Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

SEE ALL >

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

To the Arctic

Florian Schultz

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

GLOBES

The Pioneer

Replogle

SEE ALL >

London, Edinburgh & Dublin

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

  • E-MAIL
  • PRINT

Kids

Books for

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXEUR576. Buy these 5 items as a set for $71 including shipping, 20% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
Fodor's London's 25 Best

Fodor's London's 25 Best

by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

This slim guide to London (with handy full-color maps) has everything you need to know for a short visit to the city, including recommended sightseeing, restaurants, hotels and shops. (GBR08, $11.95)

Fodor's Dublin's 25 Best

Fodor's Dublin's 25 Best

by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

Take along this handy pocket guide, which includes a map and information on city highlights. (IRE30, $11.99)

The Story of England

The Story of England

by Christopher Hibbert

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Beautifully illustrated with color pictures, chronological charts, royal genealogies and maps, this popular history of English politics, economics and culture from the Neolithic age to the 1990s is an excellent traveler's companion. (GBR02, $19.95)

Scotland, A Concise History

Scotland, A Concise History

by Fitzroy MacLean | Magnus Linklater

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 248 PAGES

With 250 well-integrated illustrations, this lively and authoritative history covers the romantic figures and bloody battles from the early clans up to the present. (SCT15, $19.95)

Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

by W.B. Yeats

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 380 PAGES

Edited by the Nobel Prize-winning poet who spearheaded the Celtic Renaissance in the early 20th century, these enchanting stories introduce a cast of changelings, ghosts, mermaids, demons, saints, priests and fairies. (IRE04, $16.00)

 

Edinburgh Map


by Streetwise

  • 2000
  • MAP

A laminated, folded map of Edinburgh. (SCT52, $7.95)

Dublin, A Cultural History

Dublin, A Cultural History


by Siobhan Kilfeather

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 300 PAGES

This literary guide to Ireland's capital, organized by definitive events and personalities, covers Dublin's beginnings as a 10th-century Norse trading center to the establishment of Trinity College and the election of Mary Robinson. (IRE172, $24.99)

Eyewitness Guide Dublin

Eyewitness Guide Dublin


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

A compact, highly visual guide to sites, attractions and places of Dublin. (IRE85, $20.00)

Eyewitness Guide London

Eyewitness Guide London


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 448 PAGES

This superb guide to London features color photography, dozens of excellent neighborhood maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (GBR34, $25.00)

Five Days in London, May 1940

Five Days in London, May 1940


by John Lukacs

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A fly-on-the-wall account of a long weekend in 1940, capturing all the uncertainty, drama and suspense surrounding Churchill's affirmation that Britain would continue the war with Germany. (WAR47, $11.95)

How the Irish Saved Civilization

How the Irish Saved Civilization


by Thomas Cahill

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 236 PAGES

This best-selling history tells the generally unknown story of Ireland's preservation of classical learning in the Dark Ages. (IRE07, $15.95)

How the Scots Invented the Modern World

How the Scots Invented the Modern World


by Arthur Herman

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 472 PAGES

Herman argues convincingly in this bestseller that many of the greatest political, intellectual and technological innovations of the 18th and 19th centuries came from the Scots. (SCT65, $16.00)

Ireland, A Concise History

Ireland, A Concise History


by Maire O'Brien | Conor Cruise O'Brien

  • HISTORY
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

With its lively, even-handed tone and hundreds of photographs, this grand history by scholar and statesman O'Brien conveys the essence of the Irish experience. (IRE20, $19.95)

London Perceived

London Perceived


by Evelyn Hofer | V. S. Pritchett

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 214 PAGES

A classic, lyrical celebration of the palaces, parks, people and everyday experience of London. Pritchett's eloquent riffs on the character of the city are accompanied by evocative black-and-white photographs by the superb Evelyn Hofer. (GBR310, $19.95)

London, The Biography

London, The Biography


by Peter Ackroyd

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 864 PAGES

A big thematic history of London from Celtic settlement to Roman outpost and world power, much focused on the life of the city. A popular biographer and novelist, Ackroyd leavens the centuries with anecdote, personality and great affection. (GBR248, $21.00)

Pax Britannica, The Climax of Empire

Pax Britannica, The Climax of Empire


by James Morris

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 527 PAGES

The centerpiece of the trilogy "Pax Britannica," this entertaining history concentrates on the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, celebrated as a festival of imperial power and splendor. (GBR10, $37.95)

