National Geographic Magazine Volume 1 Number 1 published in 1889. Topics of articles are:
Announcement by the National Geographic Society
Introductory Address by the President
Geographic Methods in Geologic Investigation
Classification of Geographic Forms by Genesis
The Great Storm of March 11 to 14, 1888
The Great Storm off the Atlantic Coast of the United States, March 11th to 14th, 1888
The Survey of the Coast
The Survey and Map of Massachusetts
(Summary by Guero)
10 episodes
Thomas Stevens was the first person to circle the globe by bicycle, a large-wheeled Ordinary. His journey started in April 1884 in San Francisco from where he cycled to Boston to take a steamer to England. Crossing England, France, Central Europe and Asia Minor before he was turned back at the borders of Afghanistan. He returned part of the way to take a ship to Karachi, from where he crossed India. Another steam ship brought him from Calcutta to Hong Kong, and from Shanghai he set over to Japan, finally ending his journey after actually cycling 13.500 miles in Yokohama, December 1886.
This is the second volume (of two) relating his travel experiences, detailing the part of the journey from Teheran to Yokohama. (Summary by Availle)
44 episodes
A delightful trip from Boston through a dozen South Shore towns to Plymouth, stopping in each to explore a bit of the local history and 'modern' highlights. Written in 1920, it's a great journey through the past. (Summary by Steve Mattern)
12 episodes
National Geographic Magazine Volume 1 Number 2 published in 1889. Topics of articles are:
Africa, its Past and Future
Reports on:
Geography of the Land
Geography of the Sea
Geography of the Air
Geography of Life
(Summary by Guero)
8 episodes
Afloat on the Ohio, An Historical Pilgrimage, of a Thousand Miles in a Skiff, From Redstone to Cairo.There were four of us pilgrims—my Wife, our Boy of ten and a half years, the Doctor, and I. My object in going—the others went for the outing—was to gather "local color" for work in Western history. The Ohio River was an important factor in the development of the West. I wished to know the great waterway intimately in its various phases,—to see with my own eyes what the borderers saw; in imagination, to redress the pioneer stage, and repeople it. ( From the Preface )
23 episodes
Knowing the Egyptian as I know him, I cannot but think that he is greatly misunderstood, even by those who are sincerely anxious to befriend him. His faults and his failings are to be found at large in almost any of the scores of books that have of late years been written about him and his country; but, though not a few have given him credit for some of his more salient good points, yet none that I have seen have shown any just appreciation of him as he really is. (From the Preface)
22 episodes
National Geographic Magazine Volume 1 Number 3 published in 1889. Topics of articles are:
The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania
Topographic Models
International Literary Contest
(Summary by Guero)
10 episodes
Een serie journalistieke artikelen uit het tijdschrift 'All the Year round' geschreven in de periode 1860 - 1869. In deze artikelen worden veel sociale misstanden van het 19de-eeuwse Engeland beschreven. Samenvatting geschreven door Marcel Coenders.
49 episodes
e:
Dickens takes time off his novels to give an account of travels which he and his family undertook in France and Italy. There are vivid descriptions of the places, but also of the people and their lives. (Summary by Anthony Ogus)
16 episodes
A classic of travel writing, this book recounts Stevenson's adventures on an extended walk through uplands and mountains in south-western France. Humorous on his own failings as a traveller, and on his travails with Modestine the self-willed donkey, it is also an exploration of peasant life in an area marked by the violence of the wars of religion. This version includes the fragment "A mountain town in France", originally intended as the opening chapter, but often omitted and published as a separate essay. (Summary by Patrick Wallace)
19 episodes
"A steak and kidney pie, influenza and a cablegram. There is the triple alliance that is responsible for the whole thing."
