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England

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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We feature a handpicked selection of travel guides, maps, literature, books on art, nature and culture, all designed to help you get more out of your travels to England. Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free.

Item EXGBR99. Buy these 5 items as a set for $86 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Great Britain

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2013
• PAPER
• 720 PAGES

With 1,400 photos, maps and excellent introductory chapters, this guide is both a general introduction to Great Britain and a region-by-region look at its attractions. (GBR01, $30.00)

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)

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)

Kingdom by the Sea

by Paul Theroux

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 361 PAGES

This time, the prolific writer recounts a coastal journey around the British Isles in 1982, displaying his occasional ill temper alongside his celebrated ability to combine social history with a good old-fashioned traveler's tale. (GBR09, $14.95)

Great Britain Map

by Ordnance Survey

• MAP

A homegrown, excellent map at a scale of 1:625,000. (GBR06, $11.95)

 

Also Recommended

Bath City Map

by Geographers' A-Z

• MAP

A street plan of Bath at a scale of 1:12,000. (GBR317, $9.95)

Cotswolds & Gloucestershire Map

by Ordnance Survey

• 2005
• MAP

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

London Map

by Borch Maps

• 2009
• MAP

A colorful and detailed laminated city map with a variety of useful inset maps. (GBR114, $9.95)

City Secrets London

by Robert Kahn

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• HARD COVER
• 250 PAGES

A connoisseur's guide to the city and its attractions, with personal recommendations by artists, designers, architects and personalities who have made their home in London. (GBR327, $19.95)

Eyewitness Guide London

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2012
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

This superb guide to London features color photography, dozens of excellent neighborhood maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (GBR34, $25.00)

Fodor's London's 25 Best

by Fodor's

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2012
• PAPER
• 176 PAGES

This slim guide to London (with handy full-color maps) has everything you need to know for a short visit to the city, including recommended sightseeing, restaurants, hotels and shops. (GBR08, $12.99)

Food Lovers' London

by Jenny Linford

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2005
• PAPER
• 311 PAGES

London's specialty food shops, restaurants and neighborhoods are covered in glorious detail in Jenny Linford's illustrated handbook. (GBR593, $16.95)

Insight Guide London

by Insight Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2012
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

A guide to the city with hundreds of color photographs and excellent local maps. (GBR367, $19.99)

The London Mapguide

by Michael Middleditch

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2012
• PAPER
• 72 PAGES

Take this handy booklet along. Middleditch maps the streets, sights, entertainment districts and famous landmarks of the city, including features on Christopher Wren's London and notable spots to visit nearby in this revised and updated seventh edition. With the 2012 Olympic Game sites. (GRB68, $12.00)

Time Out London Walks, 30 Walks by London Writers

by Time Out

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

A personable guide to a wide variety of London excursions.The handy guide is chock full of color photographs, illustrations, practical information and good maps. (GBR595, $19.95)

1066, The Year of the Conquest

by David Howarth

• HISTORY
• 1981
• PAPER
• 207 PAGES

A crack medievalist and storyteller, Howarth brings to life the momentous events of 1066 in rich, anecdotal history -- a classic portrait of the Norman invasion and conquest of England. (GBR115, $14.00)

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 London

by Richard Tames

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

The story of London, from the Romans to Tony Blair, tailored to the traveler. (GBR232, $14.95)

Angry Island, Hunting the English

by A. Gill

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2008
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

A comic manual to the English by a splendidly irreverent London critic. Gill includes scathing chapters on voice, humor, drink, animals, garden, sport and class. (GBR715, $14.00)

English History, Made Brief, Irreverent and Pleasurable

by Lacey Baldwin Smith

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 262 PAGES

Smith serves up memorable chunks of English history with aplomb, spicing the tale with hilarious cartoons and profiles of the kings, queens and dunces that have led the nation. (GBR869, $17.95)

Johnson's Life of London, The People Who Made the City That Made the World

by Boris Johnson

• HISTORY
• 2012
• HARD COVER
• 336 PAGES

London Mayor Boris Johnson's public persona in Britain is akin to a floppy-haired public school boy who has stumbled by accident on to the levers of power. In print this persona can stray sometimes to the wrong side of parody as Johnson offers this otherwise entertaining guide to the famous figures who have made London great. In garrulous prose Johnson offers his views on such luminaries as Winston Churchill, the Roman Emperor Hadrian and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. (GRB62, $27.95)

