around the world by motorbike. They will encounter
many troublesome situations on the way, ranging from extreme and threatening
weather to impenetrable terrain, and will face challenges such as caviar fishing in
the Caspian sea, wrestling with the Mongolian Olympic team and riding with the
Canadian Mounties. Whilst throwing themselves enthusiastically into the culture of
each new country - from Alaska to Mongolia, from Canada to Kazakhstan - the two
friends will also have to rely on each other's good humour, as the journey tests their
relationship and their stamina to the limits. Contains strong language. TB 13927.
9
Mitchison, Naomi
Mucking around: five continents over fifty years. 1981. Read by Judith Whale,
5 hours 55 minutes. TB 4052.
These memoirs, based on letters written home during her travels, provide an
entertaining and outspoken guide to the many places the author has visited. TB
4052.
Morris, Jan
Among the cities. 1985. Read by David Sinclair, 18 hours 11 minutes. TB
5858.
During three decades of more or less constant travel Jan Morris has probably
described more of the world, and especially the urban world, than almost any other
writer. This is a retrospective selection of travel pieces, ranging from the 1950s to
the 1980s and including such diverse places as Berlin, Shanghai and Swaziland.
TB 5858.
Myers, Wendy
Seven league boots: the story of my seven-year hitch-hike round the world.
1969. Read by Carol Marsh, 10 hours 43 minutes. TB 1049.
Wendy Myers gave up her job in a bank and set off, at the age of 18, to hitchhike
her way around the world. She describes her travels, which took her seven years.
TB 1049.
Naipaul, V S
The middle passage: impressions of five societies, British, French and Dutch,
the West Indies and South America. 1962. Read by Duncan Carse, 9 hours 15
minutes. TB 126.
Naipul's first work of travel writing is an account of his journey in 1950 from London
to his birthplace, Trinidad. He offers a record of his impressions there and
elsewhere in the West Indies and South America, and examines their common
heritage of colonialism and slavery. TB 126.
Newby, Eric
A traveller's life. 1982. Read by Brian Perkins, 11 hours 8 minutes. TB 4508.
Although the author insists that this is a book about travel and not an
autobiography, his own personality inevitably colours the story of a lifetime of
journeys, from darkest Hammersmith, through Harrods to Africa, America and the
Orient. TB 4508.
10
Packer, Joy
The world is a proud place. 1966. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 9 hours 45
minutes. TB 192.
A world tour with a difference. Miss Packer is more interested in the people she
meets than in the sights of the guide books. TB 192.
Palin, Michael
Full circle. 1997. Read by Michael Palin, 12 hours. TB 11292.
The author circumnavigated the Pacific Rim, travelling through the eighteen
countries bordering this ocean. Volcanoes marked the journey, as well as
mountains and gorges, glaciers and icebergs, great rivers and windswept beaches.
From visiting a Gulag camp in Siberia to eating maggots in Mexico, rustling camels
in Australia to singing with a choir in Vladivostok, he reveals a colourful, often hairraising but almost always beautiful world. TB 11292.
Palin, Michael
Around the world in 80 days. 1989. Read by Michael Palin, 7 hours 38
minutes. TB 7880.
In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club to
circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Phileas Fogg 115 years
earlier. Fogg brought back a Princess. Palin a lot of dirty laundry and a television
series that stands as an unparalleled tribute to man's ability to make life difficult for
himself. TB 7880.
Palin, Michael
Pole to pole. 1992. Read by Michael Palin, 10 hours. TB 9434.
The second of Michael Palin's Great Twentieth Century Adventures. He and his
team set out to travel from one end of the earth to another, following the 30 degree
east line of longitude, using aircraft only as a last resort and enduring extremes of
heat and cold as they crossed 17 countries on trains, trucks, ships, rafts, ski-doos,
buses, barges, bicycles and balloons. TB 9434.
Roberts, Jason
A sense of the world: how a blind man became history's greatest traveller.
2006. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 13 hours 41 minutes. TB 15493.
He was known simply as "The Blind Traveller" - a solitary, sightless adventurer
who, astonishingly, fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity in
Siberia, hunted rogue elephants in Ceylon and helped chart the Australian Outback.
James Holman became 'one of the greatest wonders of the world he so
sagaciously explored', triumphing not over only blindness but crippling pain, poverty
and the interference of well-meaning authorities. This book relives his life of
exploration. TB 15493.
11
Snow, Sebastian
The rucksack man. 1976. Read by Alvar Liddell, 7 hours 15 minutes. TB 3036.
The author is a determined, if somewhat unorthodox walker. This journey took him
from Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world, right through South America to
Panama City. TB 3036.
Wilson, John
Travelling blind. 1963. Read by Corbett Woodall, 7 hours 37 minutes. TB 1290.
An account of journeys in African countries and the West Indies undertaken on
behalf of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind by the blind director of the
Society. TB 1290.
Wood, Victoria
Victoria's empire. 2008. Read by Victoria Wood, Adjoa Andoh and Stephen
Thorne, 7 hours 40 minutes. TB 16032.
Victoria Wood was named after Queen Victoria. So who better to take us on a
journey through the British Empire? The story of the Empire is a key part of the
story of Queen Victoria's reign and the Empire was the largest the world had ever
known, covering a fifth of the earth's surface and including a quarter of its
population. Victoria's mammoth journey takes in the beauty and splendour of Hong
Kong, Borneo, Ghana, Jamaica, Newfoundland, New Zealand and Australia before
she finishes at the Victoria Falls in Zambia. TB 16032.
Antarctic and Arctic
Bertram, Colin
Antartica sixty years ago: a re-appraisal of the British Graham Land
Expedition 1934-1937. 1996. Read by Duncan Carse, 8 hours 58 minutes. TB
11358.
This article describes a mapping expedition to Antarctica sixty years ago. The
expedition was limited to 16 men in a small wooden schooner. They worked three
summers and two winters, using almost a hundred working dogs. It was a triumph
in the exploration of an unknown area, with no element of great drama but full of
adventure and danger. TB 11358.
Fiennes, Ranulph
Mind over matter: the epic crossing of the Antarctic Continent. 1993. Read by
Stephen Thorne, 10 hours 19 minutes. TB 10007.
On 9 November, 1992, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud set out from the
Filchner ice shelf, to attempt the first unassisted crossing of the Antarctic continent.
It was to be a journey of epic proportions which captured the imagination of the
12
entire world. When they were finally lifted out, more dead than alive, they had
completed by far the longest unsupported journey in polar history. TB 10007.
Huntford, Roland
Shackleton. 1985. Read by Andrew Timothy, 33 hours 37 minutes. TB 6379.
An Anglo-Irishman, Ernest Shackleton left school at 16 and joined the Merchant
Marine. In 1900 he applied to join the "Discovery" expedition under Scott, and
together with Edward Wilson, the three men achieved a new "Furthest South". The
stigma of being invalided home, however, sowed the seeds of his rivalry with Scott,
and of his determination to make his own attempt at the South Pole. TB 6379.
Johnson, Stanley
Antarctica: the last great wilderness. 1985. Read by Gordon Dulieu, 9 hours
49 minutes. TB 6323.
The author believes that Antarctica, the last great wilderness, should be designated
the first world park, covering one-tenth of the Earth's surface. He made the 5000
mile journey aboard the British Antarctic Survey vessel, the "John Briscoe", and
found a land of awesome physical beauty, rich in living resources. TB 6323.
Lashly, William
Under Scott's command: Lashly's Antarctic diaries. 1969. Read by Derek
Chandler, 5 hours 23 minutes. TB 2193.
The diaries kept by William Lashly, during the expeditions in 'Discovery' and 'Terra
Nova' form the basis of a vivid account of Captain Scott and contemporary life in
the Navy. TB 2193.
Lindsay, Martin
The epic of Captain Scott. 1962. Read by William Abney, 3 hours 26 minutes.
TB 3907.
A straightforward account of Captain Scott's tragic but inspiring last journey, written
by an author familiar with Arctic conditions at first hand. TB 3907.
Ludlam, Harry
Captain Scott: The full story. 1965. Read by Robert Gladwell, 11 hours 45
minutes. TB 2204.
The story of Scott of the Antarctic. TB 2204.
Parfit, Michael
South light: a journey to Antarctica. 1988. Read by George Hagan, 12 hours
31 minutes. TB 7308.
Vast, remote, otherworldly - its terrain more moonscape than landscape - Antarctica
is the last unchartered territory, the end of the world. Most of us will never set foot
on it. Yet in this evocative account we take a journey that is utterly memorable. One
13
of the few writers ever to have spent a full season in Antarctica, Michael Parfit
conveys "the unearthly beauty of the place and the exhilaration of simply being
alive that takes hold there". TB 7308.
Scott, R F
Scott's last expedition: the journals. 1983. Read by Duncan Carse, 17 hours
45 minutes. TB 1344.
This is an account, taken from Captain Scott's own journals, of the work of the
Antarctic expedition of 1910-1912, and of the heroic sledge journey to the South
Pole which cost him his life. TB 1344.