So begins Charlie Chaplin's My Trip Abroad, a travel memoir charting the actor-director's semi-spontaneous visit to Europe. Fresh off the success of 1921's The Kid, Chaplin decides to "play hookey" after his seven year stay in Hollywood. He return to his native Europe as an international superstar, beloved by fans and hounded by reporters. The "triple alliance" of the book's opening line sends Chaplin on an whirlwind tour through Great Britain, Germany, and France -- and the results are both funny and insightful. My Trip Abroad gives us an intimate and moving portrait of a Hollywood legend.
Published in the UK as My Wonderful Visit.
15 episodes
Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery is a travel book by the English Victorian gentleman writer George Borrow (1803–1881), first published in 1862 and now a classic travel text on Wales and the Welsh. The book recounts Borrow's experiences, insights and personal encounters whilst touring Wales alone on foot after a family holiday in Llangollen in 1854. Although contemporary critics dismissed its whimsical tone, it quickly became popular with readers as a travel book and more importantly as a very lively account of the literary, social and geographical history of Wales. Borrow’s engaging character comes across especially in his meetings with various itinerants – mostly native and peasant – along the muddy Welsh path. Borrow’s keen ear for dialogue may remind us of a Dickens or Trollope, and like the latter his wit and wisdom are rarely absent. Indeed the author has been described as an "eccentric, larger-than-life, jovial man whose laughter rings all through the book". Borrow makes much of his self-taught Welsh and how surprised the natives are by his linguistic abilities – and also by his idiosyncratic pronunciation of their language. He loves to air his knowledge of Welsh culture, especially the Bardic tradition. And like his contemporary, William Wordsworth, he has a habit of quoting verses to the heavens as he walks. As the author finally reaches South Wales towards the end of his account, we meet for the first time evidences of modern industrialism, introduced to the reader in the form of a Dante’s Inferno of coal mines and iron foundries. Today, most will remember and value the book for these and other vivid nineteenth-century landscapes – along with Borrow’s gallery of fascinating, human characters. (SUMMARY BY STEVE GOUGH BASED ON WIKIPEDIA)
110 episodes
National Geographic Magazine Volume 2 Number 1 April 1890.:
On the Telegraphic Determinations of Longitude by the Bureau of Navigation
Report: Geography of the Land
Report: Geography of the Air
National Geographic Magazine Volume 2 Number 2 May 1890.:
The Rivers of Northern New Jersey, with notes on the classification of rivers in general.
A Critical Review of Bering's First Expedition, 1725-30, together with a translation of his original Report upon it.
Supplementary note on the alleged observation of a Lunar Eclipse by Bering in 1728-9.
16 episodes
As a young man, Stevenson wished to be financially independent and began his literary career by writing travelogues. This is his first published work, written at a time when travel for pleasure was still a rarity. He and a friend traveled by canoe through France and Belgium and he relates how they were thrown in jail, mistaken for traveling salesmen and became embroiled in gypsy life. - Summary by Lynne Thompson
24 episodes
Muir was a preservationist and naturalist. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States.In early March 1867, Muir was injured while working as a sawyer in a factory that made wagon wheels: a tool he was using slipped and struck him in the eye. This accident changed the course of his life. He was confined to a darkened room for six weeks, worried whether he’d ever regain his sight. When he did, "he saw the world—and his purpose—in a new light," writes Marquis. Muir later wrote, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." From that point on, he determined to "be true to myself" and follow his dream of exploration and study of plants.A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf recounts Muir's walk of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Indiana to Florida. He had no specific route chosen, except to go by the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find." This journal is the earliest of Muir's writings and autobiographically bridges the period between The Story of my Boyhood and Youth and My First Summer in the Sierra. (Summary from Wikipedia and Introduction)
