Listings:

Dan Cruickshank's quest is to tell the story of civilisation through the greatest of man's achievements. It will also be the story of his travels, and who and what he meets along the way. Whether standing before the solemn heads of Easter Island, investigating the mysterious Nazca lines in Peru or the magnificent temple of Borobodur in Java, Dan is never less than fascinating about the origins, construction, mysteries and vicissitudes of each of these monuments to the great civilisations of the world. Do they live up to expectation? Have they been left in ruin, or over-restored? Dan's diary, written at the end of each day, records his most intimate thoughts and feelings, the people he has met, the ups and downs of the journey, perils, joys, and the ongoing relationships formed on the road. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TREASURES is a riveting story of adventure and the pursuit of knowledge.

Venetian architect and historian Francesco da Mosto sets out from Venice to cross the Mediterranean sea - following in the wake of his ancestor, the explorer Alvise da Mosto - to discover the cities and islands where Western civilization was born. Sailing in a late nineteenth-century schooner, his journey starts in Venice and finishes in Istanbul. Along the way he takes in spectacular ruins, like the Acropolis in Athens and the Roman city of Ephesus in Turkey; sacred sites like the monasteries of Mount Athos and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; and beautiful Dubrovnik (destroyed and rebuilt in the last decade). Ancient history and bygone legends intertwine as Francesco visits these wonderful ancient sites, bringing the past vividly to life, and taking readers on a thrilling cultural odyssey. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this book will be a must for fans of Francesco everywhere.

Nick picks eight of the most interesting traveller-chroniclers to have explored and reported on the state of the nation from Gerald of Wales who embarked on a seven week journey around the wild perimeter of Wales in March 1188 to HV Morton, the journalist and travel writer who crossed the length and breadth of England by car in the 1920s. Others include Celia Fiennes who started her many journeys around Britain on horseback in the late 1600s at the age of 20, Tudor antiquarian John Leland, Daniel Defoe, William Cobbett, Thomas Pennant, and William Gilpin, who travelled through the north of England by boat in 1770. Contents:1. Gerald of Wales 1188/Wales2. John Leland 1534-43/England & Wales3. Celia Fiennes 1682-1712/England4. Daniel Defoe 1724-26/Britain5. William Gilpin 1770-2/North England6. Thomas Pennant 1772/Wales & Scotland7. William Cobbett 1822-26/S England8. HV Morton 1927/England

Award-winning food writer Stefan Gates has travelled the world to investigate how people cook, eat and survive in extreme conditions for the acclaimed BBC television series Cooking in the Danger Zone. He drank radioactive wine with babushkas in Chernobyl, ate fat-tailed sheep with Taliban warlords in Afghanistan, yaks penis with Chinese Communists, civet cat with the Karen rebels deep in the Burmese jungle and rotting walrus with the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. In this book Stefan takes us on an extraordinary personal journey as he tries to understand a world in crisis, and meets people caught up in war, poverty and environmental disasters. This behind-the-scenes account is hugely entertaining and thought provoking, blending war and food, ethics and emotions, comedy and tragedy.

Sanjeev Bhaskar, comedian and writer of 'The Kumars at No. 42' and 'Goodness Gracious Me' embarks on an epic and uniquely personal journey through the heart of India for his latest BBC2 series, unveiling a country of contradictions and surprises, where ancient and modern collide, and millionaires and beggars live cheek by jowl. As a young British Asian growing up in 1970s west London above his parents' launderette, Sanjeev was fed stories of exotic old India -- of cobras and leopards, trapping fireflie and riding in rickshaws. But family visits to the old country revealed stifling heat, mosquitos, powercuts, and the pervasive aroma of cow dung -- baffling to a young boy brought up in an England of fish and chips and light drizzle. Now we follow Sanjeev on his adventures through India, where he is reunited with old relatives with traumatic stories of the Partition.

