Winner of the RSL Ondaatje PrizeShortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award‘A striding, glorious book . . . A flat-out masterpiece’ The New York Times Book ReviewCaught between hostile nations, warring factions and competing ideologies, Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot and following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mughal emperor Babur the Great, Rory Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme, hostile conditions.Only with the help of an unexpected companion, and the generosity of the people he met on the way, did he survive to report back on his journey with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war.‘This evocative book feels like a long-lost relic of the great age of exploration’ The Guardian Read more

A Sunday Times Book of the Week and Top 10 BestsellerA Times bestsellerA Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024A Spectator Book of the YearWhat kind of country is England today?What does it mean to be English?Are we hungry for change or seeking old certainties?Join Stuart Maconie on an enlightening, entertaining journey through England, from Bristol's Banksy to Durham's beaches, from Cotswolds corduroy to Stoke's oatcakes.As his guide, Maconie walks in the footsteps of J.B. Priestley's classic travelogue, English Journey, to explore our national identity and how it has evolved over the last century. On his way, Stuart takes inspiration from the people he meets at bus stops and train stations, cafes and corner shops.Travelling the length of the land, Maconie explores the differences between city and town, north and south, and examines our past and present with affection and insight. Whether he’s passing the boutique hotels of Manchester, the moors of Ilkley or the grand houses of Tynemouth, looking out over misty fens or urban skylines, he shines a light on the people who make these places and asks what the future holds for them. Along the way, he uncovers local heroes and secret histories over early breakfasts and last orders.Through his journey, he lets us see our homes and habits, hopes and eccentricities with fresh eyes. The Full English challenges us to embrace the messy, shifting and diverse nature of England, and to ask ourselves what kind of country we want to be.Stuart Maconie's book 'The Full English' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2023-04-17. Read more

Experience the world by train alongside best-selling travel writer Tom Chesshyre, as he takes a whistle-stop tour around the globe in 49 unique journeys Why do people love trains so much? Tom Chesshyre is on a mission to find the answer by experiencing the world through train travel – on both epic and everyday rail routes, aboard every type of ride, from steam locomotives to bullet trains, meeting a cast of memorable characters who share a passion for train travel. Join him on the rails and off the beaten track as he embarks on an exhilarating whistle-stop tour around the globe, on journeys on celebrated trains and railways including: India’s famed toy train Sri Lanka’s Reunification Express The Indian Pacific across the Australian outback The Shanghai maglev And the picturesque rail journeys of the Scottish Highlands Plus trains through Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey, Iran, Finland, Russia, America and France, with short interludes in North Korea, Italy, Poland, Peru, Switzerland, England and Lithuania. All aboard! Read more

THE NO. 1 BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF POLITICS ON THE EDGERory Stewart explores his love for the UK in this account of history, memory and landscape as he traverses the the borderlands between England and Scotland.‘This beautifully written book is a haunting reflection of identity and our relationships with the people and places we love’ Daily MailHis father Brian taught Rory Stewart how to walk, and walked with him on journeys from Iran to Malaysia. Now they have chosen to do their final walk together along ‘the Marches’ - the frontier that divides their two countries, Scotland and England.On their six-hundred-mile, thirty-day journey - with Rory on foot, and his father ‘ambushing’ him by car – the pair relive Scottish dances, reflect on Burmese honey-bears, and on the loss of human presence in the British landscape.Travelling across mountain ridges and through housing estates they uncover a forgotten country crushed between England and Scotland: the Middleland. They discover unsettling modern lives, lodged in an ancient place, as their odyssey develops into a history of the British nationhood, a chronicle of contemporary Britain and an exuberant encounter between a father and a son.And as the journey deepens, and the end approaches, Brian and Rory fight to match, step by step, modern voices, nationalisms and contemporary settlements to the natural beauty of the Marches, and a fierce absorption in tradition in their own unconventional lives.‘Suggests an open-mindedness in Stewart, a tolerance and flexibility that could make him an exceptional politician while it also continues to define him as a writer’ New York Review of Books‘Travel writing at its best’ GuardianPlease note: The book cover received may differ from the cover displayed here. Read more

The sun is setting on the Western world. Slowly but surely, the direction in which the world spins has reversed: where for the last five centuries the globe turned westwards on its axis, it now turns to the east. For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east. Read more

Abandoned in a bucket…to new adventures in GreeceThe delightfully comic account of a British couple and their imported cats starting over in a new country continues in Bucket to Greece Volume 17. Nikos is at his wits end when a vandal targets him with insulting graffiti, desecrating his fields with mounds of rubbish. Romance is in the air when Vasos asks Sherry, and Victor, on a date, and Christos has a lot of grovelling to do when Violet Burke flounces off the job.Taking a trip down memory lane, Victor revels in the joys of grubby kitchens when Pelham, a former colleague, visits. Doreen tackles the Greek moped test to earn her diploma, Hal buys his great-niece an adorable old donkey, and Sherry rescues an abandoned hoglet. If you’re a fan of Greek travel and culture then the Bucket to Greece series is a must, with a bucketful of laughs along the way. Read more