Scott, R F
Scott of the Antarctic. Read by Edward Fox, 2 hours 18 minutes. TB 12402.
In 1911 Captain Robert Falcon Scott went back to the frozen wasteland of the
Antarctic with the intention of reaching the South Pole, by a long and arduous trek
across the ice. On reaching the pole Scott and his comrades were devastated to
find that they had been beaten by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen. With
temperatures of minus 30, they began their slow journey back to their base; coming
within eleven miles of safety, they finally succumbed to the elements and were
found eight months later frozen to death. Captain Scott's diary was discovered
under his shoulder, stored inside a little wallet. TB 12402.
Shackleton, Ernest
South. 1919. Read by Sean Barrett, 8 hours 55 minutes. TB 9460.
Sir Ernest Shackleton was determined to lead the first expedition to cross
Antarctica via the South Pole. Setting off in 1914, the expedition failed in its grand
design, but in failure they recorded one of the great stories of human endurance.
TB 9460.
Sea voyages
Blyth, Chay
The impossible voyage. 1971. Read by William Jack, 6 hours 29 minutes. TB
2205.
The author's own story of the first ever solo non-stop wrong way round the world
sail against winds and current. TB 2205.
14
Callahan, Steven
Adrift: Seventy-six days lost at sea. 1987. Read by Crawford Logan, 7 hours
33 minutes. TB 6715.
When Steven Callahan's small yacht sank west of the Canaries, he found himself
adrift in a five-foot inflatable raft, pounded by storms, scorched by the tropical sun
and attacked by sharks. This is his own account of that 76-day ordeal as he drifted
1,800 miles across the Atlantic in 1983. "Although the sea was my greatest enemy,
it was also my greatest ally." TB 6715.
Chichester, Francis
The lonely sea and the sky. 1964. Read by Peter Reynolds, 18 hours. TB 1991.
A lone-hander's many adventures include a solo flight from London to Sydney in a
Gypsy-Moth and a single-handed crossing of the Atlantic by yacht. TB 1991.
Chichester, Francis
"Gipsy Moth" circles the world. 1967. Read by Robert Gladwell, 12 hours 8
minutes. TB 355.
Sir Francis' own account of his unique feat - sailing the ketch Gipsy Moth IV singlehanded round the world. TB 355.
Connelly, Charlie
Attention all shipping: a journey around the shipping forecast. 2004. Read by
Daniel Philpott, 13 hours 53 minutes. TB 14885.
This solemn, rhythmic intonation of the shipping forecast on BBC radio is as familiar
as the sound of Big Ben chiming the hour. Since its first broadcast in the 1920s it
has inspired poems, songs and novels in addition to its intended objective of
warning generations of seafarers of impending storms and gales. Yet familiar
though the sea areas are by name, few people give much thought to where they
are or what they contain. In Attention all shipping, Charlie Connelly wittily explores
the places behind the voice, those mysterious regions whose names seem often to
bear no relation to conventional geography. Contains strong language. TB 14885.
Heyerdahl, Thor
The 'Tigris' expedition: in search of our beginnings. 1980. Read by Jonathan
Oliver, 14 hours 43 minutes. TB 9261.
The true story of an epic voyage in a boat made of reeds from the Gulf into the
Indian Ocean. It tells of terrifying encounters with supertankers and bandits, and of
the political dispute which led to the ceremonial burning of the boat. At the heart of
the expedition is an anthropological theory which gives an added edge to this real
life adventure. TB 9261.
15
Heyerdahl, Thor
The Ra expeditions. 1971. Read by Alvar Lidell, 14 hours. TB 1564.
In a boat built of papyrus reeds the author set out to test the theory that the ancient
Egyptians could have reached America thousands of years before Columbus. He
recounts the dangers and excitement he and his international crew encountered on
the high seas. TB 1564.
Innes, Hammond
Sea and islands. 1967. Read by Andrew Gemmill, 11 hours 38 minutes. TB
306.
The author's impression of sailing as a way of travel, and his account of the places
to which the boat took him. TB 306.
James, Naomi
At one with the sea. 1979. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 7 hours 7 minutes. TB
3498.
The author was the first woman to sail single-handed round the globe via Cape
Horn - and in the fastest time ever. TB 3498.
Jones, Tristan
Ice! 1979. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 9 hours 5 minutes. TB 3634.
Tristan Jones series; book 3. Sequel to: Heart of oak, TB 3634. The author aimed
to set a new record for taking a sailing boat as close as possible to the North Pole.
Trapped for a year in drift ice, his harrowing adventures included an encounter with
a hungry polar bear and a narrow escape from capsizing iceberg. TB 3634.
Newby, Eric
The last grain race. 1990. Read by Nigel Graham, 11 hours. TB 14090.
At the age of eighteen, Eric Newby signed on as an apprentice on the four-masted
sailing ship Moshulu of the Erikson line for the round trip from Europe to Australia
and back, outwards by way of the Cape of Good Hope in ballast and homewards
round Cape Horn with a cargo of grain. Moshulu was the largest of the dozen or so
sailing ships still engaged in the grain trade which strove annually to make the
shortest passage home. Newby signed on in the autumn of 1928. This was to be an
historic voyage, a dramatic personal adventure. Contains strong language. TB
14090.
Rose, Alec
My 'Lively Lady'. 1968. Read by Alvar Lidell, 8 hours 15 minutes. TB 2592.
An account of a single-handed voyage around the world. Alec Rose describes how
he gradually built up his plans for the trip; the disasters, gales and loneliness of the
trip itself, the eventual arrival at Portsmouth, 318 days after setting out and his
knighthood a few days after his return. TB 2592.
16
Severin, Timothy
The Sinbad voyage. 1982. Read by Gordon Dulieu, 10 hours 25 minutes. TB
4793.
Already known as an explorer and writer, the author set out in 1980 to follow the
voyages of Sinbad the Sailor recounted in the `Thousand and One Nights.' His
ship, the `Sohar', was a replica of an Arab sailing ship in the Middle Ages and with
it he proved that myth and legend were securely based on the exploits of real Arab
sea-faring merchants of over a thousand years ago. TB 4793.
Severin, Timothy
The Jason voyage: the quest for the golden fleece. 1985. Read by Ian Craig, 9
hours 35 minutes. TB 5929.
When Jason and the Argonauts set out in search of the Golden Fleece, their
journey took them from present-day Greece across the Aegean Sea, through the
Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara; then via the Bosphorus, into the Black Sea,
and along the north coast of Turkey to the state of Georgia in the USSR. The
author not only proves that the journey could have been made in an oared galley,
but along the route investigates many of the adventures attributed to the Argonauts.
TB 5929.
Slocum, Joshua
Sailing alone around the world. 1969. Read by Hayward Morse, 7 hours 13
minutes. TB 11142.
Challenged by an expert who said it couldn't be done, Joshua Slocum, an
indomitable New England sea captain, set out in April of 1895 to prove that a man
could sail alone around the world. 46,000 miles and a little over 3 years later, the
proof was complete: Captain Slocum had performed the epic "first" single-handedly
in a trusty 34-foot sloop called the "Spray". This is Slocum's own account of his
remarkable adventures during the historic voyage. TB 11142.
Young, Gavin
Slow boats to China. 1981. Read by William Abney, 20 hours 35 minutes. TB
4081.
The author's love of the sea, inspired by Conrad, led him to set off on a voyage that
was to take him halfway round the world on small, local boats of every kind. TB
4081.
Britain and Europe
17
The traveller's gazette: home. 1999. Read by Various Narrators, 2 hours 15
minutes. TB 12042.
A ramble through the towns and villages of the British Isles with Jane Austen,
William Cobbett, Daniel Defoe, Sir Walter Scott, Virginia Woolf and others. Travel
by steamship, mail-coach and hot air balloon from Cornwall to the Scottish
Highlands. Mr Punch's Gazettes are portraits of British life through the centuries, as
lived by the generations of men and women who took part. We eavesdrop on some
of history's most turbulent and colourful events in the company of over 300
chroniclers, diarists and letter writers. TB 12042.
Armitage, Simon
All points North. 1998. Read by David Thorpe, 6 hours 33 minutes. TB 11676.
In a series of funny and perceptive pieces, the author reports on Yorkshire and its
people. It's an area of extraordinary landscapes - fizzing pylons and swaying
television masts on the skyline, moorland like a soggy version of the moon - and
vibrant cities where Harvey Nichols looks sideways at Saturday night clubbers,
drinkers, dossers and druggies. He mentions the village pantomime on tour in
Bridlington, tyre trading around local farms and 'watching' cricket on Ceefax. This is
Yorkshire - that bit on the map 'where England tucks its shirt into its underpants'.
TB 11676.
Bainbridge, Beryl
English journey: or the road to Milton Keynes. 1984. Read by Judith Whale, 5
hours 31 minutes. TB 5273.
