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  Selected Travel Writing -...

  Graham Greene

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  A pair of revelatory travel memoirs from “a superb storyteller . . . [who] had a talent for depicting local color” (The New York Times).   “One of the finest writers of any language,” British author Graham Greene embarked on two awe-inspiring and eye-opening journeys in the 1930s—to West Africa and to Mexico (The Washington Post). Greene would find himself both shaken and inspired by these trips, which would go on to inform his novels.  Journey Without Maps: When Graham Greene set off from Liverpool in 1935 for what was then an Africa unmarked by colonization, it was to leave the known transgressions of his own civilization behind for those unknown. First by cargo ship, then by train and truck through Sierra Leone, and finally on foot, Greene embarked on a dangerous and unpredictable 350-mile, four-week trek through Liberia with his cousin and a handful of servants and bearers into a world where few had ever seen a white man. For Greene, this odyssey became as much a trip into the primitive interiors of the writer himself as it was a physical journey into a land foreign to his experience.   “One of the best travel books [of the twentieth] century.” —The Independent  The Lawless Roads: This eyewitness account of religious and political persecution in 1930s Mexico inspired The Power and the Glory, the British novelist’s “masterpiece” (John Updike). In 1938, Greene, a burgeoning convert to Roman Catholicism, was commissioned to expose the anticlerical purges in Mexico. Churches had been destroyed, peasants held secret masses in their homes, religious icons were banned, and priests disappeared. Traveling under the growing clouds of fascism, Greene was anxious to see for himself the effect it had on the people. Journeying through the rugged and remote terrain of Chiapas and Tabasco, Greene’s emotional, gut response to the landscape; the sights and sounds; the oppressive heat; and the people’s fear, despair, resignation, and fierce resilience makes for a vivid and powerful chronicle.   “[A] singularly beautiful travel book.” —New Statesman

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  The Lost Pianos of Siberia

  Sophy Roberts

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  Siberia’s story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies, and unmarked graves. Yet there is another tale to tell.Dotted throughout this remote land are pianos―grand instruments created during the boom years of the nineteenth century, as well as humble, Soviet-made uprights that found their way into equally modest homes. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the westernizing influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood.How these pianos traveled into this snow-bound wilderness in the first place is a testament to noble acts of fortitude by governors, adventurers, and exiles. Siberian pianos have accomplished extraordinary feats, from the instrument that Maria Volkonsky, wife of an exiled Decembrist revolutionary, used to spread music east of the Urals to those that brought reprieve to the Soviet Gulag. That these instruments might still exist in such a hostile landscape is remarkable. That they are still capable of making music in far-flung villages is nothing less than a miracle.The Lost Pianos of Siberia is largely a story of music in this fascinating place, following Roberts on a three-year adventure as she tracks a number of different instruments to find one whose history is definitively Siberian. Her journey reveals a desolate land inhabited by wild tigers and deeply shaped by its dark history, yet one that is also profoundly beautiful―and peppered with pianos.

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  Vino Business - The Cloudy World...

  Isabelle Saporta

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  “This sharp critique of French winemakers, and Bordeaux’s Saint Emilion region in particular, caused quite a stir when it was published in France in 2014” (Publishers Weekly).   Already provoking debate and garnering significant attention across France and within the wine world, Vino Business is a “truly eye-opening exposé” of the dark side of French wine by acclaimed investigative journalist Isabelle Saporta (Booklist).   In recent decades, Bordeaux has come under the influence of large-scale international investors. Unafraid to name names, Saporta sheds a harsh light on how this influence has corrupted the region’s centuries-old traditions of winemaking excellence. She uncovers how the classification system was manipulated in 2012 to ensure that the wines of Saint-Émilion—Bordeaux’s most prestigious appellation—were certified premier grand cru classé A. Giving extra points to a chateaux for the size of its parking lot, the quality of the wine itself counts for only thirty percent of that coveted rank.   In other chapters, Saporta investigates issues of wine labeling and pesticides, and draws comparisons to Champagne, Burgundy, and the rest of the wine world. “This fast-paced, provocative read” is a cri de coeur for the lost values of traditional winemaking (Dave DeSimone, Pittsburgh Tribune Review).

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  One Thousand Roads to Mecca -...

  Michael Wolfe

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  “Wolfe does an exemplary job of detailing the ceremonies performed at Mecca and the reasons behind them . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review   This updated and expanded edition of One Thousand Roads to Mecca collects significant works by observant travel writers from the East and West over the last ten centuries—including two new contemporary narratives—creating a comprehensive, multifaceted literary portrait of the enduring tradition. Since its inception in the seventh century, the pilgrimage to Mecca has been the central theme in a large body of Islamic travel literature. Beginning with the European Renaissance, it has also been the subject for a handful of adventurous writers from the West who, through conversion or connivance, managed to slip inside the walls of a city forbidden to non-Muslims. These very different literary traditions form distinct impressions of a spirited conversation in which Mecca is the common destination and Islam the common subject of inquiry.   Along with an introduction by Reza Aslan, featured writers include Ibn Battuta, J. L. Burckhardt, Sir Richard Burton, the Begum of Bhopal, John F. Keane, Winifred Stegar, Muhammad Asad, Lady Evelyn Cobbald, Jalal Al-e Ahmad, and Malcolm X. One Thousand Roads to Mecca is a historically, geographically, and ethnically diverse collection of travel writing that adds substantially to the literature of Islam and the West.   “Serves as an excellent introduction to a religion, people, culture, and philosophy.” —Santa Cruz Sentinel

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  American Notes

  Charles Dickens

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  In 1842, Charles Dickens visited America. His reception was somewhat colder than that which usually greeted him – already a successful author in both Britain and the U.S. This lack of enthusiasm from the Americans was partly due to his criticism of the pirating of English books in that country and partly due to his outspoken distaste for the custom of slavery in the southern states.  
  He wrote in the preface to American Notes, "Prejudiced I am not, and never have been, otherwise than in favour of the United States. I have many friends in America. I feel a grateful interest in the country. I hope and believe it will successfully work out a problem of the highest importance in the whole human race. To represent me as viewing America with ill nature, coldness or animosity is merely to do a very foolish thing, which is always a very easy one!"  
  Despite this placatory tone, one American reviewer spoke thus of American Notes: "The most trashy... the most contemptible... the essence of balderdash, reduced to the last drop of silliness and inanity."  
  Listen to the journals and judge for yourself.

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  A History Lover's Guide to the...

  Zachary Lamothe

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  A guide to the history of the Massachusetts region for visitors, locals and armchair tourists alike. 
   
  The South Shore is an intriguing mix of antiquity and modernity. The region’s first settlement, Plymouth, is a top tourist destination, as more than one million visitors flock to it annually. Quincy showcases the region’s Revolutionary War past, but even more of its fascinating sites are hidden behind an urban façade. Along windswept beaches and cranberry bogs, the varied terrain is unique and captivating. From the birthplace of Abigail Adams in Weymouth to the historical houses of Hingham and the Old Scituate Light, author Zachary Lamothe uncovers the stories behind some of the most notable people and landmarks in New England.

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