London, The Biography

by Peter Ackroyd

• HISTORY
• 2003
• PAPER
• 864 PAGES

A big thematic history of London from Celtic settlement to Roman outpost and world power, much focused on the life of the city. A popular biographer and novelist, Ackroyd leavens the centuries with anecdote, personality and great affection. (GBR248, $22.00)

Londoners, The Days and Nights of London Now As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Have Left It, and Long for It

by Craig Taylor

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2012
• HARD COVER
• 448 PAGES

Drawing on the unforgettable stories of nearly 100 Londoners, Taylor provides a rich and vivid kaleidoscopic view of modern day London through the diverse voices of the city's citizens who, regardless of whether they love or hate it, capture the heart and soul of one of the world's greatest cities. (GRB69, $29.99)

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 British Isles, A History of Four Nations

by Hugh Kearney

• HISTORY
• 2012
• PAPER
• 324 PAGES

The Celts, Romans, Vikings, Normans and modern immigrants all make an appearance in Kearney's elegant and revisionist history of not just the English but also of the Scots, Welsh and Irish. (GBR88, $24.95)

The Cotswolds, A Cultural History

by Jane Bingham

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

Hingham introduces the churches and manor houses, rich history and celebrated landscapes of southern England in this cultural guide. (GBR901, $16.95)

The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England

by Antonia Fraser

• HISTORY
• 2000
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES

Lady Fraser gathers eight British historians for this engaging, illustrated history of the monarchy from 1066 to the House of Windsor, chock full of personality, incident and scandal. (GBR160, $39.95)

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 that showcases Bryson's wry wit. (GBR15, $14.99)

The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain

by Kenne Morgan

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 670 PAGES

Two thousand years of British history, from the invasion of Roman legions to the exit of the Blair administration, fill this beautifully illustrated volume. (GBR820, $34.95)

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)

The Secret History of MI6, 1909-1949

by Keith Jeffery

• HISTORY
• 2011
• PAPER
• 810 PAGES

Jeffrey was given unprecedented access to MI6's archives for this thrilling, balanced history of Britain's Special Intelligence Service, which essentially created the modern craft of spying. (GRB50, $20.00)

Watching the English

by Kate Fox

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2008
• PAPER
• 424 PAGES

Fox's clever guide to conversation, behavior, quirks, habits and foibles of the English, wildly popular back home in Britain. (GBR927, $17.95)

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages

by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2010
• PAPER
• 175 PAGES

This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a brief chronology. (MED07, $15.95)

English Architecture, A Concise History

by David Watkin

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1985
• PAPER

A straightforward, illustrated history of English architecture from Anglo-Saxon times to the present. (GBR228, $14.95)

Stonehenge Complete

by Christopher Chippindale

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 2012
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

An excellent introduction to Europe's most mysterious ancient site, fully illustrated and comprehensive. (GBR13, $24.95)

The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral

by Robert A. Scott

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 294 PAGES

An enthusiast, Scott delves into the history, design, architecture and wonder of Europe's medieval cathedrals and great Abbey churches. (EUR190, $24.95)

Westminster Abbey

by Richard Jenkyns | Mary Beard

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 224 PAGES

In a highly original pocket book, classicist and cultural historian Richard Jenkyns looks afresh at the celebrated church complex -- national cathedral, coronation church, royal mausoleum, burial place of poets, resting place of the great and of the Unknown Warrior, former home of parliament, place of Princess Diana's funeral. (GBR810, $14.95)

A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599

by James S. Shapiro

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2006
• PAPER

A dramatic tale of a pivotal year in English history, the life of the bard and the Globe Theater, resulting in Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and, most probably, Hamlet. (GBR720, $14.99)

Boy, Tales of Childhood

by Roald Dahl

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• PAPER
• 176 PAGES
• FAMILY

Dahl recalls his youthful misadventures, in boarding school, working as a chocolate tester and summering in Wales. Great family reading. (GBR183, $6.99)

