Travel Books

Recommendations

Ten of the Best

Africa

Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
French Lessons in Africa – Peter Biddlecombe

Americas

North America

Old Glory – Jonathon Raban
Passage to Juneau – Jonathon Raban

Central and South America

In Patagonia – Bruce Chatwin
Jaguar Smile, The – Salman Rushdie
Old Patagonian Express, The – Paul Theroux
The Full Montezuma – Peter Moore

Also see Glen David Short's excellent page.

Asia

China (read more)

Bend in the Yellow River, A – Justin Hill
Gobi Desert, The – Mildred Cable & Francesca French
Jan Wong’s China – Jan Wong
River at the Centre of the World, The - Simon Winchester

Japan

The Lady and the Monk – Pico Iyer

Southeast Asia

A Fortune Teller Told Me – Tiziano Terzani
Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden – Tim Page

Europe

Britain

Coasting – Jonathon Raban
Kingdom by the Sea, The – Paul Theroux
Notes from a Small Island – Bill Bryson

Ireland

Bad Blood – Colm Tσibin

Other

Pillars of Hercules, The – Paul Theroux

Indian Subcontinent

Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, A – Eric Newby
Slowly Down the Ganges – Eric Newby
Smile of Murugan, The – Michael Wood
Where the Indus is Young – Dervla Murphy

Pacific

Happy Isles of Oceania – Paul Theroux
In a Sunburned Country – Bill Bryson
Into the Heart of Borneo – Redmond O'Hanlon
Penelope Goes West – Tim Bowden

Various

Bad Trips – Keath Fraser
Devil's Cup - Stewart Lee Allen
Faster, They're Gaining – Peter Biddlecombe
Great Railway Bazaar, The – Paul Theroux
Nice Time Being Had By All, A – Peter Biddlecombe
Remote Journeys, Oddly Rendered – Tim Cahill
Voyage of the Beagle, The – Charles Darwin
What the Traveller Saw – Eric Newby
Wild Thoughts from Wild Places - David Quammen