'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional'The must-read gift for every runner: a compelling meditation on the power of running and a fascinating insight into the life of this internationally bestselling writer.In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing.Equal parts travelogue, training log and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston.By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.*Murakami's new book Novelist as a Vocation is available now*'There can never have been a book quite like this memoir of running and writing before. In its self-contained way, it's nothing less than an inspiration' Evening Standard'Hugely enjoyable...You don't have to have run a marathon to be captivated' Sunday Telegraph'Comical, charming and philosophical...an excellent memoir' GQ Read more

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Winner of the PEN New England Award “Enchanting…A book filled with so much love…Long before Oregon, Rinker Buck has convinced us that the best way to see America is from the seat of a covered wagon.” —The Wall Street Journal “Amazing…A real nonfiction thriller.” —Ian Frazier, The New York Review of Books “Absorbing…Winning…The many layers in The Oregon Trail are linked by Mr. Buck’s voice, which is alert and unpretentious in a manner that put me in mind of Bill Bryson’s comic tone in A Walk in the Woods.” —Dwight Garner, The New York TimesA major bestseller that has been hailed as a “quintessential American story” (Christian Science Monitor), Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail is an epic account of traveling the 2,000-mile length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way—in a covered wagon with a team of mules—that has captivated readers, critics, and booksellers from coast to coast. Simultaneously a majestic journey across the West, a significant work of history, and a moving personal saga, Buck’s chronicle is a “laugh-out-loud masterpiece” (Willamette Week) that “so ensnares the emotions it becomes a tear-jerker at its close” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis) and “will leave you daydreaming and hungry to see this land” (The Boston Globe). Read more

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'Chris Broad explores Japan in all its quirky glory..Endlessly fascinating!'Will Ferguson, author of Hokkaido Highway Blues'Carves a unique path across Japan bringing him into contact with far too many cats, heartening renewal in Tohoku, and even pizza with Ken Watanabe.'Iain Maloney, author of The Only Gaijin in the Village'Fascinating, fact-packed and very funny..An excellent and enjoyable read for the Japan-curious. I loved it and learned a lot.'Sam Baldwin, author of For Fukui's Sake: Two years in rural JapanWhen Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history?Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that came with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most complex cultures.Spanning ten years and all forty-seven prefectures, Chris takes us from the lush rice fields of the countryside to the frenetic neon-lit streets of Tokyo. With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a mortifying experience at a love hotel and a week spent with Japan's biggest movie star, Abroad in Japan is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.Number one Sunday Times bestseller, August 2023. Cover may vary. Read more

NORTHWARD BOUND is the entertaining and enlightening account of one English couple’s relocation from the overdeveloped south of Spain to the lush green hills of Asturias. In PART TWO of Alison’s story the valiant couple go on living with Remedios while their new house is being refurbished by a singular builder and his motley crew. Hoping to move in by the end of the year, a stirring series of events – one of them a huge surprise – means that the process goes less smoothly than they’d anticipated. Read more

Travel writing mattersExplore the world through this beautiful collection of the finest travel writing published in British media in the 21st century - as judged by some of the most respected travel writers in the world: Levison Wood, Monisha Rajesh, Jessica Vincent and Simon WillmoreThe world has changed, but our desire to explore new places remains as strong as ever. The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century includes 30 outstanding travel stories published in British media over the last two decades, as chosen by some of the top names in travel writing today. Through travel's most talented storytellers, you'll face adversity along the Congo's raging River Lulua, make new friends aboard Iraq's night train, and embark on life-changing pilgrimages from India to Saudi Arabia.This book is an ode to travel and all that it offers, but it's also a celebration of a genre that brings the world closer to us. At its best, travel writing encourages empathy and inspires change. Join our award-winning writers in marvelling at the power and beauty of travel, and let them inspire you to fall in love with the world all over again. Read more

The Sunday Times Bestseller – As featured on Ben Fogle's New Lives in the Wild.Join Christian Lewis as he walks the entire coastline of the UK – his dog Jet in tow – and rebuilds his life, step by step. With a foreword from longtime supporter Ben Fogle, Finding HIldasay is his inspiring true story of reconnecting with nature and finding hope along the way.Ex-paratrooper Christian Lewis had hit rock bottom, suffering with depression so severe he would shut himself in his bedroom for weeks. Then while surfing – his sole respite – he cast his eyes along the coastline and realized it was the only place he really wanted to be.Then, Chris made an impulsive decision. He set himself a challenge: to walk the entire coastline of the UK. He gave himself a few days to rustle up a tent and walking boots, then left for good with just a tenner in his pocket and two days’ worth of food. Little did he know at the time just how long it would take to cross the finish line – and the encounters lying ahead would turn his life around.Almost six years later, Chris has navigated the West Coast, Northern Ireland, the hard-rock cliffs of Scotland and the perimeters of the Scottish Islands. He spent three months on an uninhabited island called Hildasay, with beloved dog Jet. It was there, the most barren his route had become, that he found within himself the pride and respect he needed – and his journey became all the more remarkable. Happiness and hope was just around the corner . . .'Exhilarating' – The Observer'The real journey here is one of self-discovery' – The Mail on Sunday Read more

