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Best of 2009

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Longitude's 10 best travel books of 2009.

Item EXTVL6. Buy these 10 items as a set for $268 including shipping, 20% off the retail price.
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World Heritage Sites

by UNESCO Publishing

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 856 PAGES
• NEW

How many have you visited? This beautifully illustrated compendium includes color photographs, a map and succinct description of each of the 911 archaeological sites, monuments, cities or parks inscribed by UNESCO from 1978 to 1911. (CON53, $29.95)

La Bella Lingua

by Dianne Hales

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2010
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES
• NEW

Inebriated with the sounds of Italian, lovesick for its phrases and enamored of its earthy idioms, Hales, "a sensible woman of sturdy Polish stock," dives into the Italian of the piazza, literature, movies and streets in this charming memoir. (ITA26, $15.00)

The Lost City of Z

by David Grann

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2010
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES
• NEW

In this riveting, real-life adventure, New Yorker writer and middle-aged Brooklynite Grann sets out into the wild to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century" -- the fate of British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon in 1925. (AMZ117, $15.95)

The Great Cities in History

by John Julius Norwich

• HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 304 PAGES

Each city magnificently illustrated in color and with an essay by diverse dignitaries, including Jan Morris (New York), Colin Thubron (Samarkand), Simon Schama (Amsterdam) and Michael Coe (Angkor). this inspired book depicts the rise and fall of cities from Mesopotamia through ancient trading centers to Medieval Europe and today. (WLD171, $45.00)

The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott, Shackleton, and Antarctic Photography

by David Hempleman-Adams | Emma Stuart | Sophie Gordon

• EXPLORATION
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 240 PAGES
• NEW

One hundred years ago, during the reign of King George V, it's hard to imagine the stir surrounding these two great expeditions, caused in part by these captivating and haunting images, presented here along with essays, maps, paintings and other ephemera from the Royal Collection. Polar explorer David Hempleman-Adams provides the evocative captions, giving depth and context. (ANT298, $47.50)

A Comrade Lost and Found, A Beijing Story

by Jan Wong

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES
• NEW

Jan Wong (Red China Blues) returns to Beijing, with her husband and reluctant teenage sons in tow, on a mission to find a classmate she wronged decades ago at Beijing University. (CHN547, $14.95)

Galapagos, Preserving Darwin's Legacy

by Tui De Roy

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 240 PAGES
• NEW

Tui de Roy corralled researchers and friends for this stunning survey of the natural history, ecology and conservation of the Galapagos. With 450 breathtaking color photographs and chapters by Jack Grove (fishes), Peter and Rosemary Grant (finches), Dennis Geist (geology) and many other scientists. (GPS90, $49.95)

The Sibley Guide to Trees

by David Allen Sibley

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2009
• FLEXI-BOUND
• 426 PAGES
• NEW

Sibley turns his attention from birds to the trees where they live in this superb field guide to 668 species of native and commonly planted trees north of the Rio Grande. Bark, leaves, twigs, fruit, flowers and silhouettes are all meticulously illustrated. (NAT176, $39.95)

Empires of the Silk Road

by Christopher I. Beckwith

• HISTORY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 504 PAGES
• NEW

Beckwith rescues Central Asia from the periphery of world affairs with flair and scholarship, showing the sweep of empire, trade and cultural life over the millennia. (CAS171, $16.95)

Polar Obsession

by Paul Nicklen

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 240 PAGES
• NEW

Born and raised on Baffin Island, Nicklen has ice in his blood. The National Geographic photographer, wildlife biologist and naturalist presents up-close portraits of the creatures of the high latitudes in 150 dazzling photographs of swimming bears, cavorting seals, penguins, dueling narwhals and all manner of polar life. (ANT305, $50.00)

 

Also Recommended

Off the Tourist Trail

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 336 PAGES
• NEW

This inspiring roundup of favorite places by the experts at Eyewitness Travel zeroes in on lesser-known, little-visited alternatives, including ancient and historic cities, festivals, national parks and other marvels around the world. (TVL472, $40.00)

