The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective-inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city-while gradually revealing the truth about the fire.
IRELAND IN A GLASS
by Peter Biddlecombe
Ireland In A Glass of Its Own is Peter Biddlecombe's hilarious account of Ireland - not only the coastal areas beloved of normal travel writers but the bits in between - particularly those bits with pubs on them. Biddlecombe argues - in his inimitable fashion - that the thirty-two counties of Ireland can be said to represent the constituent parts of a pint of the black stuff.
LIVED IN LONDON
by EMILY COLE, ed.
Sub-titled "Blue Plaques and the Stories Behind Them", this noble piece of social history describes in fascinating detail the stories behind London's 800-odd homes adorned by these historic landmarks, and the demanding process of becoming thus acknowledged. Arranged by Borough, predictable figures such as Churchill, Wellington and Pitt are joined by the rather less likely luminaries, such as Hendrix and Gandhi, making this a city history in miniature. And, not to be outdone, the history of the plaques themselves, made by the likes of Minton and Royal Doulton, is a tale in itself. Yale University's London branch has done it again: elegant, costly and worth every penny, this is a singular achievement.
August 2010
LIVED IN LONDON
by EMILY COLE, ed.
May 2010
DIPLOMATIC INCIDENTS
by CHERRY DENMAN
January 2010
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THE 8.55 TO BAGHDAD
by Andrew Eames
Andrew Eames sets out to travel from London to Baghdad by train, following the route of the old Orient Express. Interwoven through his own experience and the colourful cast of characters he encounters en route, is an identical life-changing journey made by Agatha Christie in 1928. A compelling read, which merges literary biography with a modern-day odyssey through some of the world's most talked-about troublespots.
BURIED TREASURE
by Victoria Finlay
Victoria Finlay, bestselling author of Colour, recounts her intrepid journey from the ancient emerald mines of Egypt to the opal fields of Australia in search of the secret histories of precious stones. Part travelogue, part narrative history, Buried Treasure explores the fascinating stories behind gemstones, and reveals, with the advent of synthetics, an industry on the brink of crisis.
THE ART OF EATING
by M.F.K. FISHER
As the American counterpart to Elizabeth David, M.F.K. Fisher is equally hard to beat. Hardly new, but timeless, "The Art of Eating" remains the definitive anthology, comprising "Serve it Forth", "How to Cook a Wolf", "Gastronomical Me", "An Alphabet for Gourmets" and the immortal "Consider the Oyster", alone worth the price of admission. Not to be mistaken for a cookbook, but peppered throughout with recipes, this splendid collection represents all that is good about gastronomic essays and fine cuisine in general. Bedtime reading par excellence. A dabbler's delight.
January 2010
THE EXPLORER'S EYE
by Fergus Fleming
In the 18th century, exploration entered a new dimension. Explorers were motivated by scientific inquiry rather than greed and to this end they were expected to make a full record, both written and photographic, of everything they encountered. Combining first-hand accounts with remarkable original images, Fergus Fleming gives an absorbing insight into who these people were and what they saw.
TREADING GRAPES
by Rosemary George
Rosemary George walked over 300 miles of Tuscany's wine country, compiling as she did a diary, not only of her visits to a myriad of winemakers, but of addresses she could recommend for food, wine, and general enjoyment of the area. Treading Grapes charts the wonderful renaissance of Tuscan wines, both old and new. A must for first-time or seasoned visitors to Tuscany, for wine enthusiasts or armchair travelers.
GHOSTS OF SPAIN
by Giles Tremlett
The appearance - sixty years after the Civil War ended - of mass graves containing victims of Franco's death squads has finally broken what Spaniards call 'the pact of forgetting'. At this charged moment, Giles Tremlett embarked on a journey around Spain to investigate the lasting legacy of Franco on the country and its people.
THE ANGRY ISLAND
by A. A. Gill
The opinionated Scottish broadcaster and critic, A.A. Gill, visits fifteen destinations in search of the true essence of the English. He discovers an angst-ridden nation, incensed, splenetic, prickly, touchy and fractious. Never one to shy away from controversy, his investigation is a witty and entertaining record of an island nation seething in quiet fury.
MOSES MONTEFIORE
by ABIGAIL GREEN
Spring 2010
SALAAM BRICK LANE
by Tarquin Hall
A gritty, hilarious and often touching memoir of a year spent living above a Bangladeshi sweatshop in the immigrant melting pot of London's East End. Tarquin Hall meets and befriends an extraordinary cast of characters and it his keen observation and sympathetic eye that make the book such a compelling read.
TRUE PLEASURES
by Lucinda Holdforth
Lucinda Holdforth takes a very personal tour through the lives, loves, and losses of Paris' most celebrated women. Rule-breakers and style-setters, these women were utterly diverse, yet all shared one common passion - Paris. And they are all role models for Holdforth in one way or another, in their art or their lives or their views on love. A sophisticated, witty, and charming travelogue.