Stumped for where to go this year? The third edition of Lonely Planet's best-selling annual title unveils the world's hottest trends, destinations, journeys and experiences! With tantalising content compiled from Lonely Planet staff, authors and travellers, it offers an insider scoop on when to go where and do what in 2008.Includes: Stunning travel photography from the Lonely Planet travel community2008 travel plannerIntroduction from Lonely Planet co-founder Tony WheelerTour of the globe's threatened wildlife in our Endangered Wildlife section

How the hell do you get around this magnificent, monster country? Do you saddle up the caravan and take to the highways? Do you work your way around every town and city, picking fruit and pulling beers? Or do you slow it right down and simply languish in a rainforest or amble through the wine regions? This guide will show you how to do all of the above and love every minute of it. Includes more of the features readers ask us for: tips on travelling sustainably; the best contemporary Indigenous Australia and a special driving section (when to buy and sell, what to take and where to go) with 'five-stars to under-the-stars' accommodation.Fourteeth Edition.

Welcome to China: vast, ambitious, proud, and transforming like never before. Speed down alleyways on your Beijing bicycle, slurp steaming noodles in the shadow of a Shanghai skyscraper and wake up spellbound to the desertscapes on Xinjiang. Whether you seek the Terracotta Warriors of ancient Xi'an or a few moments with the pandas of Chengdu, this bestselling guidebook will take you through the heart of China. Be inspired by the wonders of the Middle Kingdom - this guide offers the best coverage available, from the Great Wall to the high passes of Tibet; talk the talk and find what you want with handy Chinese script throughout

Limited euros - and a whole continent to devour. This detailed guide gives you all the insider tips you'll need to languish in Luxembourg, soak up sangria in Spain and carouse in Cannes, all without having to sell a kidney. Read up on how to go further, stay longer and treat yourself to the occasional splurge with Lonely Planet's #1-selling guidebook.

Why does the French language always sound so sophisticated, so suave? Get this French phrasebook and you'll find out for yourself as you order pastries with aplomb, hail a cab like a local and chat faux-pas free.

Let's get philosophical. As Socrates said, "Let him that would move the world first move himself." Move yourself to say a few things, open this book. It'll make a world of difference.

India doesn't even have to try: it will bowl you out with its head-reeling mix of cultures, its fast-swelling cities, its still-visible history and its thousands of different landscapes. Get on a train - the quintessential Indian experience - and chug your way past apple blossom and snowy peaks, fort-scattered deserts, tropical beaches and eerie salt plains. After 26 years, no one knows India quite like Lonely Planet. This definitive new guide to one of the world's true travel meccas is more comprehensive than ever, with 100 extra pages. Superior coverage of unexplored and out-of-the-way destinations and a new activities section spans festivals, language classes, yoga courses and Ayurvedic massage.Twelfth Edition

You might think you can get by with just saying 'ciao!' in a sexy growl at every opportunity, but having a bit more of the Italian language at your disposal does prove useful. Grab this phrasebook and hold your own in restaurants, train stations and end-of-season Gucci sales.

Geishas, neon, sake, hot springs and moss gardens. Japan delivers all the iconic stuff - then it starts piling on the surprises: swimming with manta rays, world-class skiing, whale watching...and guess what? It can be cheaper to travel here than in Western Europe. Written by an expert team of Japanese speaking authors; a special section of skiing and how to negotiate the ritual of Onsen (hot baths).Tenth Edition

Don't let your Russian experience become Russian Roulette! Pick up this phrasebook instead, and begin communicating with ease.

Just being in South America is a thrill in itself. Open your eyes and there's the Amazon, the Inca Trail, booming Buenos Aires and the jaw-dropping Andes. Your pesos may be limited but the spine tingles and the adventures ain't. This unbeatable guide takes you across this wild-ride continent while keeping some change in your pocket.

Lingua Franca? Try Lingua Espaa! Spanish is the most widely spoken of the Romance languages - take it on the road in Europe, Latin America, the Philippines, the West Indies, Africa and the US.