10 episodes
In an introductory paragraph, Lafcadio Hearn declares his intention: "The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). Written with the above character, this word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, just as we say in English, "the heart of things."" The result is a highly eclectic collection of stories, diary entries, cultural essays, and collected traditional texts that illustrate not only the state of Japanese society in the 1890s but also the endlessly fascinating issue of the intersection of cultures as demonstrated in a Westerner's interpretations of what he observed in Japan. As much is revealed about the Western mind as the Japanese mind whenever such an intersection occurs. - Summary by Expatriate
25 episodes
Sometime in the latter half of 1911, Harry A. Franck jumped out of a box-car and crossed the Rio Grande, from Laredo. Thus began a journey, often afoot, that Harry estimated would take him 8 months. It ended up occupying four years of his life. The first leg of his Latin American epic is recorded in "Tramping Through Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras; Being the Random Notes of an Incurable Vagabond" (The Century Company, 1916). He then headed south to the Canal Zone, Teddy Roosevelt's grand experiment in socialism, and applied within the Zone police force for a position as a census taker (chronicled in "Zone Policeman 88; A Close Range Study of the Panama Canal and Its Workers", The Century Company, April 1913). Since he was one of the few Americans who actually spoke Spanish, and a bevy of other languages, he was hired immediately. By June, 1912, he'd bankrolled enough money to see him through the opening phase of the work I'll be reading for you, "Vagabonding Down the Andes; Being the Narrative of a Journey, Chiefly Afoot, From Panama to Buenos Aires" (The Century Company, 1917). Leaving the Zone in June of 1912, with "objections to his reemployment", he caught a steamer and entered the South American continent at Cartagena, Colombia. Approximate 30 months later, having walked most of the length of the Inca highway, he staggered from a trek that took him over mountains and through raw jungle onto a ferry, and thence sailed into Buenos Aires, regarded as one of the most glamorous and expensive cities on earth at the time. This leg of the four volume epic (which later concludes with "Working North from Patagonia; Being the Narrative of a Journey, Earned on the Way, Through Southern and Eastern South America, The Century Company, 1921) was the longest one, and in many respects, "Vagabonding Down the Andes" was also the most detailed. As you can see, the works were not published in chronological order. Why? I don't know, other than the last volume, which was delayed by Harry's enlistment and serving in WWI.
Harry is an opinionated iconoclast with a strong American value system based upon self-reliance. He's both college-educated and what I suppose can best be called "street smart", though most of his trip took him through places where "street" was little more than an abstract concept. Before his South American journey, he'd already worked his way around the world, and had written a book about it ("A Vagabond Journey Around the World", The Century Company, 1910). Some people are going to get their Politically Correct dander up if they listen. Well, fast traveler, keep in mind that Harry was a man of his times, and thus he sees the world, as we are all people of our times, and thus we see and experience the world. Harry did his vagabonding with a pistol as his constant companion, and lived amongst the poorest classes of people. He drank water collected in the ruts of wagon wheels. Not knowing where his next meal was coming from was the norm, as opposed to the exception. In terms of travel writing he makes Paul Theroux look like an armchair dilettante. Take him as he is, and I think you'll soon become enmeshed in this extraordinary saga.
Written by Elliott Swanson, reader.