HOTEL TIBERIAS
by Sebastian Hope
Sebastian Hope grew up believing that his grandfather had been the renowned General Sir John Hackett. When he discovered his real grandfather had been Fritz Grossman, a Palestine-born German hotelier who committed suicide in 1938, he set out on a search that took him to Germany, Turkey and the Middle East. As he unravels the tumultuous history of the area, Hope digs deep into the history and layers of his own family.
CINNAMON CITY
by Miranda Innes
The former gardening editor of Country Life acquires an extremely dilapidated 'riad' in Marrakesh almost by accident. Chaos ensues during the riad's restoration, but despite tribulations, Miranda Innes falls in love with all things Moroccan. Her enchanting memoir is both a travel journal and a love story rolled into one.
WILFRED THESIGER
by Alexander Maitland
Wilfred Thesiger, the last of the great gentlemen explorer-adventurers, became a legend in his own lifetime. While Thesiger's own writings comprehensively cover his classic journeys, they fail to shed light on his character and motives, which have remained an enigma. This authorised biography, by a friend of long-standing, reveals the details of his extraordinary life.
THE CHAINS OF HEAVEN
by Philip Marsden
Award-winning travel writer Philip Marsden returns to Ethiopia, a land which has fascinated him all his life, to explore its legacy of independence, civil war, and brutal repression. In spare and lucid prose he creates an unforgettable picture of one of the most remote regions left on earth. Travel writing of the first order.
A TEACUP IN A STORM
by Mick Conefrey
A combination of the serious and the bizarre, the inspirational and the hilarious, Mike Conefrey's witty and entertaining handbook is packed with fascinating anecdotes about explorers such as Shackleton and Scott, and the life lessons to be learned from them - from fund-raising and team-building, to digging a latrine in permafrost or facing down a charging polar bear.
MR WONDERFUL TAKES A HOLIDAY
by John Nott
In this delightfully original and quirky memoir, a blue-blood Tory and ex-MP decides to take a walk round modern London — the real London, beyond Kensington and Chelsea — and relates his many adventures along the way. An irreverent and hilariously funny look at modern Britain.
ISTANBUL Memories and the City
by Orhan Pamuk
ISTANBUL: Memories and the City is Orhan Pamuk's highly personal homage to the city that made him a writer. Product of both a family and a city in decline, Pamuk describes the fate of Istanbul as a communal melancholy which infuses its streets, its famous views and its people. Over two hundred period photographs chosen by the author complement the text.
WIDE ANGLE
by Ferdinand Protzman
A superb photographic collection of landscapes, cityscapes, famous landmarks, and unfamiliar spots, that reveal special qualities of geography or culture one might otherwise never see. Spanning more than eleven decades, these archival images are divided into twelve chapters, each depicting a unique geography—including Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Polar regions.
REBUS'S SCOTLAND
by Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin's discusses the locations in Scotland that have inspired the settings and events in his Inspector Rebus novels. Part biography of Rebus, part autobiography of Ian Rankin, it intertwines Rankin's own journey from Fife to becoming a best-selling author, with a biography of his famous working-class Edinburgh detective; and reveals striking similarities between the two.
PARISIANS
by GRAHAM ROBB
Graham Robb has done it again. After "The Discovery of France", which faces the palatable prospect of becoming a classic, he has now devoted an entire tome to the denizens of Paris, portraying a city in social, cultural and architectural ferment from the Revolution to the present day. This is splendid, gossipy stuff, written by a seasoned hand with an ear for anecdote and an eye for buried treasure. It bodes well to becoming a classic itself.
April 2010
OXFORD & CAMBRIDGE
by Peter Sager
A witty and detailed literary guide to Oxbridge, presented through an encyclopedia of facts, figures and anecdotes. Peter Sager's book is a unique combination of travel guide, history, biography and psychoanalysis of two cities that are not just places, but states of mind.
THE CALIPH'S HOUSE
by Tahir Shah
Acclaimed travel writer Tahir Shah's account of his struggle to restore a house on the edge of Casablanca and start a new life in Morocco with his wife and two young children. A wonderfully written, funny, fascinating story of home-ownership abroad - full of the attendant dramas, anxieties and frustrations.
UNTRODDEN GRAPES
by Ralph Steadman
Ralph Steadman has traveled the world of wine in search of the best of the wine-producing regions. On this humorous journey in pursuit of the unique and original, he wanders through notable vineyards in California, Chile, Spain, France, Italy and South Africa bringing the landscape and the people to life in his inimitable pictures and prose.
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NARROW DOG TO CARCASSONNE
by Terry Darlington
The hilarious and true story of a retired English couple's intrepid attempt to cross the English Channel by narrowboat, against the advice of all authorities, and sail down the Rhone to Carcassonne in the south of France. Two indomitable pensioners and their whippet dog on a romantic but delightfully lunatic adventure - comic travel writing at its best.