Stone Voices, The Search for Scotland

Stone Voices, The Search for Scotland


by Neal Ascherson

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

Ascherson writes with verve and insight on the centuries-old impulse toward nationhood in Scotland in this absorbing portrait, interweaving history with archaeology, myth and his own interviews and travels. (SCT66, $27.00)

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages


by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a brief chronology. (MED07, $15.95)

The Book of Kells

The Book of Kells


by Bernard Meehan

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 95 PAGES

Written by the keeper of manuscripts at Trinity College, this book features 110 color illustrations, including enlargements, of some of the more spectacular decorations in this most famous of medieval manuscripts. (IRE09, $19.95)

In Search of London


by H.V. Morton

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

An enduring portrait of the city and especially of its history, originally published a half-century ago. As in all of his travel books, Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture and, especially, the history of a place with his own keen observations. (GBR269, $18.50)

Queen of Scots, The True Life of Mary Stuart

Queen of Scots, The True Life of Mary Stuart


by John Guy

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 608 PAGES

This major revisionist biography of the much-maligned monarch by British historian and Cambridge fellow John Guy won the 2004 Whitbread Award. (SCT82, $16.95)

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel


by Jerome Jerome | Jeremy Lewis

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 361 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Written in 1889, "Three Men in a Boat" (to say nothing of the dog!) is a laugh-out-loud account of a man-powered voyage along the River Thames, full of detail on life and lore. A Longitude favorite. (GBR28, $11.95)

44 Scotland Street

44 Scotland Street


by Alexander McCall Smith

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 325 PAGES

In this witty novel, McCall Smith traces the lives and eccentricities of the men and women living in an Edinburgh boarding house. (SCT83, $15.00)

Death in Dublin, A Novel of Suspense

Death in Dublin, A Novel of Suspense


by Bartholomew Gill

  • MYSTERY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

This gripping mystery, the last of the Peter McGarr series, revolves around the theft of the revered Book of Kells. Darkly atmospheric and impossible to put down! (IRE159, $6.99)

Dubliners

Dubliners


by James Joyce

  • LITERATURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

James Joyce's unsurpassed collection of short stories depicting ordinary life in Dublin among the lower middle class -- a milestone in the history of prose fiction. (IRE15, $11.00)

For the Love of Ireland, A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers

For the Love of Ireland, A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers


by Susan Cahill

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 458 PAGES

Organized geographically, this rich anthology introduces Ireland through the words and lives of such luminaries as James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Frank McCourt and Samuel Beckett. (IRE77, $15.95)

In a Time of Violence


by Eavan Boland

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 70 PAGES

Poems of Ireland and the violences there --personal, political, historical and familial. (IRE86, $15.95)

London, The Novel


by Edward Rutherfurd

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 1126 PAGES

This novel marches through 2,000 years of London history. (GBR98, $18.95)

Rob Roy

Rob Roy


by Sir Walter Scott

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 501 PAGES

Adventure in the highlands of 18th-century Scotland starring the dashing outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. Part of the "Penguin Classics" series, this book contains explanatory notes and an introduction that sets it in its historical context. (SCT20, $11.00)

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories


by Arthur Conan Doyle

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 1122 PAGES

This paperback volume manages to collect every Sherlock Holmes story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote, including "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and his three other short novels concerning the legendary detective. (GBR157, $13.90)

The Death of a Joyce Scholar

The Death of a Joyce Scholar


by Bartholomew Gill

  • MYSTERY
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

In this eighth Peter McGarr mystery, Trinity College professor Kevin Coyle is found fatally stabbed after an annual Bloomsday tour. (IRE150, $6.99)

The Heat of the Day


by Elizabeth Bowen

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

The suspenseful tale of life in London during the bombing raids of World War II. (GBR378, $16.00)

The Ministry of Fear

The Ministry of Fear


by Graham Greene

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

A thriller set in London during the Blitz by the master of atmosphere and ambiguity. (GBR571, $15.00)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie


by Muriel Spark

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 150 PAGES

A terribly witty novel from the incomparable Dame Muriel. Miss Jean Brodie is an unorthodox teacher at an Edinburgh girls' boarding school who wins the hearts and minds of her students, only to discover that girls from the provinces are ill-prepared for progressive thought. (SCT42, $13.99)

The Princes of Ireland, The Dublin Saga

The Princes of Ireland, The Dublin Saga


by Edward Rutherfurd

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 800 PAGES

An epic novel drawing on the events, personalities and drama of Dublin from settlement through the Easter Rebellion. (IRE145, $16.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.