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BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

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Barry Lopez

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Best of 2004

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Our favorite books of 2004.

The Accidental Connoisseur, An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World

The Accidental Connoisseur, An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World

by Lawrence Osborne

  • FOOD
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 262 PAGES

With a winning wit and not a drop of pretense, Osborne sets out to discover what's what with wine, traveling through Sonoma and Napa, France, Italy and other European wine meccas, 11 adventures in all. He meets plenty of interesting characters along the way, revealing much about the pleasures of wine (and travel!). (TVL31, $15.00)

The Alhambra

The Alhambra

by Robert Irwin

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 213 PAGES

Irwin's brief, indispensable guide introduces the stunning Moorish palace and fortress complex, revealing its mysteries, myths and significance with wit and insight. (SPN226, $14.95)

Birds & Mammals of the Antarctic, Subantarctic & Falkland Islands

Birds & Mammals of the Antarctic, Subantarctic & Falkland Islands

by Frank Todd

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 138 PAGES
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Compact and comprehensive, this indispensable photo guide by Mr. Penguin himself includes all the hard-to-identify seabirds of Antarctic waters. (ANT213, $29.95)

Birds Without Wings

Birds Without Wings

by Louis De Bernieres

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 480 PAGES

De Bernieres offers sweeping historical scope, memorable characters, drama and many new vocabulary words in this stupendous novel set in Anatolia during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. (TKY91, $16.00)

The Birth of Venus, A Novel

The Birth of Venus, A Novel

by Sarah Dunant

  • LITERATURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 397 PAGES

A rich novel of art, passion and patronage, memorably set in late 15th-century Florence and prominently featuring the famously pious reformer Savonarola. (ITL532, $15.00)

Evolution, The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory

Evolution, The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory

by Edward Larson

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

A clearheaded, engrossing brief history of ideas about evolution from the 18th century to the present by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. (NAT64, $14.95)

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

by Jack Weatherford

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Weatherford, who has lived and studied in Mongolia, interweaves his own travels and field work on the Central Asian steppes, much of it on horseback, with a lively portrait of Genghis Khan and the world of the medieval Mongols. The Mongols introduced not only mayhem, but also paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass and trousers to their far-flung empire. (CAS106, $15.00)

Lost in My Own Backyard

Lost in My Own Backyard

by Tim Cahill

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 160 PAGES

Cahill mixes tales of walks, hikes and treks with history, lore and gee-whiz wonder in this celebration of America's first national park. (USW430, $16.95)

A Pirate of Exquisite Mind, The Life of William Dampier

A Pirate of Exquisite Mind, The Life of William Dampier

by Michael Preston | Diana Preston

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

A marvelously well researched, absorbing biography of the 17th century English explorer, sea captain naturalist and buccaneer. Long our favorite pirate, it's a pleasure to see the accomplishments of the swashbuckler laid out so effectively. (GBR436, $15.00)

The Secret Life of Lobsters, How Fishermen and Scientists are Unraveling the Mysteries of our Favorite Crustacean

The Secret Life of Lobsters, How Fishermen and Scientists are Unraveling the Mysteries of our Favorite Crustacean

by Trevor Corson

  • SCIENCE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 299 PAGES

Corson unravels the behavior of lobster and lobstermen on Little Cranberry Island in the Gulf of Maine. Besides dealing with the lobstermen-scientist row over quotas, the book offers an in depth look into the social behavior of these strange (and strangely abundant) crustaceans. (USE340, $13.99)

The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

by J. Maarten Troost

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Dragged unwittingly with his wife to Kiribati, the author settled down to explore the island and its eccentric inhabitants in this hilarious, disturbing first book. It's a fascinating, decidedly unromantic glimpse into island life. (PAC146, $14.00)

The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen

The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen

by Hans Christian Andersen | Diana Crone Frank | Jeffrey Frank

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 293 PAGES
  • FAMILY

A newly refurbished collection of twenty-two tales, adroitly retranslated by Diana and Jeffrey Frank and with the original illustrations. (DMK27, $23.95)

William Clark and the Shaping of the West

William Clark and the Shaping of the West

by Landon Y. Jones

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES

Jones captures the drama and significance of the life of Brigadier General William Clark in this vivid tale of the man and the ruthless, often lawless, expansion of the American frontier. (USW437, $19.95)