41 episodes
À margem da história foi a primeira das obras póstumas de Euclides da Cunha, tentando recolher os muitos textos esparsos e inéditos do autor após sua morte inesperada e violenta. A maior parte do livro se compõe das anotações feitas pelo autor para um livro, nunca terminado, acerca da Amazônia, a ser intitulado "Paraíso Perdido", mas que foi publicado nesta coletânea sob o título "Terra Sem História". No volume encontram-se também compilados outros estudos variados sobre o Brasil. - Summary by Leni
15 episodes
George Washington Sears, who many know better by his pen name "Nessmuk", was an outdoor writer during the last half of the 19th century, writing most often for the magazine "Field and Forest", the predecessor of today's "Field and Stream". "Woodcraft" is his book for "outers" with his tips on how to "smooth it" rather than rough it in the woods. Although some of his methods, equipment and mores may be out of date or objectionable to modern readers, his stories of true wilderness travel tinged with his subtle humor still have messages for those venturing out of doors. His small stature and compromised health made him a proponent of lightweight backpacking and canoe travel with only essential gear, a lesson still relevant today. There is a reason why "Woodcraft" and the slightly abridged, "Woodcraft and Camping", have been continuously in print since its original publication. - Summary by Fritz
10 episodes
This is not a family history. Family histories are invariably dull and of interest to only a few who have a belief in, and are proud of, their pedigree. It is the story of the mother of a family who led a very eventful life and traveled many thousands of miles, at a time when to meet with a traveled person was exceedingly rare. (From Introduction)
9 episodes
In 1890, two Americans newly graduated from college set out to travel around the world on a then-new invention, the modern bicycle. In 1893 they returned, have covered over 15,000 miles, at that time the "longest continuous land journey ever made around the world." This is their account of their trip across Turkey, Persia, Turkestan and northern China. It described their adventures traveling along through regions few outsiders ever visited. And include climbing Mount Ararat (they didn't find an ark) and a meeting with the then Chinese Prime Minister. And numerous photographs selected from the 2,500 taken on the almost 3 year trip. (summary by Annise)
14 episodes
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp is an autobiography published in 1908 by the Welsh poet and writer W. H. Davies (1871–1940). A large part of the book's subject matter describes the way of life of the tramp in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States in the final decade of the 19th century. George Bernard Shaw had become interested in Davies, a literary unknown at the time, and had agreed to write a preface for the book, largely through the concerted efforts of his wife Charlotte. Shaw was also instrumental in keeping the unusual title of the book, of which Davies himself was unsure, and which later proved to be controversial with some reviewers. The book was the third published by Davies, having been preceded by The Soul's Destroyer (1905) and New Poems (1907). The 1920 edition of the book concludes with five poems selected by Davies from The Soul's Destroyer. The book was written in the space of six weeks, "a great achievement for a first book by a man with the minimum of education." ( Wikipedia (edited by Expatriate))
35 episodes
National Geographic Magazine Volume 6, articles published from January, 1894, to May, 1895.
Geographic Progress of Civilization - Annual Address by the President Honorable Gardiner G. Hubbard
Shawangunk Mountain, by N. H. Darton
Weather Making, Ancient and Modern, by Mark W. Harrington
Geomorphology of the Southern Appalachians, by Charles Willard Hayes and Marius R. Campbell
The Battle of the Forest, by B. E. Fernow
Surveys and Maps of the District of Columbia, by Marcus Baker
The first Landfall of Columbus, by Jacques W. Redway, F. R. G. S.
Japan, by D.W. Stevens
Geography of the Air, Annual Address by the Vice-President, General A. W. Greely
Sir Francis Drake's Anchorage, by Edward L. Berthoud
Note on the Height of Mount Saint Elias, by Professor Israel C. Russell
Geographic Notes, by Cyrus C. Babb (The Antarctic Continent - Magnetic Observation in Iceland, Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen in 1892 - A New Light on the Discovery of America - Monographs of the National Geographic Sociaty - Important Announcement Concerning Essays)
Laws of the Temperature Control of the Geographic Distribution of Terrestrial Animals and Plants. Annual Address by Vice-President Dr. C. Hart Merriam.
Oregon: Its History, Geography, and Resources, by John H. Mitchell.
34 episodes
Although the focus of this book is the engravings depicting scenic sites of 19th century America, each is accompanied by a short description of the site and location. These vignettes give us rare glimpses of scenic locations as they appeared in 1840. All sites are in the eastern part of the United States, especially New England and New York. This is Volume Two of a two-volume set. - Summary by Larry Wilson
The Book Coordinators for this project were Larry Wilson and Linette Geisel
51 episodes
Full titled History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland; with Letters Descriptive of a Sail Round the Lake of Geneva and of the Glaciers of Chamouni, this small journal was a travel narrative kept by the English Romantic authors Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. They describe two trips, both taken by Mary, Percy, and Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont: one across Europe in 1814, and one to Lake Geneva in 1816. Divided into three sections, the text consists of a journal, four letters, and Percy Shelley's poem "Mont Blanc". Apart from the poem, the text was primarily written and organized by Mary Shelley. - Summary by 1817
11 episodes
A travel book describing a journey taken by Lawrence and his wife Frieda (whom he refers to as the Queen Bee) by sea from Sicily to Sardinia and then in the interior of that island ( Anthony Ogus)
14 episodes
The beginning of the last century saw an increasing popularity of the motor car as a viable method of transport for a significant number of the more affluent sections of the population.
