The Travels
The Travels
'You will hear it for yourself, and it will surely fill you with wonder.'
A sparkling new translation of one of the greatest travel books ever written: Marco Polo's seminal account of his journeys in the east, in a collectible clothbound edition.
Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. His account of his travels offers a fascinating glimpse of what he encountered abroad: unfamiliar religions, customs and societies; the spices and silks of the East; the precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts of faraway lands. Evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy, Marco's book revolutionized western ideas about the then unknown East and is still one of the greatest travel accounts of all time.
Author : Marco Polo
Edition : Penguin Clothbound Classic, Hardback, 480 pages
ISBN : 9780141198774
Published : 26th February 2015
Weight: 599g
Dimensions: 204 x 138 x 33mm
also may be of interest
WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION
WINNER OF THE NIB LITERARY AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
When Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beach in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales might shed light on the condition of our seas. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these fabled animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? And what does it mean to write about nature in the midst of an ecological crisis?
In Fathoms: the world in the whale, Giggs blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions with clarity and hope. In lively, inventive prose, she introduces us to whales so rare they have never been named; she tells us of the astonishing variety found in whale sounds, and of whale 'pop' songs that sweep across hemispheres. She takes us into the deeps to discover that one whale's death can spark a great flourishing of creatures. We travel to Japan to board whaling ships, examine the uncanny charisma of these magnificent mammals, and confront the plastic pollution now pervading their underwater environment.
In the spirit of Rachel Carson and John Berger, Fathoms is a work of profound insight and wonder. It marks the arrival of an essential new voice in narrative nonfiction and provides us with a powerful, surprising, and compelling view of some of the most urgent issues of our time.
Why Novel North Recommends
‘Fathoms is fascinating in scope and moving in detail. It’s about our relationship with whales, but also our relationship with our surroundings and environment and it’s a book my thoughts often return to.’
Author : Rebecca Giggs
Edition : Scribe Publications, Hardback, 368 pages
ISBN : 9781911617839
Published : 12th November 2020
Weight: 594g
Dimensions: 234 x 153 x 30mm
'Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.’
Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilisation? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book. Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. First published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has been praised by such writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Johnson as one of the greatest novels in the English language.
Why Novel North recommends
'Based on the real life Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, Robinson Crusoe is rich in detail and believable. It’s both considered and insightful, and reflects the contemplations of those of us who’ve pondered how we would survive marooned on an island. It rightly deserves its consideration as one of the most the famous adventure stories written.'
Author : Daniel Defoe
Edition : Penguin Clothbound Classic, Hardback, 288 pages
ISBN : 9780141393407
Weight: 403g
Dimensions: 204 x 138 x 29mm
‘When a piece of land inclines toward the vertical, our relationship towards it changes. We can no longer walk on it and it cannot grow food for us. So we either ignore it, or it becomes an aesthetic object in itself, akin to a work of art.’
Between the Sunset and the Sea is Ingram’s tale of climbing all 16 of Britain’s mountains, exploring what defines each of them, both through history and folklore, as well as seeking experiences ascribed to mountains, the breadth, beauty, terror and danger. Adventure and inspiration await.
Author : Simon Ingram
Edition : William Collins, imprint of Harper Collins, paperback, 448 pages
ISBN : 9780007547906
'By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage, mountains refute our excessive trust in the man-made. They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us.' - Robert Macfarlane
Enchanting and transporting. Mountains of the Mind engages all senses, inspiring awe and wonder through Macfarlane's wonderfully observed perceptions. Challenges both mind and physical self.
Author : Robert Macfarlane
Edition : Granta, Paperback, 320 pages
ISBN : 9781847080394
