32 Travel and Places 70142 TIME AND TIDE: The


Life of a Thames Waterman by Jack Gaster


After a series of disasters, which included losing the copy of the manuscript when his computer was stolen, and surviving a series of strokes, Jack Gaster finally finished this gripping autobiography at the age of 86. He had spent 49 of his 55 working years on the River including his time away from the


Thames in the Royal Navy. A true waterman, you might say. He grew up with a love for the water, and gained an apprenticeship with the Worshipful Company of Watermen and Lightermen when he was just 14. From then on, his life was linked to that of the Thames. He worked on tugs, then as a Police Officer for Thames Division, then for eight years piloting the scientific launch for Thames Water. At the age of 64, he set up his own business. After the Normandy invasion, he joined the Rescue Tug Service. 192 paperback pages, illus. £14.99 NOW £5.50


TRAVEL AND PLACES


You know you’ve made the wrong decision when the notice advertising vacancies is screwed to the front gate of the hotel.


- Pat Blackford 70702 FIRST CONTACT:


Book and DVD by Mark Anstice


Subtitled ‘A 21st Century Discovery of Cannibals’, the book is


accompanied by a DVD of the multi award-winning film of the expedition entitled Cannibals and Crampons. It is a true story about the discovery of cannibal tribes. In the course of their 150 mile journey by dugout canoe and foot through the


southern swamplands they dodged police, encountered politically disgruntled ex-head-hunters and were pursued by a previously un-contacted clan of the little known Korowai tribe. This was before they had begun their arduous journey into the mountainous interior of the island and the previously unclimbed south face of Gunung Mandala, the reason for their expedition. With map of Irian Jaya, west of Papua New Guinea and useful glossary. 216pp in paperback. £9.99 NOW £3.50


70709 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JOHN


NICOL, MARINER by Tim Flannery


A rousing and readable account of an 18th century sailor’s thrilling adventures. In his many voyages, the Scottish-born Nicol twice circumnavigated the globe, visiting every inhabited continent and participating in some of the greatest events of exploration and adventure


of the era. He fought for the British Navy against American privateers and Napoleon’s armada, hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean, and was entertained at the royal court in Hawaii only days after the murder of Captain James Cook. En route to Australia, he met the love of his life, Sarah Whitlam, a convict bound for the Botany Bay prison colony who would bear his son before duty forced them apart for ever. This gripping memoir of nautical adventure has been edited for the contemporary reader by the celebrated scientist and historian Tim Flannery. 198pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £3.50


70700 EMPEROR’S RIVER by Liam D’Arcy-Brown Since the start of Deng Xiaoping’s reform in the late 1970s, the Grand Canal has been fuelling China’s economy. In recent years, the Chinese have begun to tell themselves a story about their Grand Canal, a story that emerges a rediscovered pride in their heritage with a boisterous and often


70947 LA DOLCE VITA: 60s Lifestyle In Rome


by The Scala Group


Stripping, parties and sex symbols, nothing much changes for the Italian rich! Here are the sovereigns, queens and princesses, big romances, Fellini and his icons, Americans in Rome and the paparazzi snapping away at the rich and the beautiful and their glamorous lifestyles, looks, fashion, cars, highs and lows, in love and in films. See Bridget Bardot in a bikini, 1961, a playful Anita Ekberg, the stunningly beautiful couple Sophia Loren and Paul Newman, the sexy Gina Lollobrigida in her underwear, Claudia Cardinale in 1965, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Jayne Mansfield with her family at Positano on the back of a speed boat and then dangling spaghetti into her mouth in Rome, 1961. Spartacus and Ben-Hur, eastern princes and billionaires, Fellini’s ‘La Dolce Vita’ created a legendary scene with thousands of faces here lit up and recorded for posterity by the flashing cameras of the paparazzi. With one quality full page black and white still on every single page of this 511 page tome, a real heavyweight volume and most


glamorous new full price coffee table book. 11½” x 12".


ONLY £30


worrying nationalism. 260 million tons of freight pass along it each year, three times more than Britain’s railway network carries. 100,000 vessels ply their trades upon it and more than 100 million souls pass their lives along its banks. Liam D’Arcy-Brown attempts to reconcile the China that fascinated him as a child with the modern, more open China he sees now. Bribing and talking his way onto the enormous barges that carry bulk building materials for China’s rapid modernisation, he follows the world’s longest man-made canal (1,150 miles) chugging through a list of characters and historical but forgotten sites from China’s ancient past. Built 1400 years ago, this is a history and an intriguing insight into Beijing and the modern country of China today. 280pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £4


67987 THE GREAT WALL: The Extraordinary Story by John Man


Widely believed to be the only man- made structure visible from space, running in an unbroken line of stone across China in order to keep the barbarians at bay, the Great Wall is in fact none of these things. The author shows that the reality is far more fascinating and complex. First, there are many walls, and some of them, such as the “wall of Genghis