 
National Geographic Atlas of the World

National Geographic Atlas of the World


by National Geographic

  • REFERENCE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

$50 off the $175 cover price. The maps, densely printed with place names and features, are instantly familiar. With 13" x 19" jumbo pages (bigger is better in atlases), a 150,000-entry index, clear typography and its own slipcase. (GEN05, $125.00)

Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945

Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945


by Frederick Taylor

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 376 PAGES

A re-evaluation of the Allied firebombing of Dresden, one of the most destructive, and still controversial, air campaigns of WWII. (GER145, $15.95)

Solovki, The Story of Russia Told through Its Most Remarkable Islands

Solovki, The Story of Russia Told through Its Most Remarkable Islands


by Roy Robson

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 304 PAGES

A remarkable amount of Russian history has played out among these remote arctic islands in Russia's White Sea. Robson traces the story of the Solovetski Archipelago from settlement by early monks, though its 17th-century expansion into one of the largest monasteries in the world and its 20th-century infamy as fortress and prison camp. (SIB41, $30.00)

The Man Who Would Be King, The First American in Afghanistan

The Man Who Would Be King, The First American in Afghanistan


by Ben Macintyre

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

The extraordinary tale of Josiah Harlan, a 19th-century American soldier and spy in Afghanistan, based on his remarkable long-lost diary. (CAS110, $17.00)

Waterfront, A Journey Around Manhattan

Waterfront, A Journey Around Manhattan


by Philip Lopate

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 421 PAGES

Essayist and consummate New Yorker, Philip Lopate pulls in history, ecology, archaeology, literature and urban planning in this delightful, discursive account of his rambles along the water's edge of Manhattan. (NYC113, $15.95)

Art & Architecture of Cambodia

Art & Architecture of Cambodia


by Helen Ibbitson Jessup

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Jessup includes not just Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei but also lesser-known recent discoveries in the surrounding jungle in this illustrated overview in the World of Art series. (CBD41, $16.95)

A Death in Brazil

A Death in Brazil


by Peter Robb

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 329 PAGES

Peter Robb (Midnight in Sicily) flourishes his mastery of the complexities of Brazilian travel, politics, culture and history. This book is impressive for its prose, insight and the author's sheer bravura. (BZL43, $18.00)

Cork Boat, A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built

Cork Boat, A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built


by John Pollack

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 291 PAGES

This endearing tale of family, loss and friendship revolves around a deliciously absurd childhood quest to build a boat of cork and sail it 133 miles on Portugal's Douro River. (PGL42, $14.95)

Spanish Recognitions, The Roads to the Present

Spanish Recognitions, The Roads to the Present


by Mary Lee Settle

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 358 PAGES

A magical, meditative account of Spanish history, art, archaeology and travels by the noted writer. Settle (Turkish Reflections) conjures Cervantes, El Cid, the Moors, Visgoths, Romans, Lorca and Balboa as she writes of a road trip from Castile in central Spain to the southern coast. (SPN205, $15.95)

Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar

Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar


by Simon Sebag Montefiore

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 848 PAGES

An enthralling, comprehensive portrait of Joseph Stalin and his court, drawing on archival material and interviews with surviving figures. At 800 pages, there is ample room for personal and anecdotal information about Stalin. (RUS228, $19.95)

Americans in Paris, A Literary Anthology

Americans in Paris, A Literary Anthology


by Adam Gopnik

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 613 PAGES

This wide-ranging anthology includes early impressions by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, as well as by a generous sampling of 20th-century literary masters. (FRN427, $40.00)

Odysseus, A Life

Odysseus, A Life


by Charles Rowan Beye

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 197 PAGES

A chronicle of the life of Homer's Odysseus by a classicist with a wry sense of humor. Beye draws on recent scholarship, literature and archaeology in constructing this clever "biography" of the cunning wanderer. (GRE191, $13.95)

Waking Raphael

Waking Raphael


by Leslie Forbes

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

This literary thriller, set in painter Raphael's hometown of Urbino, follows the fate of an art historian mixed up in local affairs. (ITL536, $15.00)

Under Antarctic Ice

Under Antarctic Ice


by Norbert Wu | Jim Maestro

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 198 PAGES

The 140 color photographs in this book features Wu's impressive collection of Antarctic photography, including not just sponges, jellyfish, and sea urchins but also Weddel seals, emperor and Adelie penguins, and orcas. (ANT211, $50.00)

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.