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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Item EXIDA355. Buy these 3 items as a set for $80 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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Tiger, Soul of India

by Valmik Thapar

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2011
• HARD COVER
• 184 PAGES

This lavish tribute features 250 color photographs, examples of art over the ages and engaging essays by tiger wallah Thapar, who has spent 30 years observing tigers. (IDA246, $49.95)

Eyewitness Guide Delhi, Agra and Jaipur

by Anuradha Chaturvedi

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

With chapters on Taj Mahal, Amber Fort Palace, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Red Fort and dozens of other highlights for the traveler, this compact, gorgeously illustrated guide to Delhi and its environs features 900 color photographs, maps and site plans. (IDA151, $25.00)

India Adventure Map

by National Geographic Society

• 2011
• MAP

The most detailed shaded relief map (at a scale of 1:2,100,000) of India available. (IDA18, $12.95)

 

Also Recommended

Delhi, Jaipur, Agra Map

by Globetrotter

• 2009
• MAP
• CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
>

Covering Northern India and the neighboring Himalayas, this double-sided map also features detailed city plans, site diagrams and an index. (IDA566, $8.95)

Everest Base Camp, Nepal Map

by National Geographic

• 2004
• MAP

A durable, folded map for treks from Lukla through Sagarmatha National Park to Everest Base Camp, at a scale of 1:50,000. (HML77, $11.95)

Himalaya Map

by Nelles

• MAP

A colorful regional map of the Himalayas at a scale of 1:1,500,000, including Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and Sikkim. (HML09, $13.95)

India Northwest Adventure Map

by National Geographic

• 2011
• MAP

A double-sided full color map of Northwest India at a scale of 1:1,400,000 printed on waterproof, tear-resistant paper. (IDA73, $11.95)

Culture Smart! India

by Becky Stephen

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 168 PAGES

A concise, well-illustrated guide to both social and business customs in India. (IDA298, $9.95)

Footprint Bhutan Handbook

by Gyurme Dorje

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

An up-to-date practical guide by a Buddhist scholar and expert in the region, this is a nice balance of cultural and historical overview and choice details for the traveler. (BHU18, $25.95)

Insight Guide India

by Insight Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 496 PAGES

An illustrated overview of India, with essays on its attractions, history, nature and culture. Includes introductions to the major temples, forts and wildlife sites, and plenty of color photos and maps. (IDA19, $24.99)

Lonely Planet India Phrasebook

by Omkar Koul

• LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
• 2008
• PAPER
• 398 PAGES

A handy palm-sized guide. (IDA538, $10.99)

Lonely Planet Nepali Phrasebook

by Mary-Jo O'Rourke

• LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
• 2008
• PAPER
• 258 PAGES

A palm-sized guide to pronunciation, grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (NPL62, $8.99)

Odyssey Guide Bhutan

by Francoise Pommaret

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• PAPER
• 326 PAGES

A compact overview of the kingdom, its culture, history, flora and fauna by a resident scholar, enhanced by color photographs and maps. (BHU03, $23.95)

Spectrum Guide to Nepal

by Camerapix

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2000
• PAPER
• 364 PAGES

A comprehensive guide to the country, its people, history, culture and geography, featuring excellent maps and 200 color photographs. (NPL27, $22.95)

The Traveling Nature Photographer

by Steven Morello

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2008
• PAPER
• 176 PAGES

Morello's handy guide to exploring the natural world through photography includes chapters on preparation, equipment (especially lenses), weather, exposure basics and composition. (PHT31, $29.99)

A Traveller's History of India

by Sinharaja Tammita-Delgoda

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

A condensed introduction to the themes and events that have shaped India from prehistory to Rajiv Gandhi's rule. (IDA57, $14.95)

Bhutan, The Land of Serenity

by Matthieu Ricard

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2012
• PAPER
• 232 PAGES

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, $19.95)

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

by William Dalrymple

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2003
• PAPER
• 350 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Dalrymple infectiously interweaves his own experiences over a year in Delhi with the art, architecture, history and literature of the city. (IDA06, $16.00)

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

by Robert Thurman

• RELIGION
• 1996
• PAPER
• 317 PAGES

The foremost Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman has chosen well from that tradition's sacred literature and helpfully includes suggested further reading, explanatory notes and a directory of sacred sites. (TBT15, $14.99)

