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

Trains, Planes & Automobiles

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Women Aviators

Women Aviators

by Bernard Marck

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES

From Amelia Earhart to Sally Ride, these remarkable women defied tradition and took to the air in planes, rockets and spaceships. With hundreds of archival photographs, these profiles capture the thrill and derring-do of early flight. (GEN522, $45.00)

The Way of the World

The Way of the World

by Nicolas Bouvier | Patrick Leigh Fermor

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

Subtitled Two Men in a Car from Geneva to the Khyber Pass, Bouvier's classic account of hard travel in a battered Fiat across Asia with artist friend Thierry Vernet in the 1950s is a cult classic. (TVL137, $16.95)

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes

by Doug Stillinger

  • SCIENCE
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 55 PAGES

Amaze your friends! This kit has fold-and-fly planes that you and your kids can actually make. Forty sheets of colorful paper included. (ART113, $16.95)

West with the Night

West with the Night

by Beryl Markham

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 294 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Markham evokes the landscapes, people and wildlife of East Africa in engrossing detail in this memoir of adventures as a bush pilot in 1930s Kenya. A Longitude favorite. (EAF10, $16.00)

Going Solo

Going Solo

by Roald Dahl

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES
  • YOUNG ADULTS

With its large print and album-like photographs, both young and old will delight in Dahl's recollections of his adventures as a WWII-era Royal Air Force pilot in Tanzania and Greece. (EAF78, $6.99)

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

by Paul Theroux

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

Theroux retraces his seminal journey, mostly by train, from Paris across Europe and Central Asia, through India, Southeast Asia, Japan and back to Europe via the Trans-Siberian in this dyspeptic reprise of The Great Railway Bazaar (ASA40, $14.95). (CAS159, $15.95)

The Great Railway Bazaar

The Great Railway Bazaar

by Paul Theroux

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

These 1970s journeys across Asia by train display Theroux's talent for portraiture, ego and the dismissive aside. He takes every two-bit train he can find from London across Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, India, Japan and China, returning home via the Trans-Siberian Express. Great fun. (ASA40, $14.95)

Railroaded

Railroaded

by Richard White

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 736 PAGES

Richard White shows how the transcontinental railroads remade America in the gilded age. (USA450, $35.00)

 
Flight, 100 Years of Aviation

Flight, 100 Years of Aviation


by R. G. Grant

  • REFERENCE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 452 PAGES

A sweeping compendium of a century worth of experiments in flight, this big book features engaging text, rigorous attention to detail, miniature biographies of key figures and a comprehensive history of humanity's quest to become airborne. Produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. (GEN491, $29.95)

Time Out Great Train Journeys of the World

Time Out Great Train Journeys of the World


by Time Out

  • REFERENCE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This guide takes an in-depth look at 40 of the world's best train journeys. (WLD185, $24.95)

Blood, Iron, and Gold

Blood, Iron, and Gold


by Christian Wolmar

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

Wolmar chronicles how railways transformed the world in this rousing history of trains from Panama to the Punjab, Tasmania to Turin. (WLD192, $17.99)

Historical Atlas of the North American Railroad

Historical Atlas of the North American Railroad


by Derek Hayes

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 224 PAGES

Hayes (Historical Atlas of the American West) traces the development of trains from Britain in the 1820s to today's railroad revival in historical maps, photos, brochures and posters. (NAM56, $39.95)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles


by John Hughes

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2002
  • DVD

Will they make it home for Thanksgiving? (GEN377, $12.99)

The Historical Atlas of World Railroads

The Historical Atlas of World Railroads


by John Westwood

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 400 PAGES

Hundreds of maps and photographs chart the rise of the railroad over the past 200 years. (WLD176, $45.00)

Coast to Coast

Coast to Coast


by Marc Walter | Catherine Donzel | Anthony Shugaar

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 320 PAGES

Illustrated with vintage photographs, posters, travel brochures and other memorabilia, this lovely compendium takes in the cities, landscapes and highways of late 19th century America, a country beginning to discover both itself and the idea of popular tourism. (USA373, $55.00)

First Class, Legendary Ocean Liner Voyages Around the World

First Class, Legendary Ocean Liner Voyages Around the World


by Catherine Donzel

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 360 PAGES

This illustrated history resurrects the era of grand ocean voyages through photographs, posters, watercolors, advertising art and more. (WLD172, $35.00)

Alive, The Story of the Andes Survivors


by Piers Paul Read

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

The gripping tale of survival against all odds: a plane crashes in the Andes, all passengers presumed dead. Read tells the story of terrible hardship, bravery and horror with admirable restraint. (AND38, $7.99)

