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 >

Hiker's Brittany

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 EXFRN342. Buy these 5 items as a set for $71 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
The Oysters of Locmariaquer

The Oysters of Locmariaquer

by Eleanor Clark

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 203 PAGES

Winner of the 1965 National Book Award, this paper edition of Clark's pleasurable portrait of the hardy oystermen and byways of coastal Brittany is introduced by Mark Kurlansky. (FRN152, $13.95)

Legends and Romances of Brittany

Legends and Romances of Brittany

by Lewis Spence

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A broad anthology that draws on varying strains of the Breton tradition, including Arthurian legends, the lays of Marie de France and tales of Breton saints as well as more standard fairy stories. (FRN354, $11.95)

The Celts: A Very Short Introduction

The Celts: A Very Short Introduction

by Barry W Cunliffe

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 161 PAGES

A concise, revealing social history of the Celts, by a reigning authority and popular writer. (CLT03, $11.95)

Eyewitness Guide Brittany

Eyewitness Guide Brittany

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A thorough, gorgeously illustrated guidebook. (FRN401, $25.00)

Brittany Map

Brittany Map

by Michelin Travel Publications

  • MAP

A regional map of Brittany by Michelin at the very good scale of 1:200,000. (FRN79, $11.95)

 
A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany

A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany


by Aubrey Burl

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 276 PAGES

An excellent guide to finding -- and understanding -- all the major sites, plus a few not-so-well known ones. It includes maps, black-and-white photographs, site diagrams, and a bibliography. (GBR102, $37.00)

Cadogan Guide Brittany

Cadogan Guide Brittany


by Philippe Barbour

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 520 PAGES

A comprehensive, practical guide in the British series. (FRN383, $21.95)

Michelin Green Guide Brittany

Michelin Green Guide Brittany


by Michelin Travel Publications

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A thorough introduction to Brittany, featuring brief descriptions of all the major attractions. (FRN90, $21.99)

French Provincial Cooking

French Provincial Cooking


by Elizabeth David | Julia Child

  • FOOD
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 524 PAGES

More than just a cookbook. In this influential classic, David includes a long introduction on the origins of food traditions in France, and asides on history, food traditions, literature and the pleasures of rural France. (FRN174, $18.00)

The Food of France

The Food of France


by Waverly Root

  • FOOD
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 450 PAGES

An evocative and beautifully written survey of French food. First published in 1958 and revised in the mid-1970s, the book covers the important regions of French cuisine by dividing them into domains of Butter (northern France), Fat (Alsace) and Oil (the south). (FRN17, $18.00)

1066, The Year of the Conquest

1066, The Year of the Conquest


by David Howarth

  • HISTORY
  • 1981
  • PAPER
  • 207 PAGES

A crack medievalist and storyteller, Howarth brings to life the momentous events of 1066 in rich, anecdotal history -- a classic portrait of the Norman invasion and conquest of England. (GBR115, $14.00)

A Traveller's History of France

A Traveller's History of France


by Robert Cole

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This fast-moving survey covers the conquests of ancient Gaul through the heady days of revolution to modern times. (FRN08, $14.95)

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age


by William Manchester

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 322 PAGES

Organized into sections on the Renaissance, Reformation and Discovery, Manchester's popular history evokes in vivid detail the great figures and daily life of the 16th century, including Henry VIII, Magellan, Borgia, da Vinci and Martin Luther. (EUR06, $15.99)

French Ways and Their Meaning

French Ways and Their Meaning


by Edith Wharton

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 151 PAGES

A wonderfully readable, elegant look at French civilization written in Paris during the last two years of WWI by the perceptive mind of Edith Wharton. (FRN55, $14.95)

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres


by Henry Brooks Adams

  • HISTORY
  • 1986
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

First published at the turn of the century, this classic work is a meditation on the Medieval world as reflected through its most famous religious structures. (FRN44, $17.00)

The Age of the Cathedrals, Art and Society 980-1420

The Age of the Cathedrals, Art and Society 980-1420


by Georges Duby

  • HISTORY
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

The definitive historical study of the building of the great cathedrals. French scholar Duby, writing very accessibly, describes the cathedrals themselves, and the philosophical, religious, and political climate that enabled them to be built. (EUR01, $28.00)

The Autumn of the Middle Ages

The Autumn of the Middle Ages


by Johan Huizinga

  • HISTORY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 467 PAGES

A pioneering work of social and cultural history, this well-translated classic is a richly detailed portrait of life, thought and art in 14th- and 15th-century France and the Netherlands. (EUR17, $30.00)

The Bretons

The Bretons


by Patrick Galliou | Michael Jones

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 334 PAGES

An engaging scholarly history of the Bretons, from prehistoric to modern times. (FRN239, $43.95)

The Last of the Celts

The Last of the Celts


by Marcus Tanner

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

Welsh journalist Tanner mixes anecdote, interview and research in this lively account of encounters with far-flung Celts from Scotland, Wales and Belfast to Brittany, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Trelew. (GBR527, $25.00)

The Most Beautiful Villages of Brittany


by Hugh Palmer | James Bentley

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1999
  • HARD COVER
  • 208 PAGES

An illustrated portrait of Brittany, its landscape, architecture and people. (FRN166, $40.00)

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)

At Home in France

At Home in France


by Ann Barry

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 247 PAGES

Subtitled "Tales of an American and Her House Abroad," this account of life in a small village in southwestern France is shot through with Barry's irony and New York outlook on life. (FRN215, $19.00)

Horse of Pride, Life in a Breton Village


by Pierre-Jakez Helias | June Guicharnaud

  • LITERATURE
  • 1980
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

A richly detailed novel of Breton lives, culture and folklore in the wake of World War I. (FRN344, $37.00)

Possession, A Romance


by A.S. Byatt

  • LITERATURE
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 576 PAGES

Good literature, especially appropriate for travelers headed to Brittany or the British Library. (FRN355, $16.00)

The Portrait


by Iain Pears

  • MYSTERY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

On a remote island off of Brittany, an art critic sits completely still and silent as his old friend paints his portrait and tells him the story of his long and tortured life in this eerie mystery. (FRN537, $13.00)

The Romance of Tristan and Iseult

The Romance of Tristan and Iseult


by Joseph Bedier | Hillaire Belloc

  • LITERATURE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 205 PAGES

This chivalric myth -- of Arthurian fame -- features a Cornish knight and an Irish princess who are under a spell of love. (GBR246, $13.00)

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.