The lifeless moonscape of Canada`s oil sand strip mines. A vast vortex of plastic floating endlessly around the Pacific. An eerily abandoned town square in a radioactive Ukrainian wilderness. These are places the tourist boards would rather you didn`t see. The places that don`t show up in any guide books. & the places that, six years ago, journalist & film-maker Andrew Blackwell set out to explore. ” Visit Sunny Chernobyl” is the wry, funny, sometimes poignant tale of his trip through the world`s most degraded environments. ...

Mexico, through the eyes of Sybille Bedford is a country of passion & paradox: arid desert & shrieking jungle, harsh sun & deep shadow, violence & sentimentality. In her frank descriptions of the horrors of travel
- through bug-infested jungle, trapped in a broiling stationary train, or in a bus with a dead fish slapping against her face
- she gains our trust. But it is the charmed world of Don Otavio which steals our imagination. He is, she says, ”one of the kindest men I ever met”. She stays in his crumbling ancestral mansion, living a life of provincial ease & observing with glee the intense life of a Mexican neighbourhood.

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Visitants traces the extraordinary travels made by Pulitzer-nominated author Dave Eggers. For almost twenty years, Dave Eggers has been travelling widely & chronicling his interactions with the countries & people he has encountered during his journey across continents. Visitants is his first collection of travel writing, one that spans his entire career &

Includes:: pieces on Sudan, China & a dozen other destinations. The book begins at 140kph, with Eggers being driven across the deserts of Saudi Arabia by a hired driver who declares, ” American, boom boom!” This opening sets the stage for the collection`s vast cultural scope & ever-present sense of adventure, inquisitiveness & daring. From Saudi Arabia, Eggers takes us further on caterwauling sojourns in the likes of Cuba & Thail&, followed by brief stopovers in Croatia & Syria, & thought-provoking, meditative expositions on South Sudan, expanding on issues explored in his previous books. Globetrotters & Eggers fans alike will find a faithful companion in his unique combination of humour, humanism & empathy. Praise for Dave Eggers: ” Possibly the most admired & emulated American author of his generation”. (Independent). ” Among the most influential writers in the English language”. (GQ). ”A writer of the highest order”. (San Francisco Chronicle). ” One of the foremost chroniclers of contemporary America”. (Mail on Sunday). ” Dave Eggers is a prince among men when it comes to writing deeply felt, socially conscious books”. (Vanityfair.com). Eggers is the founder & editor of Mc Sweeney`s, an independent publishing house based in San Francisco. He is the author of seven previous books, including The Circle, A Hologram for the King (finalist for the National Book Award 2012), Zeitoun (winner of the American Book Award & the Dayton Literary Peace Prize) & What is the What, which was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award & won France`s Prix Medicis. A native of Chicago, Eggers lives in Northern California with his wife & two children.

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By the side of a lake in Brandenburg, a young architect builds the house of his dreams
- a summerhouse with wrought-iron balconies,
...

By the side of a lake in Brandenburg, a young architect builds the house of his dreams
- a summerhouse with wrought-iron balconies,
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Like Ypres, Arras was a front line town throughout the Great War. From March 1916 it became home to the British Army & it remained so until the Advance to Victory was well under way. In 1917 the Battle of Arras came & went. It occupied barely half a season, but was then largely forgotten; the periods before & after it have been virtually ignored, & yet the Arras sector was always important & holding it was never easy or without incident; death, of course, was never far away. The area around Arras is as rich in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries as anywhere else on the Western Front, including the Somme & Ypres, & yet these quiet redoubts with their headstones proudly on parade still remain largely unvisited. This book is the story of the men who fell & who are now buried in those cemeteries; & the telling of their story is the telling of what it was like to be a soldier on the Western Front. ` Arras-North` is the first of three books by the same author. This volume contains in depth coverage of over 100 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries & is a veritable ` Who`s Who` of officers & other ranks who fell on this part of the Western Front. It provides comprehensive details of gallantry awards & citations & describes many minor operations, raids & other actions, as well as the events that took place in April & May 1917. It is the story of warfare on the Western Front as illustrated through the lives of those who fought & died on the battlefields of Arras. There are many unsung heroes & personal tragedies, including a young man who went out into no man`s land to rescue his brother, an uncle & nephew killed by the same shell, a suicide in the trenches & a young soldier killed by a random shell whilst celebrating his birthday with his comrades. There is an unexpected connection to Ulster dating back to the days of Oliver Cromwell & William of Orange, a link to Sinn Fein & an assassination, a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton, as well as a conjuror, a friend of P.G. Wodehouse, a young officer said to have been `thrilled` to lead his platoon into the trenches for the first time, only to be killed three hours later, & a man whose headstone still awaits the addition of his Military Medal after almost a century, despite having been involved in one of the most daring rescues of the war. This is a superb reference guide for anyone visiting Arras & its battlefields. ...