Fifty years ago J.B. Priestley wrote an "English Journey", a "rambling but truthful
account of what one man saw and heard and felt on his travels through the
country." To assess the changes wrought by a half century of progress since the
thirties, BBC TV commissioned Beryl Bainbridge to follow in Priestley's footsteps.
This is the diary of the documentary they made. TB 5273.
Banks, Iain
Raw spirit: in search of the perfect dram. 2004. Read by Allan Tall, 12 hours.
TB 14051.
In a bid to uncover the unique spirit of the single malt whisky, author Iain Banks has
decided to undertake a tour of the distilleries of his homeland. His tour of Scotland
combines history, literature and landscape in an entertaining and informative
account. Contains strong language. TB 14051.
Bryson, Bill
Notes from a small island. 1995. Read by John Chancer, 11 hours 53 minutes.
TB 10500.
After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson recently took the decision to move
back to the States for a while. But before leaving North Yorkshire, he insisted on
18
taking one last trip around Britain. Here he turns a laconic but affectionate eye on
his adopted country, analysing precisely what it is he loves about the country. TB
10500.
Chetwode, Penelope
Two middle-aged ladies in Andalusia. 1985. Read by Rosemary Davis, 6 hours
1 minute. TB 5752.
The century travellers. The author makes her tour of the most inaccessible region
of Spain riding on the back of the second middle-aged lady in the title: her mare, La
Marquesa. Together they encounter the people, the architecture and the sanitation.
TB 5752.
Darlington, Terry
Narrow dog to Carcassonne. 2005. Read by Steve Hodson, 11 hours 23
minutes. TB 14454.
Terry and Monica Darlington are intrepid pensioners who made the surprising
decision to sail their canal narrowboat Phillis May, sixteen hundred miles across
France and down to the Mediterranean, accompanied only by their whippet Jim.
They took advice from nautical experts, who told them they would lose their boat
and their lives (and, indeed, Jim). It is a true story of high adventure in France,
England, Belgium and out at sea, as experienced by two innocents and a reluctant
dog. Contains strong language. TB 14454.
Davies, Hunter
A walk along the wall. 1974. Read by Derek Chandler, 17 hours 15 minutes.
TB 2508.
The story of Hadrian's Wall - its remarkable history, the archaeology which
uncovered it and is still taking place, and the varied people who live along it today.
TB 2508.
Davies, Hunter
A walk around the Lakes.... 1979. Read by John Richmond, 15 hours 4
minutes. TB 3592.
Observations for those desirous of being guided to the Lake District, and a
consideration of the many eminent literary personages associated with Cumbria.
TB 3592.
Dibnah, Fred
Fred Dibnah's industrial age: a guide to Britain's industrial heritage - where to
go, what to see. 1999. Read by Peter Barker, 5 hours 7 minutes. TB 13464.
Fred Dibnah recounts the history of Britain's industrial past and its mechanical
relics, bringing to life landmark events from the eighteenth century up to the early
twentieth century in his typically anecdotal manner. He introduces the great
19
inventors from the age of steam, describes the day-to-day operation of different
mills and paints a vivid picture of what life was like for all mill-hands and colliers
who laboured in industrial Britain. TB 13464.
Doerflinger, Frederick
Slow boat through Pennine waters. 1971. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 10 hours 45
minutes. TB 2333.
The author explores the least known of our navigable rivers and canals. TB 2333.
Doerflinger, Frederick
Slow boat through England. 1970. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 8 hours 18 minutes.
TB 1596.
About canals, rivers, and locks; how to choose a boat; how to handle it; and
descriptions of some of the author's own experiences. TB 1596.
Du Maurier, Daphne
Vanishing Cornwall. 1967. Read by Garard Green, 6 hours 15 minutes. TB 276.
Portrait of a wild and beautiful land, its history and people, their customs,
superstitions and legends. TB 276.
Ebdon, John
Near myths: a love affair with Greece. 1989. Read by John Ebdon, 5 hours 21
minutes. TB 8689.
John Ebdon's affection for the Greeks is without stint, and his curiosity about them
and their beautiful surroundings is boundless. As a wise old man from the island of
Siphos once said to him, "You see Yanni, when a Greek is born, he follows life and wins it. And then, Yanni, he enjoys life! Endaxi? OK? Bravo!". Not a bad lesson
for any of us! TB 8689.
Fermor, Patrick Leigh
A time of gifts: on foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the
Middle Danube. 1977? Read by Peter Gray, 15 hours 45 minutes. TB 3200.
A prizewinning account of the author's journey on foot from the Hook of Holland to
the Middle Danube, for him an introduction to the languages, arts and histories, but
above all the people of a dozen civilisations. TB 3200.
Fermor, Patrick Leigh
Between the woods and the water: on foot to Constantinople from the Hook
of Holland: the Middle Danube to the Iron Gates. 1986. Read by Raymond
Adamson, 10 hours 18 minutes. TB 6693.
The author continues on his journey down the Danube from Budapest; on
horseback across the Great Hungarian Plain, and over the Rumanian border into
Transylvania, a wild beautiful region of forests and mountains secluded from
20
Western eyes during centuries of religious and national complexity. He planned to
live "like a tramp, a pilgrim or a wandering scholar" but found instead leisurely
sojourns in castles. TB 6693.
Hanbury-Tenison, Robin
White horses over France: from the Camargue to Cornwall. 1990. Read by
Robin Hanbury-Tenison, 5 hours 38 minutes. TB 10217.
For many years, the explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison has nursed an ambition to
bring home to his farm in Cornwall two of the white horses of the Camargue. He
and his wife, Louella, finally achieved this ambition. They bought two horses and
rode them, from the open lagoons and wild terrain of the Camargue to the moors of
Cornwall. The journey was a magical one, in which they met a whole range of
interesting and delightful people. TB 10217.
Harrod, Wilhelmine
Norfolk. 1982. Read by Peter Baker, 11 hours 23 minutes. TB 6388.
Despite the changes brought by an increase in population twice the national
average, there are still 659 glorious medieval churches to look at, many historic
houses and the rare birds of marsh and shore, and the countryside still retains its
own character. TB 6388.
Hauxwell, Hannah
Innocent abroad: the travels of Miss Hannah Hauxwell. 1991. Read by Maggie
Jones, 4 hours 3 minutes. TB 9037.
In May 1991 Hannah set out on a Grand Tour of Europe. From her tentative first
step onto a channel ferry it was an exhilarating experience, through France,
Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy and amongst all her experiences, she fell
in love with Venice. Accompanying her, Barry Cockcroft faithfully records every
encounter and experience. TB 9037.
Hawks, Tony
Round Ireland with a fridge. 1999. Read by Tony Hawks, 9 hours 47 minutes.
TB 13500.
While in Ireland for an international song competition, comedian Tony Hawks was
amazed to see a hitch-hiker trying to thumb a lift with a fridge. Years later, following
an alcohol-fuelled evening, he was bet that he couldn't hitch around the coast of
Ireland with a fridge. This is what happened. Contains strong language. TB 13500.
Hillaby, John
Journey home. 1983. Read by Stanley McGeagh, 10 hours 6 minutes. TB 5079.
The author and his wife set out from Ravenglass, a place "that gives the impression
it fell asleep on a bed of shingle centuries ago" and end their journey on
Hampstead Heath. Tapping an inexhaustible seam of natural history, archaeology
21
and folklore, John Hillaby blends his allusions to the past with topical commonplace
things to create a unique mixture. TB 5079.
Holmes, Richard
Footsteps: adventures of a Romantic biographer. 1985. Read by Antony
Higginson, 13 hours 26 minutes. TB 6205.
A young English biographer travels alone across Europe in search of the romantic
writers of the past. His journey becomes a combination of biography, travel and
detection until at the end, he is 30 and reluctantly leaving his attic room in Paris for
home. His travel book has become a journey of initiation into the magic landscape
of imagination. TB 6205.
Kanga, Firdaus
Heaven on wheels. 1991. Read by Sam Dastor, 9 hours 21 minutes. TB 9281.
To see Britain through the eyes of Firdaus Kanga is a rare revelation. It is a view,
he says, "from one eye misted with Anglophilia, and the other clear and wide open."
He arrived in London prior to the publication of his autobiographical novel "Trying to
grow", an account of a Parsee childhood in Bombay, in which a congenital
condition left him disabled but undaunted, and outrageously good company.
Contains strong language. TB 9281.
Kelly, Susie
A perfect circle. 2006. Read by Rebecca Blech, 11 hours 10 minutes. TB
14758.
Keen to discover some of France's lesser-known attractions, Susie Kelly, her
husband Terry and their two dogs embarked on a 10,000-kilometre journey, where
they encounter exploding gherkins, killer waves, chilli-flavoured chocolates and
sinister submarines. TB 14758.
Leavitt, David
Florence, a delicate case. 2002. Read by Paul Barrett, 3 hours 32 minutes. TB
15222.
The writer and the city. The author provides a literary guide to the lives and
impressions of the many British and Americans who lived and wrote in Florence.