The freedom, flexibility and speed (!) that this modern invention provided to those who were wealthy enough to be able to afford to buy and to run one of these vehicles, meant that they were soon used for frequent social and pleasure purposes allowing both the travelling to and the exploration of different regions of the country.
This book, from 1907: ‘Through East Anglia in a Motor Car’, documents numerous journeys that the author, accompanied by various passengers and friends had undertaken during the previous year, using various vehicles popular at that time.
Although mention is made in the text of different motor cars used for the various trips, such as those manufactured by Panhard, Lanchester, and Rolls Royce (a 1906 Grey Ghost, no less), there is not too much reported about the running and maintenance of them. The author however, does seem to be really pleased when on a fine day and faced with a clear open road and a back wind, he and his passengers are able to cover a good thirty miles in an hour and half.
Strictly speaking, East Anglia is made up of three counties, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. In writing this guide book and to make it more relevant and appealing to the car owning Londoner, the author has expanded this region to also include anywhere north of Tower Bridge on the River Thames, thus including central and east London as well as the entire county of Essex in his journeys.
These expeditions take us to many places that nowadays are very much ‘off the beaten track’ but were, a century ago, very much on the main ‘tracks’ through this region. But, it is not only routes and locations that have been written about. The author also includes numerous details and stories of the area’s historical events, geographical and architectural features, customs, legends and myths that will give the listener an appreciation of an area of England that has an extremely fascinating cultural heritage.
So, start your engines and join me if you will, on an auditory journey of discovery around an understated yet unique part of England as it was at the turn of the last century. - Summary by TND
30 episodes
"[Rupert Brooke] started in May 1913 on a journey to the United States, Canada, and the South Seas, from which he returned next year at the beginning of June. The first thirteen chapters of this book were written as letters to the Westminster Gazette. He would probably not have republished them in their present form, as he intended to write a longer book on his travels; but they are now printed with only the correction of a few evident slips." The listener interested in Brooke's work may want to skip over Henry James' "so affectionate and desperately unintelligible a preface" (Christopher Morley in Modern Essays) and listen to those four tracks later. (Tracks 2 - 5) ( Book's Prefatory Note and david wales)
20 episodes
The purpose of this book is to give to its readers a living knowledge of some of the wonders of the country and continent in which they live. Upon a personally conducted tour they are taken by the author through the most characteristic parts of the North American continent. They travel through the United States, British America, Mexico, and Central America, studying the most interesting features of life and work among the people of each country, learning how they are governed, and what they do in order to live. Much information is also given concerning the natural resources and the physical features of the countries visited. (From the preface)
46 episodes
London: one of the oldest and most populous cities in the world. Surely it holds a few secrets within its ancient walls and the stories of ghostly presences abound.
27 episodes
A collection of essays on Ireland compiled by Joseph Dunn and PJ Lennox. As stated in the Preface to the books "...we have been forced to the conclusion that the performances of the Irish race in many fields of endeavor are entirely unknown to most people, and that even to the elect they are not nearly so well known as they deserve to be. Hence there came to us the thought of placing on record, in an accessible, comprehensive, and permanent form, an outline of the whole range of Irish achievement during the last two thousand years." - Summary by KHand
39 episodes
In this book the children are taken by the author upon a personally conducted tour through the most characteristic parts of the South American continent. The book will, it is believed, aid in putting flesh and blood on the bones of the geographies, and will give a living interest to geographical study. (from the Preface)
45 episodes
This 1854 narration of a trip upon the Ohio River in a steamboat from Cincinnati to Pittsburg gives a picture of travel in a different time and almost a different United States. The author was well-known in his time and wrote prolifically. - Summary by david wales
2 episodes
A collection of true stories of the high seas, from the nineteenth century. Shipwrecks, mutiny, life and death decision-making -- all far from home, while pitting themselves against the elements. The romance of the seafaring life is depicted in its brutal reality. - Summary by Lynne Thompson
48 episodes
The book tries to give its young readers a living knowledge of Europe. The author conducts tours through various parts of Europe giving a glimpse of the people and their lives and livelihoods. He includes as well information on the natural resources and physical geography of those many countries. Summary by BettyB and preface.