The incredible story of one man's obsession to find and protect the world's largest flowers As a child, Chris Thorogood dreamed of seeing Rafflesia - the plant with the world's largest flowers. He crafted life-size replicas in an abandoned cemetery, carefully bringing them to life with paper and paint. Today he is a botanist at the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden and has dedicated his life to studying the biology of such extraordinary plants, working alongside botanists and foresters in Southeast Asia to document these huge, mysterious blooms.Pathless Forest is the story of his journey to study and protect this remarkable plant - a biological enigma, still little understood, which invades vines as a leafless parasite and steals its food from them. We join him on a mind-bending adventure, as he faces a seemingly impenetrable barrier of weird, wonderful and sometimes fearsome flora; finds himself smacking off leeches, hanging off vines, wading through rivers; and following indigenous tribes into remote, untrodden rainforests in search of Rafflesia's ghostly, foul-smelling blooms, more than a metre across.We depend on plants for our very existence, but two in five of the world's species are threatened with extinction - nobody knows how many species of Rafflesia might already have disappeared through deforestation. Pathless Forest is part thrilling adventure story and part an inspirational call to action to safeguard a fast-disappearing wilderness. To view plants in a different way, as vital for our own future as for that of the planet we share. And to see if Rafflesia itself can be saved. Read more

From Amazon bestselling author Craig Briggs, The Journey continues with book thirteen in the series, LAND of RIVERS and TREES.Dark clouds of uncertainty hang over Craig and Melanie’s future in Spain as the spectre of a no-deal Brexit looms. Can Craig set the record straight before an unknown criminal past puts paid to them taking back control?When newly introduced regulations threaten to scupper Craig’s winemaking aspirations, he and Melanie embark on a quest to learn new skills. Little do they know it will require the patience of a saint and the understanding of an unfamiliar language, but sterner tests lie ahead.Rising costs and falling reservations raise questions about the viability of their holiday rental property. After much soul searching, they decide to turn the page and put their beloved house on the market but, with only days until the first guests of the season arrive, an unexpected water pump failure adds to their woes. Will they find a solution in time?Challenges come and go, but their love for their adopted homeland remains unwavering. From chocolate and churros to drinks and nibbles, cathedrals and castles to rivers and beaches, Craig and Melanie’s life is an ever-changing collage of people, places, sounds, and food.Craig’s flowing writing style and detailed descriptions take the reader on a memorable journey that will remain with them long after the final page has been turned. Read more

After surviving their first year in rural Andalucía, Drew Johnson and his wife, Chris, are back to stare down the barrel of more ridiculous Spanish red tape amidst a series of unprecedented storms and floods that hit the area, not to mention the start of a global pandemic.Having spent six months enjoying an early retirement, Drew jumps with his usual gusto into a new career as a budding novelist whilst trying to find a proper job to help pay the bills. Meanwhile, in an effort to give something back to the local community, Chris volunteers with a wildfire group.Hurtling headlong through life as he does, Drew goes into battle against unscrupulous accountants, a bewildering tax system and his private health company. With life still trying to throw him off his stride with car crashes, medical emergencies, a leaky swimming pool and the need to move house again - not to mention a devastating burglary - Drew continues to laugh in the face of danger … that is until he meets his match in the shape of THAT BLOODY SPIDER!Despite everything that’s thrown at them, our pair still find time to take up art classes, join a hiking group and show us much more of Andalucía, with its picturesque towns and amazing cities steeped in Spanish and Moorish history.Here's what readers are saying about the book:★★★★★ 'This was a delight to read and made me laugh out loud more than any other memoirs except his first one. Please keep going and write book three.' - Goodreads reviewer★★★★★ 'He's STILL a cheeky swine!' - Drew's Mum★★★★★ ‘After reading book one, I had to read book two immediately and it was every bit as captivating and humorous as I had come to expect from this author. Life around Malaga and plenty of interactions and experiences as would be had by a foreigner living in Spain are described. Very entertaining. I hope to see book three.’ - Amazon reviewer★★★★★ ‘He has a very low pain threshold!’ - Drew’s long-suffering wife, Chris Read more