The narrative considers such diverse figures as Tchaikovsky, Henry James and
Henry Labouchere. Aside from descriptions of art, light, landscape, and history,
Leavitt finds many traces within the literary sources of Florence's active gay culture
during the 19th and early 20th centuries. TB 15222.
22
Lloyd, Martin
The trouble with France. 2004. Read by Martin Lloyd, 5 hours 8 minutes. TB
15323.
Martin Lloyd set out on a holiday to Suffolk and ended up in Boulogne! Martin
attempts an uneventful ride on a mundane bicycle through an interesting part of
France - and failing with outstanding success. Martin reveals just what can happen
when you use a passport. TB 15323.
McCarthy, Pete
McCarthy's Bar: a journey of discovery in the west of Ireland. 2000. Read by
Stephen Thorne, 11 hours 28 minutes. TB 12537.
This is an account of a journey in Ireland from Cork to Donegal. Pete McCarthy
challenges his idyllic memories of childhood summers spent in Ireland, and finds
that despite many changes, the charm of the Irish people still remains. TB 12537.
Mayle, Peter
Provence A-Z. 2007. Read by Andrew Sachs, 8 hours 50 minutes. TB 15508.
Provence; 4. Sequel to: Encore Provence, TB 15088. This is a guide of Provence
organised by A-Z, but it is far from a conventional work of reference, this is a
selection of those aspects of Provence that Peter Mayle has found in his twenty
years there to be the most interesting, delicious, or downright fun. In more than 200
entries, he writes about subjects as diverse as architecture, expatriates, lavender,
linguistic oddities and the museum of the corkscrew. TB 15508.
Mitchell, W R
A Dalesman's diary. 1990. Read by Nick Hague, 6 hours 4 minutes. TB 8584.
Bill Mitchell was born, grew up and has worked all his life in the Yorkshire Dales.
He takes the reader on a nostalgic and enthralling journey which records intimate
memories of this beautiful land still unsullied by modern urban society, and the
simple traditional lifestyle of its natives. TB 8584.
Montaigne, Fen
Hooked: Fly-fishing through Russia. 1998. Read by Garrick Hagon, 12 hours
50 minutes. TB 12711.
Fen Montaigne, an American journalist, and ex-Moscow correspondent, decided to
fly-fish right across Russia. His voyage (which is more of a direction than a road) in
search of fish such as lenok, grayling, steelhead and the legendary taimen, takes
him from infamous gulags set in the stark beauty of the Solovetsky Islands, to the
deserted gold mines at Kolyma, where starving inmates literally walked on gold,
and the pristine waters of tundra rivers. Contains strong language. TB 12711.
23
Moore, Peter
Vroom with a view. 2003. Read by Andrew Laing, 7 hours 42 minutes. TB
15287.
Stirred by his approaching fortieth birthday, the author decides to pursue a dream,
to explore Italy from the seat of a 1961 Vespa. Once the perfect motor scooter is
found, and finally made as road worthy as possible, he is off, travelling the back
roads from Milan to Rome. This is a travel adventure with a wonderful twist. TB
15287.
Moore, Tim
Do not pass 'go': from the Old Kent Road to Mayfair. 2002. Read by Merv
Smith, 11 hours 44 minutes. TB 15204.
The author tells the story of London since the 1930s through the Monopoly board's
twenty-eight streets, stations and utilities. Sampling both rags and riches, the
author stays in hotels in Mayfair and in the Old Kent Road; reveals how Pall Mall
got its name; and which three addresses you won't find in your A-Z. TB 15204.
Newby, Eric
On the shores of the Mediterranean. 1984. Read by Andrew Timothy, 18 hours
23 minutes. TB 5363.
The author and his wife set out from Tuscany to investigate the Mediterranean as it
was and as it is now. They travel via tough Naples with its Camorra murders and
eight-horse hearses to Venice, Yugoslavia and a dull bus tour of Albania. He climbs
Mount Olympus in a cloud, takes a Turkish bath in Istanbul and is fined for climbing
the Great Pyramid. TB 5363.
Nimmo, Ben
In Forkbeard's wake: coasting in Scandinavia. 2003. Read by Dominic
Blaazer, 8 hours 35 minutes. TB 15270.
Svein Forkbeard invaded England in 1014 and became Britain's least known and
shortest reigning king. Fascinated by his exploits and armed with a degree in heroic
literature, the author decides to reverse the steps of Forkbeard's journey. He soon
discovered that the blood-soaked poetry of the sagas doesn't offer an infallible
guide to present-day Scandinavia. TB 15270.
O'Brien, Kate
Farewell Spain. 1985. Read by Rosemary Davis, 6 hours 24 minutes. TB 6444.
Written during the early days of the Spanish Civil War, this is a series of
reminiscences, impressions and quick, vivid insights which evoke the spirit of a lost
world. Starting at the northern port of Santander, the author crosses the Peninsula,
each stop offering something unique. But her awareness of the war presses in upon
her, striking "not merely for the death of Spain, but at every decent dream or effort
for humanity everywhere." TB 6444.
24
Palin, Michael
New Europe. 2007. Read by Michael Palin, 11 hours 35 minutes. TB 15389.
Palin's New Europe takes the form of a journey through countries which have rich
and complex cultures. Few have survived intact, as the ebb and flow of warring
armies has continually changed the map of Europe. Starting in the mountains of
Slovenia he travels down through Croatia and the former Yugoslavia to Albania
before turning northwards to embrace Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, The Ukraine,
The Czech Republic, Slovakia, the former East Germany, Poland, the Russian
enclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, opening up a new and
undiscovered world to millions of viewers and readers. TB 15389.
Pitt-Kethley, Fiona
Journeys to the underworld. 1988. Read by Patricia Hughes, 9 hours 44
minutes. TB 7650.
Ignoring advice about travelling alone and taking lifts with strangers, the author set
off on her travels through Italy, researching her fascination with the legend of the
Sibyls. She tells of her journeys on night trains, tours through caves and
catacombs, and encounters with men. Legends and facts of the Sibyls are
mentioned, together with the nature of local traditions. Contains passages of a
sexual nature. TB 7650.
Ritchie, Harry
Here we go: a summer in the Costa del Sol. 1993. Read by Michael McStay, 7
hours 22 minutes. TB 10070.
An intrepid arduous adventure to the last place on earth unvisited by travel writers:
the Costa del Sol. This fearless expose of one of the world's most popular holiday
destinations depicts life among the package tourists of Fuengirola, the ravers of
Torremolinos, the medallion men of Marbella and the time sharers and villa owners
of Calahonda. Among the rigours faced in the pursuit of truth have been Sunday
roast and three veg in 100 degrees heat, the effect of amphetamine sulphate and
trying to acquire an underarm tan. Contains strong language. TB 10070.
Rolt, L T C.
Narrow boat. 1978. Read by Alistair Maydon, 7 hours 34 minutes. TB 8141.
An engineer by profession and almost a poet by temperament, Mr Rolt has long
loved the English canals, and adapted and fitted up the narrow boat Cressy as a
home for himself and his wife, and in it they made a journey of some 400 miles
along the network of waterways in the Midlands. The book mingles description and
anecdote with much fascinating lore about canal life and tradition. TB 8141.
25
Stace, Christopher.
Florence: city of the lily. 1989. Read by Peter Barker, 18 hours 24 minutes. TB
8579.
The author takes the reader to familiar and unfamiliar places, searching and
reflecting. He encounters all manner of characters and incidents, and combines
anecdote with information, insight with reflection, discovery with experience. He
shares the comings and goings of a market, the spirit of a fresco, the antiquity of a
villa, the pleasure of good food and the excitement of seeing a particular painting
for the first time. TB 8579.
Sutherland, Douglas
Against the wind: an Orkney idyll. 1966. Read by Stanley Pritchard, 7 hours
31 minutes. TB 430.
The author describes this book as an affectionate biography of the Orkneys, and a
tribute to changeless values in a world where everything is change. TB 430.
Theroux, Paul
The kingdom by the sea: a journey around the coast of Great Britain. 1983.
Read by Brian Perkins, 13 hours 18 minutes. TB 5172.
An American writer explores Britain via her coastline, mainly by train, at times on
foot - a sort of backyard odyssey. He finds candour as well as secrecy, moments of
pure pleasure and some doubtful experiences but always conveys the intoxication
of travelling, even on a mundane route. TB 5172.
Thomas, Edward
A literary pilgrim: an illustrated guide to Britain's literary heritage. 1985. Read
by Gordon Dulieu, 7 hours 7 minutes. TB 5753.
Edward Thomas goes in search of the homes and landscapes of some of our four
famous writers. Shelley is seen eating "hard eggs and radishes and rolls at Eton",
Blake's chimney-sweep's cry is heard on the London Streets and Burns walks
forth"to view the corn an'snuff the caller air"in the Western Lowlands of Scotland.
TB 5753.
Thubron, Colin
Among the Russians. 1983. Read by Frank Duncan, 11 hours 1 minute. TB
6886.