Shangri-la: A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream

by Michael Buckley

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2008
• PAPER
• 191 PAGES
• NEW

With marvelous chapters on James Hilton's book and the many meanings and myths surrounding Shangri-La, Buckley's practical guide covers the contenders for this mythical Himalayan paradise in Southwest China, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. With many maps and color photographs. (HML84, $25.99)

Bhutan, The Land of Serenity

by Matthieu Ricard

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 232 PAGES
• OUT OF PRINT

A Buddhist monk, photographer, and French interpreter for the Dalai Lama, Ricard, draws on his time in Bhutan over the last 25 years for this intimate portrait. With illuminating chapters on the remarkable Khyentse Rinpoche, sacred art, architecture, dancing monks and ceremonies. (BHU34, $45.00)

Darwin in Galapagos, Footsteps to a New World

by Greg Estes | Thalia Grant

• HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 416 PAGES
• NEW

The duo retrace the five-week visit by Darwin to the Galapagos, both reaching new conclusions about where he went and what he did and tracking other changes in the archipelago over the last 175 years. Greg has been a guide since the 1980s and Thalia is the daughter of finch researcher Peter Grant. (GPS92, $29.95)

Historical Atlas of the American West

by Derek Hayes

• HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 280 PAGES
• NEW

This spectacular atlas presents a sweeping history of the American West through 600 color maps, posters and other striking archival material, expertly annotated and beautifully presented by geographer and historian Hayes. (USW606, $39.95)

Murderers in Mausoleums

by Jeffrey Tayler

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 306 PAGES
• NEW

Tayler's riveting account of a three-month, 7,000-mile odyssey from Moscow to Beijing, through mighty Kazakhstan, across the Silk Road to Kashgar, Urumqi and onto Beijing, illuminates the red-hot geopolitics of Central Asia. (CAS168, $24.00)

Slow, Life in a Tuscan Town

by Dougla Gayeton

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• NEW

A marvelous example of the art of the book and a terrific portrait of place. Gayeton introduces the butchers, bakers, farmers and ordinary folk of Pistoia, a village outside Florence, in this collection of engaging tales and artfully annotated duotone portraits (some presented with the artist's handwritten flourishes inscribed on an overlaying acetate sheet). (ITA108, $50.00)

The Imperial Cruise, A Secret History of Empire and War

by James Bradley

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES

Bradley follows in the wake of the epic 1905 voyage aboard the Manchuria, headlined by first daughter, Alice Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's secretary of war, in this bold account of Teddy Roosevelt and the far-reaching legacy of his foreign policy in Korea, Hawaii, China and the Philippines. (PAC226, $16.99)

The Thing Itself, On the Search for Authenticity

by Richard Todd

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2009
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• NEW

A marvelous writer, Richard Todd ponders the absurd, valuable and ineffable allure of the real, the centerpiece of this collection six charmingly off kilter essays on travel. Thoroughly enjoyable and surprising, the well-crafted essays are deceptively provocative and wise. (TVL470, $16.00)

The Fires of Vesuvius, Pompeii Lost and Found

by Mary Beard

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

With the panache of a gifted classicist, Mary Beard (Wonders of the World) conjures daily life in celebrated Pompeii, not only demolishing with particular relish the many myths that have grown up around the place but also emphasizing the limits of our knowledge. Some things we simply shall never know for certain. (ITA46, $17.95)

Travels to the Edge

by Art Wolfe

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2009
• PAPER
• 144 PAGES
• NEW

Journey with photographer Wolfe on this globe-trotting visual odyssey from the tip of South America to Antarctica, Madagascar, Bhutan, Mongolia, New Zealand and back to Baja California, the American Southwest and Katmai National Park in 130 photographs. (PHT29, $24.95)

A Course Called Ireland

by Tom Coyne

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES
• NEW

Not just a quest to play every seaside course in the Emerald Isle (60 by the time he got to Ulster), Tom Coyne's entertaining portrait of Ireland, its people, pubs and quirks illuminates "Uncommon Acts of Irish Hospitality." (IRE251, $16.00)

