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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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 EXSWZ13. Buy these 3 items as a set for $59 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Why Switzerland?

Why Switzerland?

by Jonathan Steinberg

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 300 PAGES

A masterly overview of the idiosyncrasies of Switzerland, its history, language, politics and identity as a naysayer at the center of Europe. (SWZ04, $37.99)

La Place de la Concorde Suisse

La Place de la Concorde Suisse

by John McPhee

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 150 PAGES

In the company of a Swiss patrol leader on a training mission, McPhee deploys his usual insight and wonderful prose on the phenomenon of the army of Switzerland. (SWZ14, $16.00)

Switzerland Southwest 552 Map

Switzerland Southwest 552 Map

by Michelin

  • 2003
  • MAP

A detailed travelers map at a scale 1:200,000, covering from Zurich south to Zermatt and Aosta and across to Geneva. (SWZ34, $8.95)

 
Alps Map

Alps Map


by Freytag & Berndt

  • 2010
  • MAP

This regional map (1:500,000), centered on the Alps, includes portions of Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France. (ALP07, $14.95)

Switzerland Map

Switzerland Map


by Michelin Travel Publications

  • MAP

A colorful, shaded relief map of Switzerland at a scale of 1:400,000. (SWZ11, $12.95)

Insight Guide Switzerland

Insight Guide Switzerland


by Insight Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

This handsome guide gives a profusely illustrated overview of Switzerland, featuring concise essays by well-regarded authors on history, politics and culture, as well as hundreds of photos and maps, and some practical information. (SWZ15, $24.99)

A Tramp Abroad

A Tramp Abroad


by Mark Twain | David Eggers | Kerry Driscoll

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

Written 11 years after Innocents Abroad, this is Twain's second foray into European travel. Filled with his characteristic wit and humorous observations, it documents his journeys through Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy. Now with an introduction by Dave Eggers. (EUR78, $14.95)

Eiger Dreams, Ventures Among Men and Mountains

Eiger Dreams, Ventures Among Men and Mountains


by Jon Krakauer

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

A collection of some of Krakauer's (Into Thin Air) best journalism, these stories and essays focus on the mindset and determination of world-class mountaineers, including Alpine and Himalayan climbers. (ALP10, $14.95)

Killing Dragons, The Conquest of the Alps

Killing Dragons, The Conquest of the Alps


by Fergus Fleming

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

Fleming spins lively tales of man against nature in this entertaining history of the eccentrics, adventurers and publicity-hounds who sought to conquer the Alps, including Whymper and his first ascent of the Matterhorn (where four of the seven-man team perished). (ALP16, $14.00)

Scrambles Amongst the Alps: In the Years 1860-69

Scrambles Amongst the Alps: In the Years 1860-69


by Edward Whymper

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Edward Wymper's vivid account of Victorian-era mountaineering, a classic, captures the geography, beauty and allure of the Alps. (ALP02, $16.00)

Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller


by Henry James

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 126 PAGES

A classic story of a young American woman's innocent flirtation and its misinterpretation by a sophisticated European man, set in Lac Leman and Chillon. This is James' first fictional work to gain mass popularity and one of his great American female portraits. (SWZ09, $7.00)

Hotel du Lac

Hotel du Lac


by Anita Brookner

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 184 PAGES

Funny, stylish and spellbinding, Brookner's novel tracks the story of a romance novelist, not quite finding peace and quiet at the quiet luxury of Hotel du Lac in Switzerland. (SWZ05, $13.95)

La Nouvelle Heloise

La Nouvelle Heloise


by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • LITERATURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 421 PAGES

Rousseau may be best known for his political philosophy, but in this novel we see his softer side. This is the passionate story told through the letters of two lovers in a small town at the foot of the Alps. (SWZ19, $33.95)

The Magic Mountain

The Magic Mountain


by Thomas Mann

  • LITERATURE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 755 PAGES

In this classic novel of ill health in a sanatorium in the Swiss mountains, the author explores disease as a symbol of the sick, capitalistic society of pre-World War I Europe. (SWZ07, $19.00)

Glacier Ice

Glacier Ice


by Austin Post | Edward R. LaChapelle

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 145 PAGES

A classic book of extraordinary black-and-white aerial photographs of mountains and glaciers by two devoted men of ice. Ed LaChapelle's text is paired with Austin Post's stunning aerial photographs of glaciers from Alaska and Chile to Switzerland, the Himalayas and other parts of the world. (SCI07, $27.95)

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.