Colin Thubron learned Russian and entered the Soviet Union in an old Morris
Marina in which he camped and drove for almost 10,000 miles between the Baltic
and Caucasus. Everywhere he went he encountered and listened to people of all
ages, occupations and interests. He met dissidents and was dogged by the KGB.
The result is a fascinating and revealing picture of the many races who inhabit a
giant country. TB 6886.
26
Trueman, Fred
Fred Trueman's Yorkshire. 1984. Read by Derek Chandler, 11 hours. TB 6634.
From the ribbons of water which trickle down the fellsides of the northwest to the
great estuary of the Humber in the southeast, and from the wild and inhospitable
moorlands of the high Pennines to the fertile farmlands of the Vale of York, this is a
land of contrasts. It is land that has housed a Roman and a Viking capital and the
author, possibly England's greatest fast bowler, sets out to capture the essence of
Yorkshire, its people, traditions, culture and sport. TB 6634.
Vernon, Tom
Fat man on a bicycle: a discovery of France. 1981. Read by Denys Hawthorne,
10 hours 55 minutes. TB 4378.
The book of the programmes Tom Vernon made for BBC Radio 4 about his 886
mile trip through the enchanted summer of pastoral France. Not just a travel book
but a voyage of discovery about England and France and the French as he pedals
along the wheel-ruts of Henry V. TB 4378.
Vernon, Tom
Fat man on a Roman road: a bicycle exploration of Britain and the British
from the bottom left-hand corner to the top right-hand corner of the Roman
roads: Topsham to Musselburgh, the full story of the journey of the BBC
Radio 4 series Fat man on a Roman road and episodes in Fat man at work.
1983. Read by Gene Foad, 11 hours 49 minutes. TB 5175.
This is the story of Tom Vernon's summer bicycle ride diagonally across Britain
over six hundred miles of Roman roads from Topsham in Devon to Musselburgh
near Edinburgh. As he cycles along he catches tantalising glimpses of people and
places. Some of the four hundred individuals he met on his journey include a
crossing-keeper playing on his trumpet and dreaming of stardom, and an expert on
socks. TB 5175.
White, A J
A journey with God: Don the architect. 2005. Read by A J White, 4 hours 21
minutes. TB 14724.
This is the story of two elderly men Don (aged 81) and John (aged 72) who set out
from the Folkestone Rainbow Centre in May 2002 to circumnavigate the boundaries
of England on foot and by bicycle to raise funds for two charities. This is John's
diary of this journey. It's a story of the wonder of the every day - foals in the New
Forest, a 'high speed' crash, of a bicycle stolen, and the generosity of the gift of a
replacement by a stranger. But most of all it is the story of a great generosity shown
by unknown strangers right across England. TB 14724.
27
Asia, Orient and the Far East
Bonington, Chris
Annapurna South Face. 1971. Read by Eric Gillett, 16 hours 5 minutes. TB
1646.
An account of the expedition led by the author to conquer the 26,000-foot peak by
the South Face - thousands of feet of rock and ice and one of the most formidable
mountain walls in the world. TB 1646.
Brook, Elaine
The windhorse. 1986. Read by Anne Jameson, 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 6082.
Julie Donnelly has been blind since the age of eight - the result of glaucoma. She is
a switchboard operator in a London bank and travels to and from work with her
yellow labrador guide dog, Bruno, her first release from the prison of blindness. She
met Elaine Brook, an experienced mountaineer, and her horizons took another
great leap. After learning to climb in this country they began to plan the impossible:
the trek, in winter, to the 18,000 foot summit of Kala Patthar. TB 6082.
Chetwode, Penelope
Kulu: the end of the habitable world. 1972. Read by Garard Green, 9 hours 45
minutes. TB 2043.
An account of the author's return to Kulu, an ancient Rajput kingdom in the Western
Himalayas. TB 2043.
Dalrymple, William
In Xanadu: a quest. 1989. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 10 hours 14
minutes. TB 8860.
This is an account of a quest, a journey which began in the Holy Sepulchre of
Jerusalem and took William Dalrymple and his companions across the width of
Asia, along dusty, forgotten roads, through villages and cities full of unexpected
hospitality and wildly improbable escapades, to Coleridge's Xanadu itself. At once
funny and knowledgeable, this account tells the story of the expedition in the best
tradition of English travel writing. TB 8860.
Dalrymple, William
From the holy mountain: a journey in the shadow of Byzantium. 1998. Read
by Nigel Graham, 19 hours 26 minutes. TB 13781.
In the spring of 587 AD, two monks set off on an extraordinary journey that would
take them in an arc across the entire Byzantine world. More than a thousand years
later, the author set off to retrace their footsteps. Despite centuries of isolation, a
surprising number of the monasteries and churches visited by the two monks still
survive today, surrounded by often hostile populations. Dalrymple's pilgrimage took
28
him through a bloody civil war in eastern Turkey, the ruins of Beirut, the vicious
tensions of the West Bank and a fundamentalist uprising in southern Egypt. TB
13781.
Evans, Polly
Fried eggs with chopsticks. 2005. Read by Lucy Scott, 9 hours 29 minutes. TB
14811.
When she learnt that the Chinese had built enough new roads to circle the equator
16 times, Polly Evans decided to go and witness for herself the way this vast nation
was hurtling into the technological age. But on arriving in China she found the
building work wasn't quite finished. And as she travelled, she attempted to solve the
ultimate gastronomic conundrum: just how does one eat a soft-fried egg with
chopsticks? TB 14811.
Geraghty, David
A snake in the shrine: journeys with Nobby through middle Japan. 2001. Read
by Tim Faville, 9 hours 8 minutes. TB 15257.
The author taught English and travelled in Japan in the late 1990s. This book is an
entertaining account of his experiences. It offers cultural insights and intelligent
discussion of issues in contemporary Japanese life. TB 15257.
Harding, Mike
Footloose in the Himalaya. 1989. Read by Garard Green, 8 hours 56 minutes.
TB 9233.
Mike Harding is best known as an entertainer, but he is also passionately involved
in conservation issues. While making a film for television on the effects of
deforestation, Mike made several treks through the mountains of northern India and
Nepal. Filled with his inimitable brand of humour, this book portrays the people,
mountains, lakes and monasteries of these fascinating countries. TB 9233.
Hemmleb, Jochen
Ghosts of Everest: the authorised story of the search for Mallory & Irvine.
1999. Read by David Banks, 7 hours 48 minutes. TB 12575.
This is the dramatic inside story of the 1999 expedition to find the bodies and solve
the enigma of George Mallory and Andrew Irvin, who tragically and mysteriously
died on Everest on 8th June 1924, in an attempt to reach the peak. TB 12575.
Hillary, Edmund
From the ocean to the sky. 1979. Read by Derek Chandler, 13 hours 30
minutes. TB 3505.
A jet boat expedition up the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal to its Himalayan
source. TB 3505.
29
Holt, Peter
In Clive's footsteps. 1990. Read by John Livesey, 7 hours 16 minutes. TB
9116.
The author, a direct descendant of Clive of India, retraces his ancestor's journeys
around South Eastern India. Contains strong language. TB 9116.
Loseby, Richard
Blue is the colour of heaven: a journey into Afghanistan. 2002. Read by Kiel
McNaughton, 8 hours 20 minutes. TB 15248.
This is the story of a man fulfilling his childhood dream. Avoiding land mines and
bullets he spent months travelling through Iraq and Iran negotiating a way into
Afghanistan. Joining forces with the war-weary Mujahedeen, he found unexpected
allies and unforgettable friends. TB 15248.
Lumley, Joanna
In the kingdom of the thunder dragon. 1997. Read by Joanna Lumley, 2 hours
47 minutes. TB 11594.
In 1931 Joanna Lumley's grandparents undertook a three and a half month journey
across the small and secret Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, to honour the King with
an award. Joanna retraces their steps to meet the King's descendants and discover
for herself the charm of this forgotten land. Trekking on foot and pony across
remote mountain passes and valleys, she visits the rural villages and the towering
monasteries. She finds that little has changed since her forebears passed through,
and is overwhelmed by the magic and beauty of Bhutan. TB 11594.
Ma, Jian
Red dust: a path through China. 2002. Read by Paul Barrett, 10 hours 38
minutes. TB 15318.
In 1983, at the age of thirty, Jian wanted to rebel and escape the confines of
Beijing. His three year journey to find himself leads through deserts, overpopulated
cities, past scenes of barbarity to havens of tranquillity and beauty. This account of
his journey provides an insight into the contradictions that make up China. TB
15318.
Moorhouse, Geoffrey
To the frontier. 1984. Read by Christopher Scott, 15 hours 25 minutes. TB
5632.
The author travelled up through Sind, Baluchistan and the Punjab to the NorthWest Frontier Province of Pakistan, finally coming to the high Hindu Kush
mountains in the North. He crossed the Baluchistan desert, lingered in Lahore and
was one of the few foreigners to penetrate the Khyber Pass as far as the border of
Afghanistan. TB 5632.
30
Murphy, Dervla
The waiting land: a spell in Nepal. 1990. Read by Kate Binchy, 8 hours 31
minutes. TB 9157.