Khan” in northern Mongolia, are small earth banks, clearly not designed to repel barbarian hordes but more likely to have been trading frontiers. The First Emperor’s Wall in the third century B.C. was a metre or two in height, more a border than a defence. The first British embassy led by Lord McCartney in 1792 approached via the Zhao River in the north east. The wall’s most beautiful section is at Simatai. 335pp, paperback, colour photos. £9.99 NOW £2


68222 TREASURES OF IMPERIAL BEIJING (TIMELESS TREASURES)


by Mario Sabattini and Nicoletta Celli The Forbidden City, the most extraordinary example of an Imperial residence, was made up of thousands of buildings laid out in a symmetric grid and full of unforgettable sights such as the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. Our lavishly illustrated volume describes the great monuments of Beijing’s past, still visible in a city in the throes of rapid transformation. Huge dragons cast in bronze, Ming china, paintings, the Empress Cixi and the royal family in antique photographs, enamelled clay figures, gilt wood columns, bright and intricate room panels and doors, court paintings, wooden partitions, arches, bridges, parks like the North Lake Park, fine brightly decorated ceilings, the Imperial College, the ancient observatory to the fragrant hills and beyond are celebrated. With hundreds of colour photos. 312pp, 27cm x 37cm, slipcased. First time discounted. £35 NOW £10


70336 CAN-CANS, CATS AND CITIES OF ASH by Mark Twain


Mark Twain places his hand before his face in shame. But then opens his fingers, just a tiny bit, to view a bewildering riot of white-stockinged calves. This can-can has certainly tested his nerves, but as he travels the Mediterranean, braving vicious muleteers in the Azores, confronting petrified skeletons in Pompeii and dodging quarantine guards in the


dead of night to reach the Parthenon, this type of fortitude soon proves essential. A beautifully written short piece, 113pp in Penguin softback. £4.99 NOW £2.50


68641 THE HIKE AND EVERY DAMN THING ELSE! by Don Shawl


Meet Freddie, Phil and Don, three hilarious deep-thinking retired men determined to keep hiking to the bitter end in their beloved Peak District, but each for very different reasons. Phil is a former air traffic controller and the group’s self-appointed leader. He is on a mission not to grow old and believes his combination of obsessive physical exercise and the latest health supplements will hold back time. His eternal mission is to find the meaning of life, and until he does, he takes consolation in outmanoeuvring the vulgar, aspirational world around him. Thankfully they have Don to calm the waters. 256pp in paperback. £9.99 NOW £3.50


68699 GARDENS OF EUROPE: A Traveller’s Guide by Charles Quest-Ritson


The author traces the nuances of garden history in the different and very varied climatic conditions and landscapes. He looks at all types of garden including Ancient Roman remnants in Italy, Moorish gardens in Spain, tiled gardens in Portugal, Baroque masterpieces and English-style landscape gardens throughout the continent, English flower gardens and woodland gardens, great botanic gardens in Germany and Scandinavia, Arboreta in Northern Europe, high-level alpine gardens in Switzerland and cutting-edge contemporary gardens in France and the Low Countries. Over 600 gardens. Location, opening times, contact and other details. 500 gorgeous colour photos, 7½” x 11½”, 382pp. £25 NOW £7


69705 A LADY’S CAPTIVITY AMONG CHINESE PIRATES by Fanny Loviot


A mid-Victorian bestseller, translated from the French. In 1852 Fanny Loviot travelled with her sister to California on “commercial matters”. After a rough crossing, including being becalmed at Cape Horn, she reaches San Francisco, hires a room and quickly learns her way around, including negotiating the implacable enmity between the Chinese and the black populations. When a friend, Madam Nelson, wants to pursue “commercial speculations” in the east, Fanny embarks with her on the Arcturus bound for Hong Kong and Batavia. After a month’s stay Loviot takes the Caldera back to California under the captainship of the gallant 35- year old Captain Rooney, and it is Rooney who supports Loviot when the ship is attacked by pirates. After chaotic and cruel treatment they are rescued by a British steamer and Loviot is able to return to France. 149pp. £8.99 NOW £3.50


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70533 CAPTAIN COOK ENCYCLOPEDIA by John Robson


Researched and written by leading experts on the famous captain, it reflects both the traditional views of Captain Cook and the latest reassessments, especially those of the peoples of the Pacific on whose lives Britain’s greatest navigator made such an impact. Discoveries from and about Cook’s voyages have found their way into nearly all subjects across the spectrum of knowledge - astronomy and science, art, religion, music, ethnology, botany, literature and zoology are all involved, and covered here. With its wide-ranging approach, which encompasses such unexpected themes as the Seven Years’ War, the Royal Society and the Enlightenment, and includes characters as varied as the Marquis de Sade, the Earl of Sandwich, Marie Antoinette, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Captain James T. Kirk of the star-ship Enterprise, this volume is a superb window on the whole world of 18th century maritime life, exploration and discovery. The entries are arranged alphabetically and fully cross-referenced and there is a detailed chronology of Cook’s life. A splendid 288


pages, 27cm x 20.5cm illustrated in colour and b/w with maps.