Himalaya, Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge, and Hope on the Roof of the World

by Broughton Coburn | Richard C. Blum | Erica Stone

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2006
• HARD COVER
• 256 PAGES

A beautifully photographed overview of the geology, history and people of the Himalayas. (HML78, $35.00)

Horses Like Lightning, A Story of Passage Through the Himalayas

by Sienna Craig

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2008
• PAPER
• 295 PAGES

An equestrian and budding anthropologist, this is Craig's tender account of a year-long sojourn in the Mustang region of Nepal. Working with doctors and veterinarian in the ethnically Tibetan region which borders the Tibetan plateau, Craig came to understand the importance of the horse in the myth, ritual and daily lives of the Mustangi people. (NPL80, $16.95)

In Spite of the Gods, The Strange Rise of Modern India

by Edward Luce

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 346 PAGES

Luce tackles the challenges and reality of the world's largest democracy with insight and balance in this portrait of a nation in transition. (IDA349, $16.95)

India

by Stanley Wolpert

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 281 PAGES

Wolpert's reflections on India -- its religion and philosophy, its art, culture and politics -- make for a wonderfully literate, succinct primer. (IDA04, $26.95)

India, A Sacred Geography

by Diana L. Eck

• RELIGION
• 2013
• PAPER
• 576 PAGES

Professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard, Diana Eck turns her interest in temples and places of pilgrimage into a celebration of the diversity of popular religious traditions in India in this richly rewarding travelogue. (IDA634, $16.00)

May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons, A Journey Among the Women of India

by Elisabeth Bumiller

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1991
• PAPER
• 220 PAGES

A wonderfully written and fascinating portrayal of Indian women from Bollywood stars to Indira Gandhi to prostitutes. It's an insightful portrait of the country as seen through the eyes of its women. (IDA37, $14.95)

Mughal India, Splendours of the Peacock Throne

by Valerie Berinstain | Paul Bahn

• HISTORY
• 1998
• PAPER
• 159 PAGES

This illustrated pocket guide presents the history, culture and splendor of the Mughal court and its celebrated architecture in hundreds of archival photographs and drawings. (IDA50, $15.95)

The Blessings of Bhutan

by Russ and Blyth Carpenter

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2002
• PAPER
• 192 PAGES
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Head-over-heels in love with Bhutan, the Carpenters introduce their adopted home, its people, customs, religion and history. (BHU16, $26.99)

The Last Mughal, The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857

by William Dalrymple

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 534 PAGES

The riveting tale of the poet, mystic and Mughal Emperor Shah Zafar II and mid 19th century Delhi, culminating in the 1857 Indian Rebellion. (IDA350, $17.95)

High Adventure

by Sir Edmund Hillary

• EXPLORATION
• 2003
• PAPER
• 245 PAGES

A classic of 20th-century mountaineering, this 50th anniversary edition of young Hillary's personal account of his historic ascent of Everest, written the heady days after the celebrated climb, includes a new preface by the author. With black-and-white photos. Hillary modestly attributes his success to "a goodly share of imagination and plenty of energy." (NPL48, $19.95)

Taj Mahal

by M.C. Joshi | Jean-Louis Nou | Amina Okada

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1993
• HARD COVER
• 231 PAGES

This lavish portrait features 158 full-color photographs (including four magnificent foldout panels) by the extraordinary Jean-Louis Nou. With grand exterior views, filigreed inscriptions and bejeweled floral mosaics. (IDA108, $75.00)

Taj Mahal

by Giles Tillotson | Mary Beard

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 190 PAGES

An enlightening pocket guide to the myth, meaning and legends of the celebrated tomb, "the queen of architecture." (IDA528, $14.95)

The Snow Leopard

by Peter Matthiessen

• EXPLORATION
• 2008
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Matthiessen's account of a five-week journey through Nepal with naturalist George Schaller combines their quest for the elusive cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas. (NPL03, $16.00)

Beyond the Sky and the Earth

by Jamie Zeppa

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1999
• PAPER
• 303 PAGES

Zeppa's memoir of her time as teacher in a remote village shows her growing love and commitment to the people and culture. (BHU08, $16.00)

Radio Shangri-La

by Lisa Napoli

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2012
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