Thailand blends the exotic with modern convenience: Bangkok is a gleaming city with a robust traditional cuisine and a culture of devout Buddhism, while the ancient city of Chiang Mai is spa central. When you're done lapping all that up, move on to cloudy mountains or lounge around on the pearlescent sand of those famous beaches.Expanded coverage of travelling overland through remote Isan ;a new chapter dedicated to responsible and sustainable travel; foodie recommendations for the best street stalls and gournet meals plus a hige range of accommodation listings.Twelfth Edition

The definitive pictorial dedicated to travel and the world, The Travel Book captures every country on the planet in photographs and atmospheric text. This paperback version is inspirational, inviting and beautiful. It combines stunning images with entertaining, informative text that captures the essence of being there. User-friendly A-to-Z coverage of every country in the world with double-page spreads of every country. Includes cultural insights, key facts and maps. Breathtaking photographs that capture the soul of each destination from Lonely Planet's comprehensive image library, Lonely Planet Images.First Edition

Until the early 1990s, when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, travelling behind the iron curtain was never easy. In undertaking his new journey through Eastern Europe, breathing in its rich history, filming its exquisite sights and talking to its diverse peoples, Michael fills what has been a void in his own experience and that of very many of his own generation. As in all his series, Palin's New Europe takes the form of a journey through countries which have rich and complex cultures. Few have survived intact, as the ebb and flow of warring armies has continually changed the map of Europe. Starting in the mountains of Slovenia he travels down through Croatia and the former Yugoslavia to Albania before turning northwards to embrace Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, The Ukraine, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, the former East Germany, Poland, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad (as Konigsberg originally home to the Teutonic Knights), Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, opening up a new and undiscovered world to millions of viewers and readers.

Winston Churchill famously described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Even today it remains a country little understood by the West. But as a resurgent world power, with an energy-rich economy, we ignore Russia at our peril. In this timely and revealing portrait, distinguished author and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby crosses eight time zones and covers 10,000 miles, from Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to the Asian city of Vladivostok, in an attempt to get beneath the skin of modern Russia. Travelling by road, rail and boat, his epic journey takes him from the neo-classical splendour of St Petersburg to remote and inaccessible parts of Siberia. At the heart of this magisterial account are Jonathans encounters with a diverse range of ordinary Russians from urban intellectuals and the new class of entrepreneurs, to impoverished peasants and Russias ethnic minorities struggling to cling to their distinctive identities. Jonathan was the only British television journalist to interview President Gorbachev during the Cold War, and, returning to Russia for the first time since those days, he discovers a land transformed. But despite economic progress, he finds aspects of Russian society deeply troubling, and takes an unflinchingly critical look at the way Russia has been run during the Putin years. For Jonathan, crossing the immense Russian landmass became as much an interior journey as an exterior one, and the book contains painfully honest passages as he struggles to meet the challenges of an arduous film trip against the backdrop of great turbulence in his personal life. Filled with a dazzling array of historical and literary references, Russia A Journey to the Heart of a Land and its People is a riveting and illuminating account of modern Russia.

Paradise or Bust is the fascinating adventure story of Tribewanted, a revolutionary eco-tourism project founded by twentysomething Ben Keene. As featured in the BBC documentary series, Keenes story follows the ups and downs of a global online network of like-minded travellers and an indigenous Fijian community as they attempt to build a new life on a 200-acre island in the South Pacific. All major decisions on the island are voted on by an online tribe that anyone around the world can join. There are many challenges to overcome. A fire sweeps the island, a military coup (delayed until the end of a rugby match!) brews on the mainland, and a tropical cyclone threatens to wipe out the emerging village. Online there are other storms to fight, as accusations of scam artistry, tribal politics and the regular grind of debates and decision-making among Tribewanteds 1000+ members push the adventure and the business to the very edge. But in the end, with a little luck and a lot of hard work, they might just build their paradise...