£30 NOW £9 69439 IN THE LANDS OF THE ENCHANTED


MOORISH MAIDEN: Islamic Art in Portugal by Museum With No Frontiers


From the beautiful university city of Coimbra to the furthest reaches of the Algarve there are palaces, Christianised Mosques, fortifications and urban centres which all bear witness to the splendour of a glorious past. Here are analysed the construction techniques and decorative motifs of local popular architecture, the castles of the River Sado, Silves, the capital of Almohad art, tombstones from the Archaeological Museum at Faro, historic villages like Cacela Velha and the castle at Castro Marim, the White Town of Serpa, and the towns of Evora, Beja, the Citadel at Juromenha, white marble from San Tarán, the beautiful Moorish wall which you can actually walk around at Sintra. Hundreds of colour photos, map ans sketches covering 500 years. 200 page softback.


£9.99 NOW £4


69567 GALICIA: A Concise History by Sharif Gemie


Raises questions about identity, voting motivation, language, nationalism, religion and culture, the region’s links with Iberia and Latin America. The study begins by analysing the religious importance of the Shrine of Santiago de Compostela. It analyses issues such as the mass migration of Galician to Argentina and Cuba, the sense and weaknesses of Galician nationalism, the status of Galego (the Galician language), Galicia during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, and the rise and fall of Fraga and the Conservative Partido Popular in Galicia after 1981. 205pp in paperback with illus.


£16.95 NOW £3.50 69207 IMPRESSIONS OF RAJASTHAN


by Carisse and Gérard Busquet The superb photos throughout this book capture the everyday life of those living in Rajasthan - from the isolation of the Thar desert to women washing in groups on the banks of Lake Picchola, and from camel herders chatting at the Pushkar camel fair to children playing in the streets of Jodhpur, the blue city. The reader is permitted a rare glimpse into havali, the once luxurious homes of wealthy merchants, ornately decorated with richly painted frescoes, and also offered a unique view of women painting the walls of their modest homes with powerful, sacred frescoes depicting village scenes, abstract designs or natural elements. The informative text explains the symbolism and spiritualism portrayed in the murals that are essential to the cultural heritage of Rajasthan. 194 pages in colour with map. £37.50 NOW £12


69005 IN-FLIGHT SCIENCE: A Guide to the World From your Airplane Window by Brian Clegg


The author engagingly starts his book from the point of view of a nervous passenger at the airport terminal. Reassured by the fact that a car is twelve times more dangerous, the passenger proceeds to the bag check and body scan, where surveillance is explained in detail and “the science of superstition” tells us why there is no gate 13. Aeroplane technology follows - how on earth does it manage to stay in the sky? An air flight gives an unrivalled view of the landscape and Brian Clegg examines the psychology which prompts people to create structures which are best viewed from the air. 212pp, paperback, b/w photos. £12.99 NOW £2.50


69204 HAMMOND WORLD ATLAS: Book and CD-Rom


by Langenscheidt Publishing Group A rare opportunity to invest in an excellent quality printed world atlas in a special executive edition with CD-Rom by the famous mapmakers for the 21st century. The tome measures 11" x 14½” and contains more than 180 pages with digitised world maps with striking physical relief and 68 detailed inset maps of major metropolitan areas. This gorgeous edition has been enclosed in an attractive slipcase. There are striking colour tints and shaded relief to achieve a spectacular three dimensional effect. The edition is padded with a bonded leather cover, silver edged pages, silver foil stamping and a satin ribbon place marker. Updated in this fourth edition to reflect new names and renamed cities and the most current political boundaries, with an easy-to-use 100,000 entry master index, quick reference guide, world locator and time zone maps plus a 64 page thematic section covering deforestation, ozone depletion, the protection of our natural and cultural heritage and more. Plus 48 pages of satellite images to offer stunning views of the Earth - from Mt. Saint Helens to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef -, from the perspective of space. Apologies for stain to some pages. £79.95 NOW £23


e-mail: orders@bibliophilebooks.com


69320 BANGKOK BABYLON by Jerry Hopkins


Hopkins recalls his first decade as a Bangkok expatriate by profiling 25 of the city’s most unforgettable characters. Among them are the man thought to be the model for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, an advertising executive who photographed Thai bar girls for Playboy, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who moved there to die, a Catholic priest lived and worked in Bangkok slums for 35 years, a circus dwarf turned computer programmer turned restaurateur, three Vietnam War helicopter pilots who opened a Go-Go bar, a pianist at one of the world’s best hotels who ended up on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list and a gem dealer. All of them ‘escaped’ to Thailand to re-invent themselves. 224 pages in paperback. £14.50 NOW £2.25


69345 JAGUARS AND ELECTRIC EELS by Alexander von Humboldt


!