47 episodes
One of the largest and wealthiest cities of medieval Europe, the home of Dante and Giotto has long been a magnet for lovers of art, architecture and history. In this short guide, Elizabeth Wilson Grierson shares her passion for the city, taking the visitor on an informative tour of its major sights as well as some of its hidden corners. - Summary by Phil Benson
8 episodes
Julio Camba Andreu (1884 - 1962) fue un escritor y periodista español. Nació en una familia gallega de clase media. A los trece años, se escapa de casa y embarca como polizón en un barco a Argentina. En Buenos Aires se introduce en los círculos anarquistas y comienza a redactar proclamas y panfletos. A consecuencia de ello, en 1902 es expulsado de Argentina, junto a otros anarquistas extranjeros. De regreso en España en 1903, comienza a colaborar en El Diario de Pontevedra, pero rápidamente se instala en Madrid, en donde escribe sucesivamente en El Porvenir del Obrero, en su propio propio periódico El Rebelde, en El País y en España Nueva.
Su vida como corresponsal en el extranjero comienza en 1908, cuando es enviado a Turquía por La Correspondencia de España. El Mundo le envió a sus corresponsalías en París, Londres y Berlín. En 1912 empieza a escribir en La Tribuna y desde 1913 empieza a colaborar con el diario monárquico ABC, donde escribió durante muchos años, con una interrupción escribiendo en El Sol. Sigue girando por varias corresponsalías. Durante la Guerra Civil sus crónicas (en las que expresaba sus simpatías por el bando franquista), se publican en el ABC de Sevilla. Mantuvo otra colaboración de dos años, entre 1951 y 1953, con Arriba. En este periódico comienza con la reelaboración de crónicas y artículos antiguos que se siguen publicando en ABC y La Vanguardia. En 1949 fija su residencia en el Hotel Palace de Madrid, hasta su muerte en 1962.
La rana viajera cuenta la vuelta de la rana Camba a España después de sus estancias como corresponsal durante ocho años en capitales como Londres, Berlin, Roma o Nueva York, es decir, cuando la rana torna a la charca. Ya no es la misma rana de antes de partir, es menos ingenua, algo más instruida, y hasta está provista de gafas. ¿Qué efecto le producirán las otras ranas a esta rana que está transformada de tal modo? ¿Cómo encontrará su charca la rana viajera, después de una ausencia de tantos años?
Camba utiliza España como punto de referencia por ser español y no porque España le parezca la medida ideal de todos los valores. Y en su opinión, no sólo resultará que España no puede ser un modelo para las otras gentes, sino que no sirve apenas para los mismos españoles. La rana encontrará su charca muy poco confortable. - Summary by Basquetteur y la introducción del libro
84 episodes
Venice, once among the most powerful states of the Western world, now a much-visited but still romantic city of canals, architecture and art. Most European cities have changed so much that a 1920 guidebook would be of little practical use, but not so Venice. Lonsdale and Laura Ragg were residents of the city - where Lonsdale was chaplain of St. George's English church from 1905 to 1909 - and they knew it well. Their guide brings its buildings and canals, its campi and its hidden campielli, to life in a surprisingly contemporary way. Try listening to Chapter 2 as your vaporetto chugs along the Grand Canal from the railway station to the Rialto bridge, only slightly faster than it would have done a hundred years ago! ( Phil Benson) Summary by Phil Benson
7 episodes
Fascinating book for all ages telling of travels through Africa over 100 years ago. Covering the continent by steamer and train and other more primitive means of transport, the reader will enjoy learning of African life long before knowledge of this continent was available to most people throughout the world. Summary by BettyB.Note: This text was published more than 100 years ago in 1905.The listener should be aware that the descriptions of the native peoples, their dress and home life reflected the perceptions and thinking of the early 20th century which some listeners may find offensive.