The gripping true story of one man's ten year expedition from a village in West Africa to the Arctic CircleWITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHORScorching heat, rich, fertile soil, and treacherous snakes marked the landscape in which Tété-Michel grew up in 1950s Togo, West Africa. When he discovered a book on Greenland as a teen, this distant land became an instant obsession - he was determined to journey to the place these pages had revealed to him and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.A book of rich and immersive travel writing, Michel the Giant invites the reader to journey alongside an audacious Kpomassie as he makes his way from the equator to the bitter cold of the artic and settles into life with the Inuit peoples, adapting to their foods and customs. Part memoir, part anthropological observation this captivating narrative teems with nuanced observations on community, belonging and the universality of human experience. This title has been previously published as An African in Greenland Read more

The number one Sunday Times bestseller Walking saved his life. Now it will help find him a family. In the follow-up to Finding Hildasay, with his dog by his side, former paratrooper Christian Lewis takes his next steps – along the coastline of Britain, and on the road of life.After spending lockdown on a deserted Scottish island called Hildasay, it was time for Chris Lewis to complete his mission to walk the UK coastline. Then, in November 2020, he had an unlikely (seemingly destined) encounter with fellow adventurer Kate. The two turned out to be kindred spirits and – even more astonishingly – Kate made the bold decision to join Chris on the walk of a lifetime. Day in, day out, as they trekked the coastline down from Scotland together, their relationship grew, and soon the couple were thrown in at the deep end when their first child – baby Magnus – arrived.But, away from Scotland, Chris’s struggles with mental health returned. The solitude of Hildasay seemed far away and he unravelled once again.Through injuries and setbacks, with Jet the dog ageing and baby Magnus growing by the day, the adventurous family of four had to find their feet and come together to complete this epic challenge. They’ve navigated the eastern coastline of Scotland, through Yorkshire and East Anglia, and struggled on to the Jurassic Coast, where Chris slowly came back into himself.In Hildasay to Home, Chris finally crosses the finish line back in Swansea, with almost half a million pounds raised. He reflects beautifully on all that he’s learned – and the family he’s found for himself along the way.Praise for Finding Hildasay'The real journey here is one of self-discovery' – The Mail on Sunday'I love how genuine it feels . . . Chris is a remarkable man' – Dorset Magazine Read more

The year is 1989. The destination is North Cape, far inside the Arctic Circle. An era of travel without smartphones, GPS, Google maps, and still not an ounce of common sense.Andy has swapped his battered old Suzuki for a spanking new Kawasaki GPZ1000RX. Let's ride together as we cross fjords, frozen tundra and high mountain passes to reach the most northern point of Europe. Witty, poignant and accidentally informative, the story tells of travel in a time long gone, when we read paper maps like pirates on the high seas, and friends were made and lost along roads less travelled.A Fast Bike to North Cape is a hilarious true-life travelogue full of interesting characters, uncomfortable moments, terrible choices, and British humour that will appeal to lovers of Bill Bryson, Douglas Adams, and David Sedaris.All the books in the Petrolhead Travelogue series can be read in any order.Praise for “A Fast Bike to North Cape”★★★★★ This book is incredibly fast-paced★★★★★ Disasters and near-death experiences come thick and fast★★★★★ Just read the North Cape book for the third time! Great reading!★★★★★ This guy is crackers. Read more

It is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life – a large portion of it quite deadly. In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else.Ignoring such dangers – and yet curiously obsessed by them – Bill Bryson journeyed to Australia and promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? The people are cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted and unfailingly obliging: their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water; the food is excellent; the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. Life doesn’t get much better than this… Read more

Follow Robert Macfarlane to the furthest corners of the globe.... A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2019WINNER OF THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020'You'd be crazy not to read this book' The Sunday TimesA Guardian Best Book of the 21st CenturyIn Underland, Robert Macfarlane takes us on a journey into the worlds beneath our feet. From the ice-blue depths of Greenland's glaciers, to the underground networks by which trees communicate, from Bronze Age burial chambers to the rock art of remote Arctic sea-caves, this is a deep-time voyage into the planet's past and future. Global in its geography, gripping in its voice and haunting in its implications, Underland is a work of huge range and power, and a remarkable new chapter in Macfarlane's long-term exploration of landscape and the human heart.SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020 'Macfarlane has invented a new kind of book, really a new genre entirely' The Irish Times'He is the great nature writer, and nature poet, of this generation' Wall Street Journal 'Macfarlane has shown how utterly beautiful a brilliantly written travel book can still be' Observer on The Old Ways'Irradiated by a profound sense of wonder... Few books give such a sense of enchantment; it is a book to give to many, and to return to repeatedly' Independent on Landmarks'It sets the imagination tingling...like reading a prose Odyssey sprinkled with imagist poems' The Sunday Times on The Old Ways Read more