Century travellers. "The Waiting Land" is an account of the author's visit to Nepal, a
place where poverty and illness combine with a fascinating culture and beautiful
landscape. During her time there Dervla Murphy helps out in a Tibetan refugee
camp in Pokhara, meditates with the Dalai Lama and conducts dangerous treks into
the highlands. TB 9157.
Murphy, Dervla
On a shoestring to Coorg: an experience of South India. 1976. Read by
Garard Green, 11 hours. TB 3088.
Returning to India in an attempt to improve her feelings about the country, the
author arrived with her small daughter, in the tiny province of Coorg. Here they
settled down happily to learn something about its customs, ceremonies and
attitudes. TB 3088.
Murphy, Dervla
Where the Indus is young: a winter in Baltistan. 1977. Read by Robert Ashby,
10 hours 44 minutes. TB 5373.
The author travels through the gorges of Baltisan with her six-year-old daughter.
The wanderer from Waterford is a citizen of the world in the widest sense and
believes that in order to see how the other half lives it is essential to seek amongst
those who are still uncontaminated by this half. TB 5373.
Naipaul, V S
An area of darkness. 1964. Read by Alvar Lidell, 12 hours 35 minutes. TB
1253.
The author visits India, country of his father, for the first time and describes the
peoples, their problems and the poverty of the teeming sub-continent. TB 1253.
Naylor, Nicola
Jasmine and arnica. 2001. Read by Rachel Bavidge, 10 hours 28 minutes. TB
14370.
Throughout her childhood Nicola had been fascinated by images of the SubContinent and was determined both to realise her dream and to push back the
stifling constraints imposed by perceptions of her disability. Depending on her third
eye, or sixth sense, she explores India from the inside, her account is both
sensuous and enormously visual as she gradually rebuilds her shattered selfconfidence, regains her desire to live life, and rediscovers her almost forgotten love
of writing. TB 14370.
31
Newby, Eric
The big red train ride. 1978. Read by Garard Green, 10 hours 27 minutes. TB
4494.
The author made the 6,000 mile journey from Moscow to the Pacific, on the TransSiberian railway in 1977. He was accompanied by a Slovene (his wife), a German
(photographer) and the official Russian guide. The result is a very individual travel
book. TB 4494.
Palin, Michael
Himalaya. 2004. Read by Michael Palin, 11 hours 26 minutes. TB 13774.
In his most challenging journey, Michael Palin tackles the Himalaya, the greatest
mountain range on earth, a virtually unbroken wall of rock stretching 1800 miles
from the borders of Afghanistan to south-west China. In a journey rarely, if ever,
attempted before, in 6 months of hard travelling Palin takes on the full length of the
Himalaya including the Khyber Pass, the hidden valleys of the Hindu Kush, ancient
cities like Peshawar and Lahore, the mighty peaks of K2, Annapurna and Everest,
the bleak and barren plateau of Tibet, the gorges of the Yangtze, the tribal lands of
the Indo-Burmese border and the vast Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. This
book, compiled from his diaries, records the pleasure and pain of an extraordinary
journey. TB 13774.
Pan, Lynn
China's sorrow: journeys around the Yellow River. 1985. Read by Crawford
Logan, 10 hours 5 minutes. TB 6346.
Hoping to see China in all its diversity and to learn something of the transformation
of its imperial past into communist present, Lynn Pan made three trips to the
valleys of the Yellow River. She found a land of anomalies, where awesome dams
and irrigation schemes juxtapose attempts to hold back the invading desert with
hand woven straw mats. TB 6346.
Riordan, Peter
Motorcycle masala: travels through India. 1999. Read by Phil Harris, 11 hours.
TB 15244.
During their travels around India on a motorcycle Peter and his friend Stephanie
braved murderous truck drivers, were troubled by breakdowns and saw much of the
backwaters of India often missed by tourists. TB 15244.
Schaller, George B
Stones of silence: journeys in the Himalaya. 1980. Read by John Rye, 12
hours. TB 3793.
For six years the author, who is a field biologist, explored the Himalayas in order to
study the wildlife of the area and to determine what locations would make good
reserves and national parks. TB 3793.
32
Selby, Bettina
Riding the mountains down. 1984. Read by Elizabeth de Silva, 10 hours 32
minutes. TB 5880.
A colourful account of the sights, sounds and smells on Bettina Selby's gruelling
cycle-ride from Karachi to Katmandu. TB 5880.
Severin, Timothy
In search of Genghis Khan. 1991. Read by Nigel Graham, 9 hours 37 minutes.
TB 9811.
The text retraces the tracks of Genghis Khan's horde as they established history's
largest empire, and tells of the legends surrounding the Great Khan's life, and
explains how Mongolian culture has changed little since the Middle Ages. TB 9811.
Shand, Mark
Queen of the elephants. 1995. Read by Paul Shelley, 6 hours 43 minutes. TB
10876.
In the tiny aristocratic figure of Parbati Barua, Mark Shand finds his ultimate guru.
He seeks her out to take part in a film about the wild elephants in north east India,
which are threatened by India's population explosion. They follow the elephant's
ancient migratory route through the tea gardens of West Bengal and along the
Himalayan corridor to Parbati's ancestral home in Assam. TB 10876.
Somerville-Large, Peter
To the navel of the world: yaks and unheroic travels in Nepal and Tibet. 1987.
Read by Garard Green, 10 hours 39 minutes. TB 7331.
The author decided to travel through Nepal and Tibet on a yak's back. With him
went a very determined photographer, Carole; both were resolved to face whatever
the weather and the authorities could throw at them. The yaks were called Mucker
and Sod, and lived up to their names. It turned out to be an extraordinary journey,
filled with misadventure, danger, and a goodly amount of humour. Contains strong
language. TB 7331.
Stark, Freya
The southern gates of Arabia: a journey to the Hadhramaut. 1990. Read by
Judith Whale, 11 hours 33 minutes. TB 9704.
In 1935, Freya Stark set out to travel the Incense Route inland from the southern
shores of Arabia. She encountered sultans and Bedouin, harem women of Do'an,
the Mansab of Meshed, cheerful distributor of peppermints, cloves and chewing
gum and Hasan, overheard describing her as "one of the sultanas of England". TB
9704.
33
Terzani, Tiziano
Behind the forbidden door: travels in China. 1987. Read by Garard Green, 10
hours 26 minutes. TB 6378.
Tiziano Terzani was one of the first Western journalists to be accredited after Den
Xiaoping opened China's doors and, taking a Chinese name, he went through that
door and told the world what modern China was really like. But events caught up
with him - arrest and interrogation, re-education and expulsion. TB 6378.
Theroux, Paul
The great railway bazaar: by train through Asia. 1975. Read by Robin Holmes,
14 hours 30 minutes. TB 2898.
The author set out to board every train that chugged into view between London and
Tokyo, and eventually made his way back on the Trans-Siberian Express. TB 2898.
Theroux, Paul
Riding the iron rooster: by train through China. 1988. Read by Garard Green,
20 hours 8 minutes. TB 7436.
Faithful to his love of train travel, the author travelled to China by rail from London
to Mongolia, stopping in Paris, Warsaw and the Soviet Union. The Iron Rooster is
an aged rattling train that continues to shudder along a four-day route between
Peking and distant Urumchi in the far west of China. Unsuitable for family reading.
TB 7436.
Thubron, Colin
In Siberia. 2000. Read by Stephen Thorne, 10 hours 35 minutes. TB 12439.
Travelling through exotic cities and deserted villages by truck, boat and bus, this is
a travel writer's account of his meetings with nostalgic old Stalinists, and aggressive
Orthodox churchmen while interweaving Siberia's history with a vivid description of
the place today. TB 12439.
Thubron, Colin
Behind the wall: a journey through China. 1987. Read by Garard Green, 15
hours 10 minutes. TB 7137.
A picture of a country which stretches from the Burmese frontier to the Gobi Desert
and from the Yellow Sea to the edge of Tibet. It is written by a descendant of the
poet John Dryden and the almost lyrical prose is illuminated by the author's eye for
detail and his gift for listening to the ordinary people he meets. His experiences
range from a tour of a mental hospital in Shanghai to an evening in a floating fun
palace. TB 7137.
34
Tully, Mark
India in slow motion. 2003. Read by Mark Tully, 11 hours 10 minutes. TB
15422.
The authors provide an account of a journey which, to them, has no true beginning
or end. Covering a diverse range of subjects - from Hindu extremism to child
labour, Sufi mysticism to the crisis in agriculture and the persistence of political
corruption to the problem of Kashmir, this book challenges the preconceptions
others have about India, as well as those India has about itself. TB 15422.
Vardy, Anne
Twelve wheels from Turkey. 1988. Read by Norma West, 6 hours 15 minutes.
TB 9014.
Armed with 6 bicycles, 21 pairs of socks and naked determination, Peter and Anne
(plus their 5 children) went to Turkey to begin a pilgrimage to the major centres of
the Christian faith - Istanbul, Rome and Canterbury. This is a personal account of a
journey that tested their faith in each other and in God. TB 9014.