Napoli's memoir of her time working on a fledgling Bhutanese radion station. She writes with frankness and clarity about the contradictions, poverty and reality of much mythologized Bhutan. (BHU35, $15.00)

Snake Lake

by Jeff Greenwald

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2010
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

Greenwald (Shopping for Buddhas) returns to his old haunts in Kathmandu during the Maoist uprising in this personal account, including his thoughts about his brother, falling into depression, back home in the United States. (NPL75, $15.95)

So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

by Barbara Crossette

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 1996
• PAPER
• 297 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Asia correspondent for the New York Times, Crossette portrays Bhutan and neighboring Ladakh and Sikkim as strongholds of Tantric Buddhism in an increasingly homogenized world. (NPL04, $16.00)

Tiger Moon, Tracking the Great Cats in Nepal

by Mel Sunquist | Fiona Sunquist

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 192 PAGES

An account, rich in anecdote and natural history, of a two-year investigation of tigers, leopards and their prey in Royal Chitwan National Park. With black-and-whote photographs throughout. Originally published in 1988. (NPL46, $20.00)

Buddha's Orphans

by Samrat Upadhyay

• LITERATURE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

This novel by Samrat Upadhyay (Arresting God in Kathmandu) sets Nepal's political upheaval as a backdrop to the love story of Raja, an orphan boy, and Nilu, a daughter of privilege. Their story transports readers across generations and explores family connections. (NPL71, $14.95)

In the Land of No Right Angles

by Daphne Beal

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 278 PAGES

Beal evokes the grit of Kathmandu and the emotional intricacies of trying to do good in the world in this tale of a young American student abroad, an older expat and a young village woman whose life they change forever. (NPL60, $13.95)

India, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Chandrahas Choudhury

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

Each of these 14 stories evokes place and landscape, providing an excellent introduction both to contemporary writers and to India's diverse cultures and history. (IDA598, $14.95)

Kim

by Rudyard Kipling

• LITERATURE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 432 PAGES

For the sheer pleasure of its prose, insight into the British in India and its extraordinary sense of place, you can't do better than Kipling's Great Game classic about a boy who travels the Grand Trunk Road with the Dalai Lama. (IDA65, $9.00)

Midnight's Children

by Salman Rushdie

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 533 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Crowned Best of the Booker in 2008, Rushdie's greatest novel is a madcap, comic take on the birth of modern India in all its splendid and unexpected manifestations. (IDA12, $16.00)

The Circle of Karma, A Novel

by Kunzang Choden

• LITERATURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 328 PAGES

The first novel by a Bhutanese woman, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores the rituals of daily life in Bhutan. When Tsomo's mother suddenly dies, the young girl must travel alone across Bhutan and into India. (BHU26, $14.00)

The Jungle Book

by Rudyard Kipling

• LITERATURE
• 2012
• HARD COVER
• 305 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)

Including the popular Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Toomai of the Elephants, this complete collection of Mowgli stories in a handsome hard cover is introduced by Neil Gaiman. (IDA653, $10.99)

The White Tiger, A Novel

by Aravind Adiga

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

Mordant, funny, angry, horrifying, this Booker Prize-winning tale of a village pauper turned success (and murderer) skewers the ambition, inequity and corruption of 21st-century India. (IDA542, $16.00)

Travellers and Magicians

by Khyentse Norbu

• LITERATURE
• 2005
• DVD

The first feature shot on location in Bhutan, this film, directed by a respected lama, follows a young official on his odyssey across the country. Along the way he is joined by a mischievous monk, an elderly peddler and an old man with his daughter. (BHU22, $29.99)

India: Kingdom of the Tiger

by Bruce Neibaur

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2002
• DVD

This dazzling film of tigers in the wild and pioneering conservation efforts was filmed on location at Bhandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. (IDA248, $19.99)

Tigers in Red Weather, A Quest to See the Last Wild Tigers

by Ruth Padel

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2006
• HARD COVER
• 448 PAGES

A lyrical exploration the world of the tiger by the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. (IDA331, $26.95)

Birds of India

by Richard Grimmett | Carol Inskipp | Tim Inskipp

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2012
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

Thoroughly revised, with 73 new plates and many others updated or repainted, the second edition of the masterful Birds of India now features all maps and text opposite the plates for quicker and easier reference. (FG43, $39.50)

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