Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Erudite & street-smart... that rare thing: a travel writer who not only amuses & informs but also reappraises a well trodden landscape with brio & originality' MAIL ON S. 'Fascinating ... [Grant] brings to light a range of darkly romantic wanderers who strayed from the American mainstream while exemplifying the American Dream' OBSERVER '...the freshest travel book on the US in a long time & one of the best short entrees to its history & culture' TLS

Product Description

'Who among us has not felt his heart beat a little faster at the sight of a plane soaring into a wide blue sky, or admired the fellow who tears up the gas bills? ...In this engaging and finely written book, Richard Grant, a restless Englishman and something of an itinerant himself seeks out the wanderers, the rootless, the "legion of drifters, grifters, hoboes and tramps". Grant traces their historical antecedents (the ghosts of the title are the nomadic horsemen of the American West) and ponders what drives a man to spend his life in motion ...He is a first-class writer ...I enjoyed this book immensely' Sara Wheeler, Daily Telegraph

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Abacus (December 4, 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0349112681
• ISBN-13: 978-0349112688
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #563,864 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, October 25, 2007

By	Janet Farrar (Windsor, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fascinating analysis of nomadism in its historical context, focusing on the Native American Plains Indians during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Loaded with well-researched anecdotes of the interaction between "mountain men," trappers, traders, French, Indians, pioneers, etc., some of which serve to contradict much of today's commonly accepted theories of, for instance, what motivated such restless spirits as Daniel Boone and Sam Houston. Historic locations are compared to what is seen first-hand, through the author's observations as he explores the sites. Woven into this historical overview are the stories of contemporary nomads he encounters at truckstops, bars and on the road. A very thought-provoking book, it makes me reflect both on why we choose to live in cities, towns or groupings in our sedentary life-styles, with our rigorous routines, and what freedoms we have sacrificed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Same book as American Nomads, June 14, 2009

By	Strick (Georgia) - See all my reviews

An excellent book but be advised that it is the same book as Grant's 'American Nomads.' One published in the USA, the other in the UK.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Problems this time, September 17, 2009

By	Jeffery Smeltzer (Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ok, I got Ghost Riders, In English, In good time.
Thanks, Happy with this, Jeff.