51 episodes
A travel journal of a year the author spent in Germany. With a preface and two additional chapters by her partner, the novelist Ford Madox Ford (here using the surname Hueffer). - Summary by barbara2
27 episodes
Description. History. “… those who read this book and have no opportunity of visiting the Tower expect that the characters in the moving drama of its history shall have some semblance of life as they walk across the stage…. My wish has been to persuade those who come to visit the Tower that there is a great deal to be seen in its immediate vicinity… A noble and historic building like the Tower resembles a venerable tree whose roots have spread into the soil in all directions, during the uncounted years of its existence, far beyond the position of its stem.” - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales
10 episodes
The Book of the Ocean is precisely what its title promises. It contains a rather broad overview of all topics connected to the ocean, such as its geography and the history of the exploration of the oceans. Besides the oceans themselves, the book contains several chapters on the different aspects of seafaring: building ships and seafaring, war ships, merchant ships and voyages, piracy, and yachting. - Summary by Carolin
18 episodes
Fontanes Bericht über seine Reise nach Schottland mit seinem Freund Bernhard von Lepel. In dem für Fontane charakteristischen Stil umfasst die Erzählung eine Mischung aus Beschreibungen von Land und Leuten, Volksgeschichten und geschichtlichen Ereignissen. Sie ist gleichzeitig eine Hommage an den von ihm verehrten Sir Walter Scott." (Summary by RiDi)
29 episodes
Here for you is the tale of my latest solitary ramble. The journey covers, as you shall see, some two hundred odd miles, through five southern counties of England, and was conceived on an unusual plan. To keep clear of the main roads, and, with two exceptions, the great towns; seeking out the least frequented lanes and by-paths. I covered the whole two-hundred-mile stretch of the way, with camera and pack at surprisingly little expense, by means of lifts taken in any chance vehicle that might be faring in my direction.
My plan consisted in waiting by the roadside, or strolling gently onward until something on wheels, it mattered not what, overtook me. And thus by fits and starts - slow joltings in lumbering farm-waggons, steady crawls in brewers’ drays, quiet hours on the tail-boards of pantechnicons and a momentous evening in a missionary van - I found myself, after many days of travel, at my journey’s end in drowsy Arundel and a great and all but resistless longing to turn about there and then, and do the journey all over again. (From: Lift-Luck on Southern Roads)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This book is considered to be one of the very first to document the concept of hitchhiking as a method of travelling to your destination by asking to ride in various stranger’s vehicles for different sections of your journey.
So then, why not join Mr Edwardes and me on this intriguing and fascinating trip as we go ‘off the beaten track’ and hitchhike our way through a magnificent part of Southern England at the turn of the last century? - Summary by Steve C
25 episodes
HERODOTUS was born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B. C. Of his life we know almost nothing, except that he spent much of it traveling, to collect the material for his writings, and that he finally settled down at Thurii, in southern Italy, where his great work was composed. He died in 424 B. C.
The subject of the history of Herodotus is the struggle between the Greeks and the barbarians, which he brings down to the battle of Mycale in 479 B. C. The work, as we have it, is divided into nine books, named after the nine Muses, but this division is probably due to the Alexandrine grammarians. His information he gathered mainly from oral sources, as he traveled through Asia Minor, down into Egypt, round the Black Sea, and into various parts of Greece and the neighboring countries. The chronological narrative halts from time to time to give opportunity for descriptions of the country, the people, and their customs and previous history; and the political account is constantly varied by rare tales and wonders.