This splendid & timely book will be invaluable to those visiting the battlefields, sites, museums, memorials & cemeteries of France & Belgium. It is intended for those planning & leading school groups & similar parties but is also ideal for individual/family visitors. Rather than list every site etc it provides realistic itineraries to the best places in the two major areas of the Somme & Ypres. Even these are flexible to allow party leaders suitable discretion. The author provides helpful information for each site such as its context in the War, visitor orientation, the `spiel` (the essential facts to engage, inform & entertain), suggested activity & relevant photos & maps. This combines to make every visit of maximum benefit & interest & yet reduce the workload of the party leaders. There are also valuable tips for lunch breaks, free time ideas & other helpful pointers. ...

9 miles to 1 inch 1:570, 240. Full colour route planning map aimed specifically at those who want information on tourist features as well as the road network. Updated in 2001. MAIN FEATURES Clear colourful tourist road map Golf courses located & indexed Complete guide to tourist information offices & centres Town/city centre plans of Belfast, Cork, Dublin & Limerick

Includes:: Colour classified road network All major tourist sites & places of interest Radio stations, airports & ferry information Full index to place names AREA OF COVERAGE The whole of Irel&. WHO THE PRODUCT IS OF INTEREST TO Ideal for anyone touring by car.

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Cornwall has a rich & diverse history stretching from prehistoric times to the Norman Conquest & beyond, including the turbulent Tudor period, the English Civil War & the First & Second World Wars. Neolithic settlements & Bronze Age dwellings have been found at Carn Brea in Redruth & Rough Tour at Camelford, & many standing stones are scattered across the l&. An ancient forest lies beneath the waters between Marazion & the legendary St Michael`s Mount, which dates back thousands of years. The area is steeped in legend & Tintagel has mythical connections with King Arthur, although the present castle was probably constructed by Richard, Earl of Cornwall (brother to King Henry III), who owned the site from about 1234. Tales of the Devil, giants, minions & other imps abound in the county. Many of Daphne Du Maurier`s books are set in Cornwall including Jamaica Inn & Frenchman`s Creek. Virginia Woolf`s novel To the Lighthouse was based on holidays at St Ives, Cornwall, where her family took her every summer until 1895. The lighthouse at Godrevy gives inspiration to the title. Various battles & conflicts as well as the diverse & fascinating history of Cornwall are all featured within the pages of this book, which also

Includes:: many of the well-known people who have greatly influenced the area over the years.

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South Devon is steeped in history from prehistoric settlements, standing stones & Roman occupation, to the sites of Civil War battles & the various departure points of troops leaving for D-Day during the Second World War. Woolly rhinoceroses & woolly mammoths, as well as prehistoric deer & lion once roamed the area now known as Plymouth, while at Sidmouth, on the Jurassic coast, jaw bones & teeth from carnivorous reptiles that pre-date the dinosaurs have been discovered. During its diverse history, Sir Francis Drake played bowls on the Hoe as the Armada arrived, the Pilgrim Fathers left from the Barbican in Plymouth & headed to the new world in America & prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars lived freely with the residents of Ashburton. Famous residents have included Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Nancy Astor & Agatha Christie. The area is home to the notorious Dartmoor prison, as well as home to well-known institutions such as Buckfast Abbey & Dartmouth Royal Naval College. This book covers a period from prehistoric times, & the earliest discovery of human remains in the UK, to the numerous conflicts & battles that have taken place in the area, as well as discussing the many people who have influenced South Devon over the years. ...