Dreaming in Hindi, Coming Awake in Another Language

by Katherine Russell Rich

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2010
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES
• NEW

Rich skewers the hilarity and challenges of taking on not just a new language but also a new culture in this spirited tale of life in Udaipur. (IDA565, $14.95)

How I Learned Geography

by Uri Shulevitz

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 28 PAGES
• YOUNG READERS (Age 4-8)
• NEW

A 2009 Caldecott Honor Book (his fourth), Uri Shulevitz's wise, beautifully drawn tale is also his most personal. "We traveled far, far east," he writes, "to another country, where summers were hot and winters cold, to a city of houses made of clay, straw, and camel dung, surrounded by dusty steppes, burned by the sun. In this story, drawing on his childhood memories of World War II, Shulevitz shows how a map, and imagination, took a little boy far away from the hungry and misery of exile in Kazakhstan. Dedicated to the memory of his father (who brought back the map one day from the market, rather than a crust of bread). (GEN506, $16.95)

How to Cook a Tapir

by Joan Fry

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 294 PAGES
• NEW

A young newlywed in Belize in the 1960s, Fry weaves heartfelt stories of her time in the jungle with affectionate portraits of the people, her own coming of age -- and, yes, recipes (rice and beans, pumpkin soup, gumbo and, as promised, tapir) in this earthy memoir. (BLZ22, $24.95)

Street Without a Name, Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria

by Kapka Kassabova

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 338 PAGES

Born in 1973, Kassabova traces her coming-of-age in Communist Sofia and bittersweet return to a land transformed over the last 30 years in this captivating, candid memoir and travelogue. (BLG38, $24.95)

The Book of Fathers

by Miklos Vamos

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• PAPER
• 480 PAGES

Vamos turns this giddy memoir, following 10 generations of the men in his family, into a chronicle of the culture and politics of Hungary. (HGR66, $15.95)

The Snow Tourist, A Search for the World's Purest, Deepest Snowfall

by Charlie English

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2009
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• NEW

Combining on-the-slopes experience with off-trail research, English follows in the footsteps of the Romantic poets across the Alps, learns how to build igloos with the Inuit on Baffin Island, examines snow-patches in the Cairngorms to detect signs of global warming, and tests his mettle on some of the most perilous peaks on Earth. (CON54, $15.95)

Twenty West: The Great Road Across America

by Mac Nelson

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 366 PAGES
• NEW

Neslon traces the route, history, and geography of Route 20, reflecting on the diverse history, landscape, geography, politics, culture, and other idiosyncratic people and places that he encountered during his journeys along Americaa's longest road, 3,300 miles from Boston, Massachusetts, to Newport, Oregon. (USA360, $25.00)

Wildwood

by Roger Deakin

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 390 PAGES
• NEW

A traveler's tale and a splendid work of natural history, Roger Deakin's glorious meditation on wood takes in his forest ramblings not just all over Great Britain but also to Central European beech woods, walnut groves in Languedoc, the wild fruit forests of Kazakhstan and Australia's river red gum forest wetlands. (NAT192, $26.95)

Been Here a Thousand Years

by Mariolina Venezia | Marina Harss

• LITERATURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 272 PAGES
• NEW

Venezia deftly weaves the creation of modern Italy, Garibaldi, Mussolini and the tumultuous recent history of the nation into this compact novel of five generations of the Falcone women -- and the rhythm of daily life in an ancient Basilicata hill town near the coastline of Puglia. (ITA24, $15.00)

Bright Wings, An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds

by Billy Collins

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 288 PAGES

Owls are well represented, crows, bluebirds, sandpipers and phoebe's too, in poems by Marianne Moore, Gary Snyder, Robert Penn Warren and Henry David Thoreau. But it isn't just the artful poems (selected by Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate) but the combination with David Sibley's exquisite paintings of the birds in actions that make this anthology such a winner. (BRD78, $22.95)