Among these descriptions of countries the most fascinating to the modern, as it was to the ancient, reader is his account of the marvels of the land of Egypt. From the priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and the Egyptian Thebes he learned what he reports of the size of the country, the wonders of the Nile, the ceremonies of their religion, the sacredness of their animals. He tells also of the strange ways of the crocodile and of that marvelous bird, the Phoenix; of dress and funerals and embalming; of the eating of lotos and papyrus; of the pyramids and the great labyrinth; of their kings and queens and courtesans. - Summary by the author
10 episodes
Cambridge County Geographies was a 75 volume series covering the counties of England, Scotland and Wales. Separate volumes were produced for Lancashire north and south of the River Ribble. J. E. Marr's volume on North Lancashire covers a geographically diverse region, including Furness and the Lake District west of Lake Windermere that now spans Lancashire and Cumbria. As much a history, guidebook and gazetteer as it is a geography, Marr's volume paints a rich and in places idyllic picture of the northern parts of the county in the years before the first world war. - Summary by Phil Benson
6 episodes
This (probably) late fourth century common era (A.D.) narrative of a Christian pilgrimage is the earliest such text which survives to us. It is an important source of information about early Christian practices. This book has an extended introduction which provides invaluable context and summaries, though some of it is a bit scholarly and dry. The text is damaged with some parts missing; missing parts will be designated in this recording by this verbal usage: “dot dot dot dot” . More information: Egeria, Etheria or Aetheria was a woman, widely regarded to be the author of a detailed account of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The long letter, dubbed Peregrinatio (pilgrimage) or Itinerarium Egeriae, is addressed to a circle of women at home. Historical details it contains set the journey in the early 380s, making it the earliest of the kind…. It is the earliest extant graphic account of a Christian pilgrimage…. The text is a narrative apparently written at the end of Egeria's journey from notes she took en route, and addressed to her 'dear ladies': the women of her spiritual community back home. In the first extant part of the text, she describes the journey from her approach to Mount Sinai until her stop in Constantinople…. The second portion of the text is a detailed account of the liturgical services and observances of the church calendar in Jerusalem (most likely, under Cyril). The liturgical year was in its incipient stages at the time of her visit. This is invaluable because the development of liturgical worship (e.g. Lent, Palm or Passion Sunday) reached universal practice in the 4th century. Egeria provides a first-hand account of practices and implementation of liturgical seasons as they existed at the time of her visit. This snapshot is before universal acceptance of a December 25 celebration of the nativity of Jesus; this is very early and very helpful in cataloging the development of annual liturgical worship. Sections 8 and 12 of the textual introduction are omitted in this recording as they are long lists. The book's extensive footnotes are not recorded as is not the extensive concluding index ( David Wales and Wikipedia)
11 episodes
It is in this world that Mayde has created his fascinating The Frozen North: "Great as are the barren grounds, or tundri, as they are called in Siberia, the arctic forest region is far greater, for it reaches around the globe in a broad belt, nearly a thousand miles in width. Few indeed are the occupants of these great tracts, compared with the more favored southern lands. The poverty of the soil, and the severity of the climate, prevent the growth of crops, and man is offered only such subsistence as can be gained by hunting and fishing. In consequence they are inhabited but by scattered tribes of savages and by hardy trappers, who brave their dangers for the rich booty to be gained from their many fur-bearing animals." (from Chapter 1)
4 episodes
Going abroad for a holiday or business is always exciting, but we can only imagine how exciting it would have been in 1900 to board a steamer from the United States and take a tour through Europe. Luckily Robert Luce gives advice in this book about how to get around, where to stay, what to see, and generally how to make the journey a success. - Summary by Carolin
15 episodes
The book is a selection of letters written by Tagore, in various places in Bengal, India.
37 episodes
