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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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 EXGRE196. Buy these 5 items as a set for $93 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Greek Islands

Eyewitness Guide Greek Islands

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 408 PAGES

Color photography, excellent local maps and an island-by-island synopsis of attractions make this book the one to carry with you. (GRE37, $28.00)

Ancient Turkey, A Traveller's History

Ancient Turkey, A Traveller's History

by Seton Lloyd

  • HISTORY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

Turkey's archaeology and early history for the traveler by the former head of the British Archaeological Institute in Ankara. (TKY43, $28.95)

The Search for Ancient Greece

The Search for Ancient Greece

by Roland Etienne | Francoise Etienne

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

Lavishly illustrated, this pocket encyclopedia covers the archaeology and meaning of ancient Greece, quite an accomplishment for such a slim book. (GRE01, $15.95)

The Colossus of Maroussi

The Colossus of Maroussi

by Henry Miller

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 223 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Miller captures the spirit and warmth of the resilient Greek people in this inspired tale of a wartime journey from Athens to Crete, Corfu and Delphi with his friend Lawrence Durrell. (GRE05, $12.95)

Mediterranean Cruises Map

Mediterranean Cruises Map

by Freytag & Berndt

  • 2010
  • MAP

A double-sided, full-color map of the Mediterranean, including the Iberian Peninsula and Black Sea, North Africa and the Levant, at a scale of 1:2,000,000. (MED36, $14.95)

 
Eyewitness Guide Istanbul

Eyewitness Guide Istanbul


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This superb guide to Istanbul features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (TKY86, $25.00)

Lonely Planet Istanbul Encounter

Lonely Planet Istanbul Encounter


by Verity Campbell

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

With a section of not-to-miss highlights, pull-out map and a calendar of annual events. (TKY151, $12.99)

1453, The Holy War For Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West

1453, The Holy War For Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West


by Roger Crowley

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

In this well-paced history, Crowley recounts with drama the events surrounding the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. (TKY114, $15.99)

Crescent and Star

Crescent and Star


by Stephen Kinzer

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 265 PAGES

This insightful anecdotal report on contemporary life, culture and politics in Turkey comes from a former New York Times Istanbul bureau chief who is especially attuned to the powerful geographic position of Turkey and its multiple identities in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (TKY64, $17.00)

Harem, The World Behind the Veil

Harem, The World Behind the Veil


by Alev Lytle Croutier

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A fascinating illustrated look at the culture of the Harem -- particularly the well-known quarters at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The author combines interviews, history and a wonderful selection of art in this intriguing book. (ARB23, $25.00)

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire


by Bernard Lewis

  • HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 187 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

In this slim volume the great Islamic scholar describes the invasion of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453, evoking the city at this pivotal moment in its long history. (TKY17, $24.95)

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter


by Thomas Cahill

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Cahill sketches ancient Greek society and civilization through the lives and words of politicians, playwrights, a poet, philosopher and artist in this eloquent and absorbing tribute. (GRE182, $16.00)

Ancient Greece: Art, Architecture, and History

Ancient Greece: Art, Architecture, and History


by Marina Belozerskaya | Kenneth Lapatin

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

This lively illustrated guide covers the architecture, painting and sculpture of Ancient Greece from the third millennium to the end of the Hellenistic period. With 282 color and 28 black-and-white illustrations. (GRE194, $19.95)

Art of the Byzantine Era

Art of the Byzantine Era


by David Talbot Rice

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES

Wide-ranging and literate, this thoroughly illustrated introduction to Byzantine art is an indispensable classic. (TKY22, $21.95)

Dinner with Persephone

Dinner with Persephone


by Patricia Storace

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

The pleasures and complexities of contemporary Greece, marvelously described by an American poet spending a year there. Storace intertwines her own perceptions with the history of the country and the influence of pop culture on the classical landscape. (GRE28, $15.95)

Istanbul, Memories and the City

Istanbul, Memories and the City


by Orhan Pamuk

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Nobel Prize-winner Pamuk writes with quiet grace of the city of his birth, celebrated in his many novels: a magical place of crumbling mansions and Ottoman riches, mingling Asian, Islamic, secular and European influences. (TKY99, $16.95)

Lords of the Horizons

Lords of the Horizons


by Jason Goodwin

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 351 PAGES

Goodwin artfully combines his modern travels with scholarship, history and reflection, capturing the outrageous personalities, events and vagaries of the 600-year-old Ottoman empire. (TKY44, $17.00)

Turkish Reflections, A Biography of a Place

Turkish Reflections, A Biography of a Place


by Mary Lee Settle

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 253 PAGES

Settle's travelogue is a richly detailed portrait of Turkey, its people, myths, treasures and traditions. (TKY08, $16.99)

Greece, A Traveler's Literary Companion

Greece, A Traveler's Literary Companion


by Artemis Leontis

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

In this terrific anthology, 24 modern Greek writers introduce Greek culture, people and landscapes. (GRE190, $14.95)

The Iliad

The Iliad


by Homer | Robert Fagles

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 704 PAGES

In the excellent Fagles translation -- here presented in a deluxe paper edition -- Homer's Trojan epic hasn't aged a bit in the last 2,700 years. Take it along to Troy and the Aegean. We also carry Fagles's translation of The Odyssey. (Item no. GRE45, $17.00) (GRE173, $17.00)

The Odyssey

The Odyssey


by Homer | Robert Fagles

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 541 PAGES

Translator Robert Fagles captures the poetry and power of The Odyssey in this translation, celebrated for its clarity and expressiveness. (GRE45, $17.00)

The Towers of Trebizond

The Towers of Trebizond


by Rose MacAulay | Jan Morris

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 277 PAGES

Mixing high farce, archaeology, history and lively travel writing, MacAulay's impossibly clever short novel follows the adventures of English missionaries traipsing across Turkey. (TKY15, $15.95)

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.