Sep
10
Travel Fiction Recommendations
Filed Under Travel Writing and Guidebooks
Travel Books
When we’re not traveling, we love to read all about it, and the best books are about exploring the world. Here are our favorite picks.
- White Gold by Giles Milton. 2006. Giles Milton wrote lots of books, but this one is the best. It tells the horrific story of some English sailors captured by slave traders in the 1700s. The protagonist, Thomas Pellow, wound up actually becoming a slave of a sultan of Morrocco for 23 years. Why is this a travel book? It’s about two decades’ worth of grisly encounters with horrible things, near-death experiences, and an exploration of Islamic culture at a time when decadence prevailed.
- The Adventures of Ibn Battuta by Ross E. Dunn. 1986. This one takes place in the 1200s, set in Asia. Ibn Battuta was the son of a rich Morroccan merchant. He traveled many of the same routes as Marco Polo, just a few decades later. This is his story. He claims to have visited such far-reaching corners of the globe as Egypt, Russia, China, Sumatra, India, and Persia.
- In Xanadu by William Dalrymple. 1989. Mr. Dalrymple made a modern-day pilgrimage from Jerusalem to to the ruins of Kublai Khan, near Bejing. His journey on decrepit buses and the like, takes him to Xanadu. He’s written about India and the Mughal empire before, but this is his first book. His impressions are fascinating.
- Through the Dark Continent by Henry M. Stanley. 1878. This is the famous Stanley who uttered “Dr. Livingstone, I presume” in 1871. He took a series of expeditions across Africa and wrote about natives. Very courageous man, great book.
- Travels With Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski. 2007. Travels through India, Africa, and China in the 1970s, contrasted with the same of Herodotus. Very poetic travel writing.