Cider With Rosie

by Laurie Lee

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2008
• PAPER
• 212 PAGES

In this memoir of growing up in a small, remote village in the Cotswolds -- set against the backdrop of the First World War -- Lee captures an all-but-vanished rural way of life. Originally published in 1959. (GBR971, $15.95)

In Search of London

by H.V. Morton

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

An enduring portrait of the city and especially of its history, originally published a half-century ago. As in all of his travel books, Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture and, especially, the history of a place with his own keen observations. (GBR269, $18.50)

Nature's Engraver, A Life of Thomas Bewick

by Jennifer S. Uglow

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2009
• PAPER
• 458 PAGES

Born to a farming family in Northumberland in 1753, Bewick eventually published his own History of British Birds, the first field guide intended for a general audience. Uglow's engrossing illustrated biography includes an array of the great engraver's vignettes depicting rural life and the natural world. (NAT249, $18.00)

The Age of Shakespeare

by Frank Kermode

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2005
• PAPER
• 214 PAGES

A remarkably concise, elegant overview of the world of Shakespeare in the Modern Library Chronicles series by the eminent British critic and scholar. (GBR522, $14.00)

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel

by Jerome Jerome | Jeremy Lewis

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2000
• PAPER
• 361 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Written in 1889, "Three Men in a Boat" (to say nothing of the dog!) is a laugh-out-loud account of a man-powered voyage along the River Thames, full of detail on life and lore. A Longitude favorite. (GBR28, $12.00)

Winston Churchill

by John Keegan

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2007
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES

A short book in the Penguin Lives series. (EUR214, $14.00)

84 Charing Cross Road

by Helene Hanff

• LITERATURE
• 1990
• PAPER
• 97 PAGES

This charming novel of bibliophilia tells of a love triangle between a New York writer, the owner of a London bookstore and the books he sells. (GBR231, $13.00)

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

• LITERATURE
• 2003
• PAPER
• 371 PAGES

Dickens' famous tale of love and intrigue, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution. (GBR100, $8.00)

Capital

by John Lanchester

• LITERATURE
• 2013
• PAPER
• 537 PAGES

Lanchester (Fragrant Harbor, Dept to Pleasure) sets this latest novel on a single street in London in 2008, at the height of the financial meltdown, interweaving the tales of longtime residents, recent immigrants and the newly rich. (GRB75, $15.95)

Case Histories

by Kate Atkinson

• MYSTERY
• 2005
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

In this debut of this devislishly clever series, both a terrific whodunit and family saga, private detective Jackson Brodie --ex-cop, ex-husband and weekend dad -- takes on three cases involving past crimes that occurred in and around London. (GRB79, $15.00)

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

• LITERATURE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 544 PAGES

Dickens at the top of his form. It follows Pip, from a boy orphan taken in by the eccentric Miss Havisham to a young man who finds himself benefactor to a small fortune. (GBR380, $9.00)

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

• LITERATURE
• 1996
• PAPER
• 219 PAGES

Austen's first novel parodies the Gothic thrillers of her day. Catherine Morland is a country girl spending a season in sophisticated Bath, where she falls for Henry Tilney, who invites her home to his possibly haunted mansion (GBR313, $8.00)

The Complete Novels

by Jane Austen

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 1088 PAGES

Austen's seven great novels offers a vivid portrait of English middle-class life, mores, institutions and society at the turn of the 19th century, here in a Penguin deluxe edition. (GBR938, $25.00)

The Heat of the Day

by Elizabeth Bowen

• LITERATURE
• 2002
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

The suspenseful tale of life in London during the bombing raids of World War II. (GBR378, $16.00)

The Jewel That Was Ours

by Colin Dexter

• MYSTERY
• 1993
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

An Inspector Morse mystery, set among the Oxford literati and featuring a stolen jewel and a healthy dose of scandalous affairs. (GBR407, $7.99)

The Ministry of Fear

by Graham Greene

• LITERATURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

A thriller set in London during the Blitz by the master of atmosphere and ambiguity. (GBR571, $15.00)

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)

The Sense of an Ending

by Julian Barnes

• LITERATURE
• 2012
• PAPER
• 163 PAGES

Winner of the 2011 Booker Prize. The past looms large in this compelling, psychologically astute short novel of middle-aged Tony Webster, suddenly confronted by a childhood he thought he had long left behind. (GRB37, $23.95)

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)

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