Waugh, Louisa
Hearing birds fly: a nomadic year in Mongolia. 2003. Read by Candida
Gubbins, 10 hours 11 minutes. TB 14061.
This book is about the year the author spent living and working in a remote village
called Tsengel, which lies in the extreme west of Mongolia. The author describes
how she slowly learns to fend for herself in a world where life is dominated by the
seasons. From the long hard winter, through a drought-stricken spring, into a lush
summer spent in the mountains beyond Tsengel with a family of nomads, and the
return to the village for the 'short golden season', Mongolia's autumn. Contains
strong language. TB 14061.
Africa
Allen, Benedict
The skeleton coast: a journey through the Namib Desert. 1997. Read by David
Thorpe, 6 hours 41 minutes. TB 11100.
This is the story of explorer Benedict Allen's expedition across this remote, desolate
yet beautiful desert. A gruelling three-week training period, attempting to mould his
camels into a workable team, was followed by the start of the journey. The
diamond-mining Forbidden Zone, ghost towns and shipwrecks, mile upon mile of
unforgiving desert, the risk of attack in lion and rhino country, all formed part of his
journey. TB 11100.
35
Butcher, Tim
Blood river: a journey to Africa's broken heart. 2008. Read by Greg Wagland,
11 hours 44 minutes. TB 15661.
Ever since Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has
epitomised the dark and turbulent history of a failed continent. However, its troubles
only served to increase the interest of "Daily Telegraph" correspondent Tim
Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. Butcher retraced Stanley's steps
and this is what he found. Contains strong language. TB 15661.
Dodwell, Christina
Travels with Pegasus: a microlight journey across West Africa. 1989. Read by
Norma West, 8 hours 32 minutes. TB 7750.
Microlight flying is an exhilarating activity, and Christina Dodwell - an habitual
traveller - uses one to make an air trek across West Africa, visiting Cameroon,
Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Her leisurely journey gave ample time
to study the sights of Africa, both ancient and modern, and the story of her trip is a
fascinating delight. TB 7750.
Gallmann, Kuki
Night of the lions. Read by Helen Bourne, 6 hours 11 minutes. TB 13204.
Africa evokes in travellers a deep recognition and an inexplicable yearning to
return. It is a place which retains what most of the world has lost: space, roots,
traditions, awesome beauty, true wilderness, rare animals, extraordinary people. It
will always attract those who can still dream. In this wonderful and haunting
collection of stories, Kuki Gallmann rediscovers the Kenya that she knows and
loves. TB 13204.
Greene, Barbara
Too late to turn back: Barbara and Graham Greene in Liberia. 1990. Read by
Di Langford, 6 hours 33 minutes. TB 8862.
Penguin travel library. It had been Graham Greene's idea to explore tropical West
Africa. His cousin Barbara had agreed to go with him, and was making notes in the
jungle. The humorous, foot-sore and evocative adventure of a young woman who
set out from the world of Saki and the Savoy Grill and returned profoundly changed.
TB 8862.
Hillaby, John
Journey to the Jade Sea. 1964. Read by John Hillaby, 8 hours 35 minutes. TB
10102.
Another fascinating account of one of John Hillaby's travels. Becoming tired of city
life and ashamed of his tolerance of boredom, John set off on a three month safari
in the northern frontier district of Kenya. With him he took five Kenyans, six camels,
1400 pounds of baggage, twelve pairs of gym shoes, a shotgun, a Swahili phrase
36
book and a floppy hat. His travels took him from Wamba to Lake Rudolf and back.
TB 10102.
Laurd, Nicholas
The last wilderness: a journey across the great Kalahari Desert. 1981. Read
by Christopher Saul, 10 hours 3 minutes. TB 4093.
A journey across the great Kalahari Desert, described vividly by the author who
found the trip in turn dangerous, happy, frightening and profoundly satisfying. TB
4093.
Moorhouse, Geoffrey
The fearful void. 1974. Read by Eric Gillett, 12 hours 30 minutes. TB 2485.
The author set out in 1972 to cross the Sahara by camel and by himself. This story
of his journey, fraught with disaster from the outset, is a moving account of his
battle with fear and loneliness, and conquest of the many hazards of the desert. TB
2485.
Murphy, Dervla
Muddling through in Madagascar. 1985. Read by Kate Binchy, 12 hours 11
minutes. TB 6175.
Dervla Murphy and her 14-year-old daughter, Rachel, make their most accidentprone journey amongst "the most lovable people". The travellers set out on foot to
Antsirable through the Ankaratra Mountains, then on by bush taxi and truck to
discover that in Madagascar motoring is much more gruelling than walking. TB
6175.
Palin, Michael
Sahara. 2002. Read by Michael Palin, 9 hours 52 minutes. TB 12634.
Michael Palin's latest adventure finds him crossing the vast and merciless Sahara
Desert. As the journey unfolds, the Sahara reveals not the emptiness of endless
sand dunes, but a huge and diverse range of cultures and landscapes and a long
history of civilisation, trade, commerce and conquest stretching from the ancient
Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today. TB 12634.
Selby, Bettina
Riding the desert trail. 1988. Read by Bettina Selby, 10 hours 13 minutes. TB
7967.
One wet and windy day in the British Museum, Bettina Selby decided, almost on an
impulse, to travel the length of the Nile Valley. She designed a special, bright red
'all terrain' bicycle for the journey; and suitably equipped with insect repellents, sun
hat, an invaluable filter pump for purifying the waters of the Nile, a Swiss army
penknife and an impracticable aerosol spray for keeping rabid dogs at bay, she set
off on her 4,500 mile adventure. TB 7967.
37
Stevens, Stuart
Malaria dreams: an African adventure. 1990. Read by Garrick Hagon, 8 hours
28 minutes. TB 9224.
The story begins when a "geologist" friend mentions that he has a Land Rover in
the Central African Republic which he'd like to get back to Europe. It's only later,
when Stevens discovers that half of Africa thinks his friend is a spy and the other
half is convinced he's a diamond smuggler, that he realises he should have asked a
few more questions before leaving home. TB 9224.
Theroux, Paul
Dark star safari: overland from Cairo to Cape Town. 2003. Read by Jim
McLarty, 20 hours 59 minutes. TB 15205.
Paul Theroux travels from Cairo to Cape Town by train, boat and cattle truck,
passing some of the most beautiful and life threatening landscapes on earth. This is
in part a sentimental journey, as Theroux first travelled in Africa almost forty years
ago as a teacher in the Malawi bush. Now, he visits his old school, sees former
students and visits friends. TB 15205.
Van der Post, Laurens
The lost world of the Kalahari. 1958. Read by Gene Foad, 9 hours 32 minutes.
TB 5517.
In 1957 the author led an expedition over the Kalahari Desert to find its inhabitants,
the Bush people. The search became as much a spiritual exploration as a physical
test of endurance but after countless setbacks he reached his goal. In this book he
describes the Bushmen's customs, lore and nature, conveying the remarkable
qualities of these archaic, doomed, yet vibrant survivors from an ancient civilisation.
TB 5517.
Van der Post, Laurens
Venture to the interior. 1952. Read by George Hagan, 8 hours 17 minutes. TB
681.
The author visited Nyasaland in 1949 and gives us here a vivid picture of Africa's
vastness and magnificence, with a sympathetic understanding of the people. TB
681.
Willoughby, Annette
Innocent in Africa. 2001. Read by Annette Willoughby, 16 hours 16 minutes.
TB 12752.
In June 1996 an unexpected journey took the author to Southern Africa to join her
partner who was working on the Highland Water Scheme, in the Maltuti Mountains
of Lesotho. From that moment her life changed course dramatically. Here she
describes life on both sides of the South African border. TB 12752.
38
North America
Bryson, Bill
A walk in the woods. 1997. Read by William Roberts, 10 hours 2 minutes. TB
11837.
The longest continuous footpath in the world, the Appalachian Trail, stretches along
the East Coast of the United States through some of the most arresting landscapes
in America. In the remote mountain wilderness filled with bears, rattlesnakes and
poisonous plants, facing savage weather and unreliable maps, Bryson gamely
struggled through the wilderness to achieve a lifetime's ambition - not to die
outdoors. Contains strong language. TB 11837.
Chiang, Lynette
The handsomest man in Cuba: an escapade. 2003. Read by Maggie Maxwell, 7
hours 4 minutes. TB 15288.
The author takes her small folding bicycle and discovers a Cuba that is a strange
mixture of Communism, Caribbean culture, poverty, and sophistication. During her
travels she describes the good and the bad, the beauty and the ugliness, that
makes Cuba what it is today. TB 15288.
Cooke, Alistair
Alistair Cooke's America. 1973. Read by Andrew Timothy, 13 hours 15
minutes. TB 3022.
In this greatly expanded version of his acclaimed television series, the author tells
the story of the USA from before its discovery by Columbus to the present day. TB
3022.