Set in the tropical heat of Venezuela in 1800, in a canoe just 30 feet long so unsteady that standing up could capsize it into piranha-infested waters, a group of travellers are journeying upstream from the mouth of the Orinoco to the banks of the Rio Negro. They have hacked through tropical jungles, survived jaguars, crocodiles and electric eels, had their feet torn by rocks and their skin attacked by mosquitoes. But still Alexander von Humboldt’s desire for adventure is unconquerable. Map, 100 page Penguin paperback. £4.99 NOW £2.50


69363 PIRACY, TURTLES AND FLYING FOXES by William Dampier They were all racked with fever. The daring canoe trip from the Nicobar Islands had been full of hazards, not least starvation, dehydration and terrible storms. But William Dampier was a hardened adventurer. His chaotic career on the high seas encompassed three around-the-world trips and his journals became the stuff of legends. He seemed immune to danger as sailor, explorer, amateur anthropologist and pirate, his life always at risk. The setting is Sumatran shore, 1686. Map, 106pp in Penguin paperback. £4.99 NOW £2


69368 SHIPWRECKED MEN by Cabeza de Vaca


Lost in the wilds of America circa 1530, here is another of history’s greatest adventurers. He had been missing for five days and his companions had given him up for dead. But Cabeza de Vaca was a survivor, one of 600 men who had set off to conquer and govern America. But shipwrecks, hurricanes, starvation, disease and cannibalism ensured that just four men lived to tell their extraordinary tale of human endurance and courage. They were, unwittingly, the first Europeans to cross the American South-West. Map, 150pp in Penguin paperback.


£4.99 NOW £2.50


69407 DIARY OF AN INVALID (1817-1819) by Henry Matthews


Subtitled ‘Journal of a Tour in Pursuit of Health 1817- 1819’, this is a colourful account of the author’s travels through Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and France. It is what he calls a ‘wild goose chase after health’, coincidently following the fashion among the rich for making a ‘grand tour’ around the cultural highlights of the Continent. Accompanied by irreverent and humorous descriptions of the characters he meets along the way, his diary provides us with a fantastic insight into the surprising world of an English gentleman abroad in the early 20th century. Born in 1879, the author was educated at Eton and Kings College Cambridge and was made a judge in 1927. 381pp in paperback. £12 NOW £2.50


69863 TALES FROM THE TORRID ZONE:


Travels In the Deep Tropics by Alexander Frater


Frater takes us on a dazzling personal journey through the 88 different nations that comprise the tropics. Rooted in his birthplace in the South Seas Republic of Vanautu, his story ranges over the hot, wet, beautiful swathes of the world that have haunted him ever since as he visits scores of countries to learn about their history, politics, medicine, flora and fauna. But the Torrid Zone is not just a geographical phenomenon, it is also a powerfully affecting state of mind. Part memoir, part travelogue. 380pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £2.75


70919 FRANCIS FRITH IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE: A Victorian Photographer Abroad by Douglas Nickel


Compiled and written by a historian of photography, and with extensive notes, this volume brings a sophisticated interdisciplinary approach to bear on the subject, exposing the complexity of Frith’s image- making and setting the photographs against a Victorian backdrop of religious debate, imperialist thought, Romantic philosophy and Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics. It is the first book to place Frith’s Egyptian and Levantine images in a cultural context, revealing the distinct meanings these ostensibly ‘topographic’ pictures held for the photographer and his Victorian audience. In 1856, Frith set out on the first of three tours of Egypt and the Holy Lands. Travelling up the Nile and then on to Sinai, Palestine, Syria and the Lebanon, he systematically crafted exquisite pictures of ruins, landscapes and legendary sites. A Quaker by birth and an entrepreneur by nature, Frith brought to his photographic projects a sense of mission, to revive and confirm the stories of the Bible, while offering to armchair travellers a seamless Oriental milieu of Romantic reverie - viz his depictions of The Great Pyramid and the Great Sphynx, the colossal sculptures at Philae and the entrance to the Great Temple at Luxor, sadly despoiled by tourism since Frith’s heyday. 240 pages 28.5cm by 26cm


illustrated in b/w with chronology, maps.


Princeton University Press first edition, 2003.


£57.50 NOW £20


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