Among the Russians

Among the Russians


by Colin Thubron

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

The marvelous account of a 10,000-mile journey by car from St. Petersburg and the Baltic States south to Georgia and Armenia in 1981. A gifted writer and intrepid traveler, Thubron grapples with the complexities of Russian identity in this lyrical book. (RUS106, $14.00)

Cross Country

Cross Country


by Robert Sullivan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Sullivan's marvelously digressive chronicle of a cross-country car trip, the history of the Interstate system, fast-food, variety of to-go coffee cup lids, the marvels of the roadside attraction and many, many other subjects. (USA135, $14.95)

Journeys

Journeys


by Stefan Zweig

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 112 PAGES

The first English translation of Zweig's poignant account of travels through Central Europe, largely by rail, in the years before WWII. (EUR358, $16.95)

Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road

Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road


by Stuart Stevens

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 239 PAGES

An entertaining account of hard travel from Beijing to Kashgar, following the route of Peter Fleming and his classic News From Tartary. (CAS77, $13.00)

North to the Orient

North to the Orient


by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1966
  • PAPER
  • 168 PAGES

A classic account of pioneering aviation, this wonderfully written memoir includes adventures in Petropavlovsk and the Russian Far East, Japan and the Yangtze. (ARC36, $12.95)

Rolling Nowhere, Riding the Rails With America's Hoboes


by Ted Conover

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 281 PAGES

Bed-roll in hand, Conover hopped a freight train in St. Louis to meet and mingle with modern-day hoboes. (USA415, $15.00)

The 8:55 to Baghdad, From London to Iraq on the Trail of Agatha Christie

The 8:55 to Baghdad, From London to Iraq on the Trail of Agatha Christie


by Andrew Eames

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 401 PAGES

In this inspired mix of travel, biography and politics, British journalist Eames follows the 1928 journey of Agatha Christie and her archaeologist companion Max Mallowan from London through the Balkans, Turkey and Syria to Iraq. (MDE89, $16.95)

The Old Patagonian Express

The Old Patagonian Express


by Paul Theroux

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 404 PAGES

Combining history, anecdote and acutely observed detail on people and place, Theroux begins his journey on a Boston subway car and works his way south via rail, plane and truck to the Patagonian railroad in this enthralling narrative. (PAT08, $15.95)

The Routes of Man

The Routes of Man


by Ted Conover

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 333 PAGES

With a marvelous eye for detail and his contagious enthusiasm, Ted Conover explores six byways around the world in these soulful essays. Whether he is speeding across China with the Beijing Target Auto Club, traveling with the truckers East Africa, loitering at Israeli checkpoints or up in the high Himalaya in Ladakh, Conover isn't so much interested in the roads themselves, nor exactly their impact in a rapidly globalizing world (build a road and they will come) but rather the stories of the individuals he encounters. (TVL502, $15.95)

Three Weeks With My Brother

Three Weeks With My Brother


by Micah Sparks | Nicholas Sparks

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

This remarkable account of family, friendship and travel takes as its point of departure a three-week around the world odyssey by private jet. (TVL34, $13.99)

Travels with Charley

Travels with Charley


by John Steinbeck

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 214 PAGES

On the road in a van with a poodle, Steinbeck sets out to discover America on a jaunt from Maine to California. A classic. (USA32, $15.00)

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express


by Agatha Christie

  • MYSTERY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

Poirot rides the rails. Need we say more? (EUR118, $6.99)

Night Flight

Night Flight


by Antoine de Saint Exupery

  • LITERATURE
  • 1986
  • PAPER
  • 87 PAGES

Saint Exupery captures the thrill and mystery of early flight in this tale of a pilot alone in a storm over the Andes en route to Buenos Aires. (PAT09, $12.00)

Nights at the Circus

Nights at the Circus


by Angela Carter

  • LITERATURE
  • 1984
  • PAPER
  • 294 PAGES

This wildly inventive, bawdy tale follows an enchanted circus and its six-foot-two winged star from turn-of-the-century London to St. Petersburg and Siberia. Ever since reading this novel, we've wanted to take the Trans-Siberian. (RUS189, $16.00)

Orient Express

Orient Express


by Graham Greene

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Greene's 1932 spy thriller, in which a memorable cast of eccentrics speeds across Europe from Ostend to Constantinople aboard the Orient Express. (GBR501, $16.00)

Chasing Monarchs, A Migration with the Butterflies of Passage

Chasing Monarchs, A Migration with the Butterflies of Passage


by Robert Michael Pyle

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

A memoir of Lepidoptery, combing the entomologist-author's considerable knowledge of butterflies and their biology with a rambling road trip from British Columbia through the Southwest to Mexico. (MEX62, $14.00)

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.