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  The Pursuit of Italy - A History...

  David Gilmour

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  Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance—and weakness—of Italy today.David Gilmour's ex­ploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations, and is peopled with the great figures of the Italian past—from Cicero and Virgil to Dante and the Medicis, from Garibaldi and Cavour to the controversial politicians of the twentieth century. Gilmour's wise account of the Risorgimento, the pivotal epoch in modern Italian history, debunks the nationalistic myths that surround it, though he paints a sympathetic portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, a beloved hero of the era. Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinc­tive art, civic cultures, identities, and cuisines. Italy's inhabitants identified themselves not as Italians but as Tuscans and Venetians, Sicilians and Lombards, Neapolitans and Genoese. Italy's strength and culture still come from its regions rather than from its misconceived, mishandled notion of a unified nation.

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  The Hill of Kronos

  Peter Levi

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  Peter Levi paints a radiant portrait of the Greece he came to know through a lifetime of exploration. As a young scholar he sought out its ancient spirit, the keys to its mythology and civilisation, in its ruined cities and majestic mountains. Later, as a priest working as a diplomat and a friend of the oppressed, he lived in Athens through the dark days of the dictatorship. The sinews of political life led back to secret alliances made during the civil war and the earlier occupation of Greece, back to murder, starvation and corpse-filled quarries. Lastly, he sees the country through the mature eyes of a family man, with the ripened sensibility of an acclaimed poet. This is a precious fusion of experience and insight from one philhellene to all those who have come to love Greece.

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  The Ascent of Mount St Elias Alaska

  Filippo De Filippi

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  The Ascent of Mount St. Elias, Alaska (1900) by Filippo De Filippi recounts how Mt. St. Elias was first climbed on July 31, 1897 by an expedition led by famed explorer Prince Luigi Amadeo di Savoia. Mount Saint Elias (5,489 m), also designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, being situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. It lies about 40 kilometers southwest of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada.

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  A Small Place in Italy

  Eric Newby

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  This book is a lush and beautiful memoir of a very special house and a superb recreation of a bygone era. 
  In 1967, veteran travel writer Eric Newby and his heroic wife Wanda fulfiled their dream of a return to life in the Italian hills where they first met during World War II. But this fulfilment would not come easy. The dream materialised in the form of I Castagni ('The Chestnuts'), a small, decrepit farmhouse with no roof, an abandoned septic tank and its own indigenous wildlife reluctant to give up their home. But in the foothills of the Apuan Alps on the border of Liguria and Northern Tuscany, this ramshackle house would soon become a hub of love, friendship and activity. 
  Whether recounting dangerous expeditions through Afghanistan or everyday life in a country house, Newby's talent shines through as one of the foremost writers of the comic travel genre. Full of Newby's sharp wit and good humour, ‘A Small Place’ in Italy returns, twenty years later, to the life of Newby's much-cherished classic, Love and War in the Apennines. It lovingly recounts the quickly disappearing lifestyle of the idiosyncratic locals, and the enduring friendships they forge, whether sharing in growing their first wine harvest as novices or frying poisonous mushrooms for a feast. 
  The essays in A Small Place in Italy showcase Newby's best work, making it one of the top travelogues of its time. Readers will feel as if they are walking through the Italian hills alongside Newby and his wife. 
  For fans of Laurie Lee (Down in the Valley), Rory Stewart (The Marches), Bruce Chatwin (In Patagonia), Patrick Leigh Fermor (The Broken Road), and Helena Attlee (The Land Where Lemons Grow).

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  Brave-ish - One Breakup Six...

  Lisa Niver

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  Newlywed Lisa Niver was on the adventure of a lifetime. She had quit her job, rented out her condo, and was traveling around Asia. To the outside world, Niver was a woman living out her dreams of exploring ancient ruins in Cambodia and seeing orangutans in Borneo. In private, she was keeping a dark secret. But, when she found herself lying on a sidewalk in Thailand, looking up at the sky in severe pain, she knew things had to change. At age forty-seven, Niver found the courage to set course on a new life.Feeling like a failure, pushing fifty, and moving home to her parents' house to start again from scratch, Niver started taking one tiny "brave-ish" step at a time. These small hurdles led to the challenge of trying fifty new things before turning fifty. Niver found herself traversing the world on a journey of reinvention, personal growth, and discovering what it actually means to be "brave."While Brave-ish chronicles Niver's inspiring expeditions to distant corners of the world including Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco, Kenya and Mongolia this is more than a travelogue. Niver's story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Brave-ish inspires listeners to dream big, take risks, and embrace the unknown to create a life filled with wonder and excitement, even when courage seems elusive.

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  Borderlines - A Journey in...

  Charles Nicholl

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  In 1986 Charles Nicholl went to Thailand, intending to take a 'spiritual rest-cure' in a Buddhist forest temple. But the way there had many surprising side turnings. A chance meeting on the night train north takes him on a circuitous journey in the company of Harry, a French gem-trader with a chequered past, and his mercurial Thai girlfriend, Katai. For the travel writer, he learns, it's not what you go looking for that counts, but what you find. They drift along the banks of the Mekong, up into the Golden Triangle and into the rebel strongholds of northern Burma. Opium dreams and jade windows, spirit-callers and moon-hares: Nicholl's crisp, vivid prose captures every detail of this elusive adventure, as we travel with him across borderlines both real and imaginary.

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