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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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.

Essential Reading

Item EXGBR446. Buy these 3 items as a set for $48 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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The Story of England

The Story of England

by Christopher Hibbert

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Beautifully illustrated with color pictures, chronological charts, royal genealogies and maps, this popular history of English politics, economics and culture from the Neolithic age to the 1990s is an excellent traveler's companion. (GBR02, $19.95)

Oxford, A Cultural and Literary Companion

Oxford, A Cultural and Literary Companion

by David Horan

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 246 PAGES

This guide to the city and university focuses on the many writers and historic personalities from King Charles to Shelley, Christopher Wren, Oscar Wilde, Dr. Johnson, Alice of the Looking Glass, and C.S. Lewis. (GBR239, $15.00)

Cotswolds & Gloucestershire Map

Cotswolds & Gloucestershire Map

by Ordnance Survey

  • 2005
  • MAP

A colorful and handy touring map of the Cotswolds. (GBR496, $14.95)

 
Oxford Map

Oxford Map


by Ordnance Survey

  • MAP

This detailed, double-sided Ordnance Survey Explorer's map shows parts of the Thames Path, Oxford Canal Walk, Oxfordshire Way and other walks in the countryside at a scale of 1:250,000. (GBR243, $23.95)

Stratford Upon Avon Map


by Geographers' A-Z

  • MAP

A helpful street map of Stratford Upon Avon. (GBR475, $7.95)

Blue Guide Oxford & Cambridge

Blue Guide Oxford & Cambridge


by Geoffrey Tyack

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

This guide in the British series covers in detail the art, history and architecture of Oxford and Cambridge. With maps, site plans and line drawings. (GBR470, $21.95)

The Cotswold Way

The Cotswold Way


by Kev Reynolds

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

A practical guide in the British series. (GBR588, $19.95)

A Traveller's History of England


by Christopher Daniell

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Historian and archeologist Daniell delivers a comprehensive history of the region since the time of the hunter-gatherers in this compact volume, taking you through the Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Normans, and Medieval monarchs to the Reformation, Renaissance, the world wars, and the modern state of things. (GBR38, $14.95)

A Traveller's History of Oxford


by Richard Tames

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

A compact history from settlement to the present. (GBR374, $14.95)

Notes from a Small Island

Notes from a Small Island


by Bill Bryson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 324 PAGES

A farewell walking tour of England by an American expatriate who has decided to return home after two decades. Like all of Bryson's books, it's full of rich conversations, humorous anecdotes and amusing interactions. (GBR16, $14.99)

The Age of Shakespeare

The Age of Shakespeare


by Francois Laroque

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

This pocket-size encyclopedia, an excellent introduction to Elizabethan England, presents Shakespeare, his life, times and legacy in concise essays and well-chosen illustrations. (GBR11, $12.95)

The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way

The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way


by Bill Bryson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 270 PAGES

An indispensable guide to the language that divides us, this book is an informative linguistic history which showcases Bryson's wry wit. (GBR15, $14.99)

The Professor and the Madman

The Professor and the Madman


by Simon Winchester

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 242 PAGES

The bizarre true story behind the birth of the Oxford English Dictionary and two men -- one a scholarly editor, the other a mentally ill, convicted murderer -- who contributed to its creation. (GBR178, $14.99)

Hugh Casson's Oxford


by Hugh Casson

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 96 PAGES

Paintings and memories of Oxford by an architect and watercolorist. (GBR240, $14.95)

Life in the English Country House, A Social and Architectural History

Life in the English Country House, A Social and Architectural History


by Mark Girouard

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

A celebrated social and architectural history of life in English country houses, fully illustrated in black and white and color, first published in 1978. Girouard traces the history of these houses from medieval times to World War II. (GBR221, $45.00)

In Search of England

In Search of England


by H.V. Morton | James Morris

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 274 PAGES

The much-beloved, enduring account of Morton's ramblings through the English countryside in the early days of the motorcar. Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture and history of the place with his own keen observations. (GBR368, $16.00)

Looking for Class, Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge


by Bruce Feiler

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A witty, charming and astutely observed account of an American graduate student's year spent in the halls of England's most prestigious academic institutions. (GBR467, $14.95)

Shakespeare, A Life


by Park Honan

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

A delightful, informative and up-to-date biography of the Bard, his life, work and times. (GBR472, $34.95)

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death


by M.C. Beaton

  • MYSTERY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 201 PAGES

In this installment of the Agatha Raisin series, our heroine has moved to a not-quite-so-quiet village in the Cotswolds, and of course finds her self in the middle of a puzzling murder. (GBR212, $7.99)

England, England

England, England


by Julian Barnes

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 275 PAGES

Barnes turns his characteristic wit toward both England and the traveling experience in this novel. (GBR45, $15.00)

Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure


by Thomas Hardy

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 484 PAGES

Hardy's last novel, the story of a young man of the working-class searching for an education and acceptance in the unforgiving world of Victorian England. (GBR450, $10.00)

Literary Trails, British Writers in their Landscapes


by Christina Hardyment

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • HARD COVER
  • 256 PAGES

A survey of the British landscapes that have given shape to the literary characters of Jane Austen, Daphne du Maurier, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, and Wordsworth. (GBR164, $49.50)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Tess of the D'Urbervilles


by Thomas Hardy

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 592 PAGES

This classic story traces heroine Tess Durbyfield's attempts to overcome social definitions and double standards in late 19th-century Dorset. (GBR676, $9.00)

The Golden Compass


by Philip Pullman

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 432 PAGES
  • YOUNG ADULTS

The first in Pullman's classic His Dark Material's trilogy, this sophisticated fantasy follows a young girl's adventures based in an other-wordly Oxford. (GBR813, $22.95)

The Oxford Shakespeare, The Complete Works

The Oxford Shakespeare, The Complete Works


by William Shakespeare | Gary Taylor | John Jowett | William Montgomery | Stanley Wells

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 1424 PAGES

This tome is the authority in Shakespearean scholarship. In addition to the complete works, the book contains a general introduction, a brief introduction to each work and an abundance of secondary material. (GBR654, $40.00)

Birds of Europe

Birds of Europe


by Lars Svensson

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, the second revised edition of this exquisite guide has been brought up to date with revised text and maps. (FG47, $29.95)

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.