A Book of Traveller's Tales [Mass Market Paperback]

Eric Newby (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This massive anthology is a ticket to join Sir Richard Francis Burton on a trek to Medina, observe a Hollywood dinner party with Henry Miller, stroll down Broadway in New York with English actress Fanny Kemble, and watch Magellan discover a Patagonian cure for stomachache. Newby (A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush has assembled tantalizing snippets by explorers, novelists, poets, adventurers, diplomats and soldiers, both famous and obscure. Most of these short selections focus on a dramatic moment or exotic scene; the reader has a sense of viewing a fast-moving blur outside a train window. For casual browsing, this omnibus is diverting. Organized goegraphically by continent, it lets you glimpse a Persian king with his concubines or stand atop a pyramid with Thackeray. Yet from Newby, a gifted travel writer, one would have expected more than this confection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140107401
• ISBN-13: 978-0140107401
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,085,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Entertaining, diverse, very funny and strange, August 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Book of Traveller's Tales (Mass Market Paperback)

A much better book than the title might suggest. I couldn't let it go once I had started, even though it is a bulky book. The stories are short, pithy, and really varied. Some funny, some weird, some horrifying. And it tells you a lot about people in other parts of the world. Heaps of things. A wonderful read, I would buy it if it were in print, even though I am trying to limit my book collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great travel anthology!!!, July 2, 2005

By 

A reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Book of Traveller's Tales (Hardcover)

Eric Newby has here given us a wonderful travel anthology, great introductions to lots of writers/works. The entries are arranged by geographical region, and are chronological within each region, with representative entries from antiquity to modern times. Very highly recommend this anthology! My sister recently gave my Dad a copy, and he called to tell me about one entry, and that sparked my memory that I had a copy languishing with my other travel books. So I finally read, or rather, inhaled, this! Highly recommended!

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating personal accounts, April 10, 2010

By 

still learning (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Book of Traveller's Tales (Hardcover)

I loved reading these personal accounts of intrepid travelers throughout the ages in exotic areas around the world. When the news contained mentions of Afganistan, Iran, & Iraq, I found entries in this book especially enlightening. Some things never change - like regional conflicts. I recommend this book especially for people like me who found history classes dry & boring. These real life adventures kept me fascinated.