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

BELGIUM

A Worldly Art

Mariet Westermann

SEE ALL >

PROVENCE & THE COTE D'AZUR

A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France

Georgeanne Brennan

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

PENGUIN CLASSICS

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

John Steinbeck

SEE ALL >

Trekking in the Caucasus

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 EXCCS11. Buy these 3 items as a set for $82 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
Georgia, In the Mountains of Poetry

Georgia, In the Mountains of Poetry

by Peter Nasmyth

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

A cultural portrait of the Republic of Georgia by a British journalist who has traveled extensively in the region. It's the best book on post-Soviet Georgia, updated for this third revised edition. With 170 black-and-white photographs and illustrations. (CCS10, $49.95)

The Georgian Feast, The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia

The Georgian Feast, The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia

by Darra Goldstein | Niko Pirosmani

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 229 PAGES

Historian and food expert Darra Goldstein offers up a savory introduction to the Republic of Georgia in this illustrated cultural history. She combines her love of Georgian food -- and recipes -- with information on geography, history and culture. (CCS02, $24.95)

Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

by Freytag & Berndt

  • REFERENCE
  • MAP

A travel map of the Caucasus at a scale 1:1,000,000. (CCS01, $14.95)

 
Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan

Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan


by John Noble

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

An excellent practical guide to the Caucasus featuring a good overview of culture, history and nature, and much information on excursions and sightseeing. With 16 pages of color photographs, 40 maps and a language guide. (CCS05, $24.99)

Walking in the Caucasus, Georgia

Walking in the Caucasus, Georgia


by Peter Nasmyth

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2006
  • PAPER

This walking guide to the Caucasus, with an emphasis on the flora and fauna, covers the remarkable geographical diversity of Georgia. (CCS30, $24.00)

Culinaria Russia: Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

Culinaria Russia: Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan


by Marion Trutter

  • FOOD
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 371 PAGES

Profusely illustrated with spectacular photography and peppered with authentic recipes, these volumes are a treat for both the mind and the palate. (RUS426, $24.99)

Black Sea

Black Sea


by Neal Ascherson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

In this skillful portrait of a region, Ascherson weaves his own travels and impressions with a fascinating account of the Black Sea's history. From ancient mythology to modern politics, he admirably never loses sight of the sea itself. (RUS46, $19.00)

Gentlemen of the Road

Gentlemen of the Road


by Michael Chabon

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

This medieval adventure by Pulitzer Prize-winner Chabon is set in the Caucasus Mountains, where two thieves for hire are responsible for the fate of the empire of the Khazars. (MDE125, $14.00)

Georgian Spring, A Magnum Journal


by Wendell Steavenson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 239 PAGES

Ten Magnum photographers turned their lenses on contemporary Georgia, and particularly its people, for this 2003 project. With a fold-out map showing each photographer's journey, a best-of collection of Magnum photography on the region and an illuminating introduction. (CCS46, $50.00)

Russia's Steppe Frontier, The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800


by Michael Khodarkovsky

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 290 PAGES

In this sweeping, scholarly history Khodarovsky traces Russian imperial adventures in the Caucasus from the decline of the Mongols to the end of the 18th century. (CCS28, $23.95)

The Caucasus, An Introduction

The Caucasus, An Introduction


by Thomas De Waal

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

An experienced journalist in the region, De Waal covers the history and the struggles for independence and oil in this timely, readable portrait. (CCS48, $18.95)

The Ghost of Freedom, A Modern History of the Caucasus

The Ghost of Freedom, A Modern History of the Caucasus


by Charles King

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

A professor at Georgetown, King reveals the imperial ambitions, larger-than-life personalities and romance of this strategic region. (CCS39, $19.95)

The Ottoman Centuries

The Ottoman Centuries


by Lord Kinross

  • HISTORY
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 638 PAGES

A richly detailed, engrossing history of the Ottoman Empire from its dawn in 1300 up to the foundation of the modern republic in 1923, enhanced by maps and photos. (ITL54, $18.99)

The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923

The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923


by Justin McCarthy

  • HISTORY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 406 PAGES

A vivid overview of the history, customs and traditions of Ottoman Turkey, complete with maps and illustrations. (TKY36, $84.80)

The Sabres of Paradise, Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus

The Sabres of Paradise, Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus


by Lesley Blanch

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

Blanch's epic history of Chechnya's struggle against 19th-century Tsarist Russia -- a classic account of the Great Caucasus War and the role of Daghestan leader Imam Shamyl. (CCS45, $26.00)

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)

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)

Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post Soviet Republic

Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post Soviet Republic


by Thomas Goltz

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 528 PAGES

A first-person account of the chaotic early 1990s in Azerbaijan by a freelance journalist. Both an adventure story and a piece of significant journalism, the book captures the politically charged and somewhat mad atmosphere of the time. (CCS09, $36.95)

Black Dog of Fate, A Memoir


by Peter Balakian

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

This powerful memoir combines Balakian's coming-of-age as an Armenian-American in New Jersey with his growing realization of the horrors suffered by his family in the Armenian genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. (CCS12, $16.95)

Caucasus, A Journey to the Land between Christianity and Islam

Caucasus, A Journey to the Land between Christianity and Islam


by Nicholas Griffin

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

An engaging account of travels in the Caucasus in the footsteps of Imam Shamil, a Muslim who resisted the Russians in the 19th century. The book is a portrait of the people, land and issues in the region. (CCS25, $20.00)

Eastward to Tartary

Eastward to Tartary


by Robert D. Kaplan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 364 PAGES

A glimpse into the people and history that color the countries of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Caucasus and finally Central Asia, in a loosely organized travelogue by the author of the acclaimed Balkan Ghosts. (CAS45, $15.95)

Highlanders, A Journey to the Caucasus in Quest of Memory

Highlanders, A Journey to the Caucasus in Quest of Memory


by Yo'av Karny

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 436 PAGES

In this astute portrait of a complex region in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union, an Israeli journalist travels into the Caucasus to uncover what fuels the conflicts that divide the region's many ethnic and religious communities. (CCS20, $32.00)

My Brother's Road, An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia

My Brother's Road, An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia


by Markar Melkonian

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 330 PAGES

Markar Melkonian spent seven years unraveling the mystery of his brother's life, a road that took him from a California kid to leader of an army in Armenia, his adopted homeland. (CCS42, $21.00)

Passage to Ararat

Passage to Ararat


by Michael J. Arlen | Clark Blaise

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 293 PAGES
  • CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
    • >

Arlen's National Book Award-winning memoir of his father and the rediscovery of his Armenian heritage. He interweaves stories of travel and family with an account of the troubled history of the country. (CCS11, $16.00)

Stories I Stole, A Journey to Georgia

Stories I Stole, A Journey to Georgia


by Wendell Steavenson

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 277 PAGES

Witty, engaging and attuned to the complexities of history and ethnicity, Steavenson -- a veteran journalist -- spins lyrical tales of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia as it crumbles around her in the late 1990s. (CCS22, $17.95)

The Orientalist, Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life

The Orientalist, Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life


by Tom Reiss

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES

A storyteller of the first order, Reiss weaves a wonderful tapestry of information about the cultures and religions in the Caucasus in this wonderful tale of the remarkable life of Lev Nussimbaum -- a fabulist, interpreter of cultures, novelist and rogue who reinvented himself as Kurban Said. (CCS27, $17.00)

Vagabond Life, The Caucasus Journals of George Kennan


by George Kennan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • HARD COVER
  • 288 PAGES

An account of a six-month odyssey in Muslim Dagestan by the irrepressible Russian explorer. (CCS21, $30.00)

A Hero of Our Time

A Hero of Our Time


by Mikhail Lermontov | Vladimir Nabokov | Dmitri Nabokov

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 210 PAGES

The story of the bored and cynical antihero Pechorin. A masterpiece of Russian Romanticism originally published in 1840. (RUS316, $14.95)

A Spy by Nature

A Spy by Nature


by Charles Cumming

  • MYSTERY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 355 PAGES

Introducing the London School of Economics graduate and reluctant British spy Alec Milius. When he lands a prime job for a British oil company, Alec finds himself trapped in a world of secrets and lies that could cost him his life. (CCS44, $14.99)

Ali and Nino, A Love Story

Ali and Nino, A Love Story


by Kurban Said

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 226 PAGES

The deeply sentimental tale, set in the years before WWI-era Baku, of an Azerbaijani Muslim boy in love with a Georgian Christian girl, originally published in 1937. (CCS26, $13.95)

Hadji Murad

Hadji Murad


by Leo Tolstoy | Aylmer Maude

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

A short novel set in the 19th-century Caucasus, concerning -- in part -- conflicts between the occupying Russians and Muslim groups in the region. (CCS18, $11.95)

The Twelve Chairs

The Twelve Chairs


by Ilia Arnoldovich Ilf | Yevgeny Petrov

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 395 PAGES

In this classic satiric novel, an unemployed con artist and a former nobleman in post-revolution Soviet Russia travel from Moscow to Georgia in search of chairs containing hidden jewels. (RUS356, $22.00)

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.