Bruno, Chief of Police

by Martin Walker

• MYSTERY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

Convincingly set in rural France, Martin Walker's gripping whodunit, Perigord style, has a charming detective, irresistible female police officer, a complex and timely crime, and a marvelous sense of the cafes, markets, bakeries and people of the Dordogne. (FRN811, $14.95)

Let the Great World Spin

by Colum McCann

• LITERATURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

Dublin-born New Yorker Colum McCann took home the 2011 International Impac Dublin literary award for his stunningly realized portrait of New York City. Set in 1974, he traces the interlocking lives of diverse characters as as Philippe Petit tightrope walks between the newly built Twin Towers. Let the Great World Spin won the National Book Award in 2009. (NYC214, $15.00)

Murder in the Latin Quarter

by Cara Black

• MYSTERY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 336 PAGES

The ninth installment in Black's series featuring "adorably punkish" detective Aimee Leduc, who gets around on a pink Vespa. This time, Aimee's investigations lead her through the old university district of Paris -- its colorful streets, schools, museums, cafes and bookstores providing a vivid backdrop to the suspense. (FRN772, $14.00)

The Greek Poets, Homer to the Present

by Peter Constantine

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 704 PAGES
• NEW

From the epics of Homer to beloved Cavafy, from the romances, hymns and bawdy rhymes of Byzantium to the innovative voices of a resurgent 20th century, this anthology brings together the diverse strands of the Greek poetic tradition in one handsome volume. (GRE393, $39.95)

The Merry Misogynist

by Colin Cotterill

• MYSTERY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

Dr. Siri investigates a loathsome serial killer wooing and wedding country girls in this sixth book in the mordant series. (LAO23, $14.00)

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet

by Reif Larsen

• LITERATURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES
• NEW

This brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel by Reif Larson turns 12-year-old genius map-maker T.S. Spivet's attempts to understand the ways of the world into a road novel l like no other. Festooned with diagrams, maps, drawings and rather remarkable marginalia, the book traces the journey of Spivet from his home on a Montana ranch to the halls of the Smithsonian Institution (he won an award). We found it helpful to note that Larsen thanks Lois Hetland, "my seventh grade teacher, for teaching me (almost) everything I know." His novel captures the exhilaration of adolescence. (USA374, $16.00)

Typhoon

by Charles Cumming

• LITERATURE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 397 PAGES

Cummings conjures a whole world in this spy thriller set in contemporary Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. Just as the British are about to return Hong Kong to Chinese rule, Joe Lennox, a young operative for SIS, loses both his girlfriend and his first high-profile asset -- a prominent defector who disappears from a safe house. (CHN607, $14.99)

Galapagos, Both Sides of the Coin

by Pete Oxford | Graham Watkins

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 256 PAGES
• NEW

Heads or tales, this ingenious book is a winner. Galapagos naturalist and colleague Pete Oxford collaborated with Graham Watkins, director of the Charles Darwin Research Station, for this tribute to the Galapagos and its wildlife. On one side, it features a parade of Galapagos birds, mammals, reptiles and landscapes in full color and, on the other, an illustrated, no-hold-barred human history of the islands and up-to-date survey of conservation. (GPS93, $35.00)

Galapagos, Exploring Darwin's Tapestry

by John Hess

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2009
• HARD COVER
• 188 PAGES
• NEW

Professor Hess pulls off the rare trick of being both scientifically accurate and inviting in this illustrated coffee-table primer on Galapagos, its geology, evolution and magnificent wildlife. (GPS91, $49.95)

Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America, The Passerines

by Robert Ridgely | Guy Tudor

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2009
• PAPER
• 736 PAGES
• NEW

Drawn from The Birds of South America, this field guide features Tudor's magnificent color plates, illustrating 1,500 species of songbirds, new color range maps and a succinct overview of habitat, distribution and abundance. (SAM140, $49.95)

New Zealand Wildlife

by Julian Fitter

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2009
• PAPER
• 176 PAGES
• NEW

Julian Fitter's splendid introduction to the nature and wildlife of New Zealand features succinct chapters on geography and geology, history, habitats and wildlife, along with hundreds of color photographs. (NZL97, $25.99)

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