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Three Women of Herat by Veronica Doubleday
I think I share a common conception, or misconception, of Afghanistan, a country that has always seemed distant, alien and mysterious to many of us, which is more likely to…
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Modern British Nature Writing, 1789-2020 Landlines By Will Abberley, Christina Alt, David Higgins, Graham Huggan and Pippa Marland.
This is a beautifully produced and fascinating study of nature writing from Gilbert White to the present. Being a book aimed at the academic market it is very expensive and…
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The Herring Man by Cyril James Morris
There’s something of an innocence to great storytelling, and a story that tells of great friendships and emotions, and in The Herring Man, Cyril James Morris encapsulates the passion for…
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So, Stranger by Topaz Winters
So, Stranger is the third collection of poems by Topaz Winters and my first foray into her work, so wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, which in some ways creates…
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An Open Door: New Travel Writing for a Precarious Century Edited by Steven Lovatt
I hardly know Wales at all. There was that one of our irregular summer childhood holidays when we exchanged the constant drizzle of Frinton for the interminable downpours of Aberdaron…
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A Moroccan Trilogy: Rabat, Marrakesh and Fez by Jerome and Jean Tharaud
I'd been wanting to read A Moroccan Trilogy: Rabat, Marrakesh and Fez by Jerome and Jean Tharaud for quite a while, Morocco is not a country I know very much…
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Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia by Shafik Meghji
An almost certainly apocryphal story about Queen Victoria’s defacement of a map of South America which gives the superb Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia its title. According to the legend…
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Woman, Watching – Louise de Kirilene Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds
Woman, Watching - Louise de Kirilene Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay is a remarkable title, but I now understand that Mrs Lawrence was quite a remarkable woman. Biographies…
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Shalimar: A Story of Place & Migration by Davina Quinlivan
I wasn't sure what to expect with Shalimar: A Story of Place & Migration, the wonderful debut novel from author Davina Quinlivan. I've read a fair bit on areas such as…
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The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century
The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century delivers what it promises and more. Like so many other recent publications it has its genesis in the Covid crisis. At…