De Vries, Clare
I & Claudius: travels with my cat. 1999. Read by Laurence Bouvard, 10 hours.
TB 12572.
Clare de Vries travels around the United States with her nineteen-year-old
chocolate-brown Burmese cat Claudius. Both parties benefit from the experience,
Clare learns to let go of the past and of the future, while Claudius learns to love
Kentucky Fried Chicken and to snore at speeds of 90 mph. Contains strong
language. TB 12572.
39
Grant, Richard
Ghost riders: travels with American nomads. 2003. Read by Jonathan Oliver,
13 hours 35 minutes. TB 13953.
In this book, Richard Grant, a restless Englishman and something of an itinerant
himself seeks out the wanderers, the rootless, the "legion of drifters, grifters,
hoboes and tramps". Grant traces their historical antecedents (the ghosts of the title
are the nomadic horsemen of the American West) and ponders what drives a man
to spend his life in motion. Contains strong language. TB 13953.
Moffat, Gwen
Hard road West: alone on the California trail. 1981. Read by Carol Marsh, 11
hours 29 minutes. TB 3981.
The author spent six months alone on the California Trail, camping rough, exploring
side trails, climbing mountains, meeting all kinds of people and, at time, risking her
life. TB 3981.
Moorhouse, Geoffrey
Imperial city: the rise and fall of New York. 1988. Read by Arthur Blake, 14
hours 22 minutes. TB 7247.
The author has been visiting this city of contradictions for years and beginning with
"the most sensational city walk in the world" - crossing the Brooklyn Bridge - he
illuminates the past and present of Manhattan and writes about life in the lesser
known boroughs of New York: Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. It is a city of
superlatives, both high and low, a place of infinite variety, powerful urges, insatiable
energy and boundless appetite. TB 7247.
Nicolson, Nigel
Two roads to Dodge City. 1986. Read by Stephen Thorne and Gene Foad, 14
hours 26 minutes. TB 6741.
Earlier this year, Nigel Nicholson (69) and his son Adam (28), set out separately to
explore America and parts of Canada. Nigel began his trip in Florida on the day that
Adam started in California. After three months they met in Dodge City Kansas.
Their almost daily letters to each other compare their very different adventures and
impressions. In all they drove 30,000 miles and between them touched on most
aspects of American life. TB 6741.
Steinbeck, John
Travels with Charley. 2000. Read by William Roberts, 8 hours 35 minutes. TB
13732.
Steinbeck and his French poodle Charley travel across the states of America from
Maine to California. Moving through woods and forests, dirt tracks and highways to
large cities and glorious wildernesses, Steinbeck observed America and the
Americans with humorous and sometimes sceptical eye. What he sees is a lonely,
40
generous nation too packed with individuals for single judgements. His vision of
how the world was changing, however, speaks to us warningly and prophetically
through the decades. TB 13732.
Young, Gavin
From sea to shining sea: a present-day journey through America's past. 1996.
Read by Robbie McNab, 13 hours 34 minutes. TB 11817.
Gavin Young's journey takes him from Central Park and the old Atlantic whaling
ports, all the way to a tiny cabin in the Yukon, where Jack London heard `the call of
the wild'. Young uses the past to illustrate the present, showing the way great
battles still shape our lives, including Sherman's terrible march through Atlanta and
Savannah ending the civil war, and visits the site of Custer's last stand at the Battle
of the Little Bighorn. TB 11817.
South America
Allen, Benedict
Mad white giant: a journey to the heart of the Amazon jungle. 1985. Read by
George Hagan, 10 hours 28 minutes. TB 5957.
Benedict Allen travelled alone through the lands between the Orinoco and the
Amazon, learning from the Indians who adopted him how to live in the jungle. As he
was taken deeper he was made to undertake various tests to prove his worth as an
"Indian". Eventually he was accepted as an equal and awarded the prize daughter
of the village. Later (as he fled for his life) he had to make the month-long journey
alone, the greatest test of all. TB 5957.
Chatwin, Bruce
In Patagonia. 1977. Read by Alvar Lidell, 9 hours 30 minutes. TB 3307.
The author went to Patagonia in search of a prehistoric monster and a sea-faring
ancestor; he found a refuge of forlorn desolation and breathtaking beauty. He
describes the exotic landscape and the strange life-histories of the of the eccentrics
who live there. TB 3307.
O'Hanlon, Redmond
Into the heart of Borneo: an account of a journey made in 1983 to the
mountains of Batu Tiban with James Fenton. 1984. Read by George Hagan, 8
hours 42 minutes. TB 5549.
Armed with equipment and advice from the SAS and accompanied by Sea Dyak
trackers, the author, a naturalist, and James Fenton, a poet, set out on a long river
voyage into the far interior of a tropical jungle hoping to reach the Tiban massif.
This book records their adventures. TB 5549.
41
O'Hanlon, Redmond
In trouble again: a journey between the Orinoco and the Amazon. 1989. Read
by Richard Mitchley, 9 hours 44 minutes. TB 9746.
Having travelled through Borneo for two months, Redmond O'Hanlon embarked on
a trip up the Amazon, which turned out to be just as hazardous. With his travelling
companion Simon Stockton, a casino manager from Kensington, he met with many
dangerous obstacles, disease, fever, prowling wild animals and the Yanomami
tribesmen. Simon, in the end, leaves the expedition and O'Hanlon continues his
eccentric journey, conquering the lurking dangers to finish with many hilarious tales
to tell. TB 9746.
Theroux, Paul
The old Patagonian express: by train through the Americas. 1979. Read by
Marvin Kane, 17 hours 8 minutes. TB 4523.
The Old Patagonian Express was the last train the author took on the long journey
south which began in Boston, Massachusetts, on the subway with people going to
work. It is only one of a list of fascinating names such as the Aztec Eagle, the
Balboa Bullet and the Tren de la Sierra. Equally individual were the people he met
on the journey and the places he saw, both squalid and beautiful. For Paul
Theroux, Patagonia, with its vast empty space, is an ending - the journey is all. TB
4523.
Thomsen, Moritz
The saddest pleasure: a journey on two rivers. 1991. Read by William
Roberts, 13 hours 23 minutes. TB 9945.
Driven off his Ecuador farm, the author set off on a trip down the Amazon, and in
prose which is angry, humorous, coarse and lyrical, he travels the two rivers of
reality and recollection. He takes us to the heart of Latin America and its poverty,
corruption, beauty and violence, and describes with astonishing candour his own
guilt, confusion and loneliness in this, his final step in a lifelong rebellion against his
rich and conservative father. Contains strong language. TB 9945.
Vernon, Tom
Fat man in Argentina. 1990. Read by Raymond Sawyer, 9 hours 8 minutes. TB
9038.
The traveller best-known for his acclaimed radio series "Fat man on a bicycle" tells
how this risky form of transport again took him on a voyage of discovery - this time
through the exotic landscape and diverse communities of this fascinating Latin
country. TB 9038.
42
Waugh, Evelyn
Ninety-two days. 1991. Read by Garard Green, 7 hours 17 minutes. TB 10087.
Chronicle of a South American journey, describing the isolated cattle country of
Guiana, sparsely populated by a bizarre collection of visionaries, rogues and
ranches. Waugh records his nightmarish travels, on foot, by horse and boat through
the jungle into Brazil and debunks the romantic notions attached to rough travelling.
His trip is difficult, dangerous and uncomfortable and his witty and acute
observations give the reader a "share in the experience of travel". TB 10087.
Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Ocean Islands
Bryson, Bill
Down under. 2000. Read by William Roberts, 12 hours 14 minutes. TB 12564.
Bryson recounts his escapades in Australia, the only island that is also a continent
and the only continent that is also a country. TB 12564.
Davidson, Robyn
Tracks. 1980. Read by Carol Marsh, 10 hours 31 minutes. TB 3873.
The author set out to trek west by camel from the dead heart of the Australian
continent. She was to become known as the `Australian Camel Lady'. TB 3873.
Kavanagh, P J
Finding connections. 1991. Read by Ronald Markham, 7 hours 47 minutes. TB
9599.
Thirty years after "The Perfect Stranger", his first volume of autobiography,
Kavanagh broadens his perspective with an examination of his family history.
Taking him from Ireland to Tasmania, and on to New Zealand, part-English, partIrish, he appraises this mixed patrimony, assessing the importance of religion,
tradition and myth in shaping our lives. TB 9599.
Kent, Janet
The Solomon Islands. 1972. Read by John Richmond, 7 hours 45 minutes. TB
2298.
The islands series. The author moves confidently about this Pacific backwater and
candidly describes its people, customs, attractions and detractions. TB 2298.
Priestley, J B
A visit to New Zealand. 1974. Read by John Richmond, 4 hours 30 minutes.
TB 2540.
Described by the author as 'a reasonably honest and fairly intimate account of a
visit'. TB 2540.
43
If you have read a book you particularly enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) and want to share
your thoughts with other readers, visit the new RNIB Readers Forum at
www.rnib.org.uk/readersforum and post your review on the Forum".
44