In his greatest challenge yet, Simon Reeve, sets out on a global adventure circling the world around the Tropic of Capricorn. He encounters sumptuous landscapes, spectacular wildlife, strange rituals and desperate poverty. For the Tropic of Capricorn tracks the southern border of the Tropics, and is home to great deserts, paradise beaches and some of the wildest and most extraordinary parts of our planet. Motivated by a desire to learn more about the often forgotten parts of our globe, Reeve investigates the turbulent histories and wide-ranging tensions that shape the identity of these vastly disparate countries, all linked by one invisible line. From the impact of German colonialism in Namibia, diamond mining and civil war in Botswana to Nazi war criminals in mysterious Paraguay, and a controversial nuclear power station built on an earthquake fault line in Brazil, Simon sheds light on important issues that will eventually impact on the West if left neglected. He reveals parts of our planet little understood or even known about in the western world until now.

Unforgettable Walks to Take Before You Die is the fifth title in an exciting series of books that will help you search out essential sights and experiences around the world. Photographers and writers Steve Watkins and Clare Jones draws on their years of international travel experience in selecting thirty of the worlds most inspiring, spectacular and beautiful walks, each of which can be done within the space of a two-week break. Their choices include a wide range of locations, from urban walking tours along Bostons Freedom Trail and the stunning temples of Kyoto, to the open countryside of the Yellowstone National Park in the USA and Perus Inca Trail. There are leisurely jaunts, such as Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater property and a stroll around the picturesque canals of Amsterdam, as well as a few demanding walks, such as the Alpine Tour du Mont Blanc and Chinas Tiger Leaping Gorge trek, for those who like a challenge. Richly illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photographs, Unforgettable Walks to take Before You Die is aimed at anyone looking for ideas for an inspirational trip of a lifetime. WALKS FEATURED Amalfi Coast ITALY Morne Trois Pitons DOMINICA Choro Trail BOLIVIA Andalucia SPAIN South West Coast Path ENGLAND Dogon Tribes MALI Snowshoeing Dolomites ITALY Kilimanjaro TANZANIA Monasteries of Meteora GREECE Boston's Freedom Trail USA Inca Trail PERU Footsteps of King Ludwig of Bavaria GERMANY Tiger Leaping Gorge CHINA Coast to Coast ENGLAND Routeburn Track NEW ZEALAND Coyote Buttes, Utah USA Lofoten Islands NORWAY Karst Country SLOVENIA Tour du Mont Blanc SWITZERLANDITALYFRANCE Great Ocean Walk AUSTRALIA Giant Panda Walk CHINA Darjeeling Tea Trek INDIA West Highland Way SCOTLAND Lycian Way TURKEY Yellowstone National Park USA Amsterdam Canals HOLLAND Somme War Walk FRANCE Fallingwater USA Temples of Kyoto JAPAN Garden Route SOUTH AFRICA

China has more varied habitats for wildlife than anywhere else on the planet: rivers carve immense gorges through the worlds loftiest mountain peaks; vast deserts range from searing heat to mind-numbing cold; wild horses gallop across grass steppe land; shallow seas teem with life; steaming jungles harbour colourful birds and temperate forests shelter giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys. But above all, China is a place of 1.3 billion people, most of whom still live in the countryside. By the improbable cone-shaped hills of Southern China, afloat in a sea of glistening rice paddies, streams conceal dwarf alligators and giant salamanders and trained cormorants catch fish for their masters. In the Himalayas where the temperature can drop nearly 30C in a day, Mongolian nomads roam on horseback along the ancient Silk Road, Kazakh herders hunt with Golden Eagles in the snow, and all share their land with wild yak, giant herds of Chiru antelope, brown bears and snow leopards. Vast river estuaries, migrating birds, coral reefs and busy cities jostle for attention along Chinas 10,000 km-long eastern seaboard. This cradle of Chinese civilization has developed into the countrys most densely-populated and economically dynamic area, while remaining a Mecca for wildlife. To survive, this wildlife must co-exist with over 600 million people in a rapidly-changing environment. Wild China is a stunning visual feast exploring the length and breadth of one of the worlds most spectacular and mysterious countries.