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BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

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Florian Schultz

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Barry Lopez

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Replogle

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Best of 2005

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Our 15 favorite books of 2005, including an atlas we can't keep our hands off, followed by additional New & Notable books of the year.

Atlas Maior

Atlas Maior

by Peter van der Krogt

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 626 PAGES

The richly embellished, gloriously annotated Baroque masterpiece by Joan Blaeu, one of the finest and most expensive atlases ever produced. Apart from the sheer beauty and exquisite cartographic marvels (including distinctive title art and foldout panels), the atlas opens a window onto the world of the 17th century. (MAP22, $69.99)

Finding George Orwell in Burma

Finding George Orwell in Burma

by Emma Larkin

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

An American journalist fluent in Burmese, Emma Larkin (a pseudonym) masterfully interweaves her travels in the footsteps of the British colonial officer and writer with interviews and an astute, moving history of modern Burma. (BMA40, $16.00)

Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 575 PAGES

Diamond tackles nothing less than the history and fate of civilization in this compelling book in which he offers case studies, present and past, of societies that work and societies that do not, devoting 100 carefully reasoned pages, for example, to the fate of the Norse settlements in Greenland (climatic change, Inuit) and another big section on Easter Island (deforestation, hubris). This revised edition includes a new afterword. (GEN324, $18.00)

The Gods Drink Whiskey

The Gods Drink Whiskey

by Stephen T. Asma

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Asma writes with verve and wit in this eye-opening account of his yearlong stint teaching at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh. His account is both an overview of Theravada Buddhism and a down-to-earth portrait of contemporary Cambodia. (CBD46, $14.99)

Into a Paris Quartier, Reine Margot's Chapel and other Haunts of St. Germain

Into a Paris Quartier, Reine Margot's Chapel and other Haunts of St. Germain

by Diane Johnson

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 204 PAGES

Novelist Diane Johnson (Le Divorce) writes with insight, verve and wit in this affectionate, personal portrait of St Germain-des-Pres, her neighborhood on the Left Bank. (FRN491, $10.95)

The Fate of Africa

The Fate of Africa

by Martin Meredith

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 792 PAGES

Ambitious in scope, immensely readable -- and as big as a doorstop -- Martin Meredith's blockbuster country-by-country overview of the tumult in Africa since independence is now revised and updated to reflect recent events. (AFR154, $21.99)

A History of the World In 6 Glasses

A History of the World In 6 Glasses

by Tom Standage

  • FOOD
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

A highly enjoyable chronicle of the prestige, power, politics and pleasures of key beverages through the ages. Standage argues that the drinks that have mattered, since the Stone Age, are, in chronological order: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Each chapter is a vivid history of politics, prestige, colonialism, commerce and society. (GEN333, $15.95)

Why Birds Sing, A Journey Through the Mystery of Bird Song

Why Birds Sing, A Journey Through the Mystery of Bird Song

by David Rothenberg

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

Rothenberg, a jazz clarinetist and philosopher with a strong interest in the interconnectedness of things, weaves music, poetry and science in this intriguing series of essays on the meaning and pleasure of birdsong. This new edition comes with a 63-minute CD. (BRD23, $19.95)

The City of Falling Angels

The City of Falling Angels

by John Berendt

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 414 PAGES

Berendt's masterful mix of damp aspirations, intrigue and eccentric personalities conveys a certain essence of what it's like to live in modern Venice. (ITL644, $16.00)

Hungry Planet, What the World Eats

Hungry Planet, What the World Eats

by Peter Menzel | Faith D'Aluisio

  • FOOD
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 287 PAGES

Bhutan, Bosnia, China, Chad, Egypt, Greenland the Philippines and the United States, this mind-expanding book documents families around the world -- and what they eat, each photographed with a week's worth of food. With facts about each country, recipes (seal stew anyone?). Maps and a few paragraphs on each family, it's a terrific introduction to world geography. (WLD65, $40.00)

Istanbul, Memories and the City

Istanbul, Memories and the City

by Orhan Pamuk

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Nobel Prize-winner Pamuk writes with quiet grace of the city of his birth, celebrated in his many novels: a magical place of crumbling mansions and Ottoman riches, mingling Asian, Islamic, secular and European influences. (TKY99, $16.95)

AA Gill is Away

AA Gill is Away

by A. A. Gill

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

A hilarious collection of tales by the acerbic British columnist and personality. The range is staggering -- included are reports from famine-plagued Sudan, Tokyo, Scotland, Tanzania and the Kalahari, and Los Angeles where he investigates the adult-film (AKA porn) industry. (TVL76, $14.00)

Understanding Iraq

Understanding Iraq

by William Polk

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 221 PAGES

A brisk, well-informed analysis of the present situation in Iraq in the context of Iraqi history from Babylonian and Assyrian antecedents, Mongol invasion, British rule, to U.S. policy. (IRQ14, $13.99)

 
Why Geography Matters

Why Geography Matters


by Harm de Blij

  • REFERENCE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Harm de Blij calls for a renewed focus on geography in this engaging, personal overview of today's geopolitical challenges, including climate change, the rise of China and global terrorism. With 47 maps and charts. (MAP20, $16.95)

The Devil's Picnic, Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit

The Devil's Picnic, Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit


by Taras Grescoe

  • FOOD
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

An entertaining, enlightening journey through the world of forbidden pleasure from gum in Singapore to coca tea, bull's testicles, baby eels and Cuban cigars (in San Francisco). (TVL83, $14.95)

A Crack in the Edge of the World, America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906

A Crack in the Edge of the World, America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906


by Simon Winchester

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

Geologist, master storyteller, traveler and journalist, Simon Winchester succeeds again in this fast-paced, utterly fascinating account of the great 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco. (CAL193, $15.99)

A Little History of the World

A Little History of the World


by E. H. Gombrich

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 304 PAGES
  • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)

This splendidly readable, sweeping history for younger readers -- excellent for reading aloud -- covers the history of the world from the stone age until the dawn of the atomic age in 40 concise chapters. With 200 color illustrations, this new illustrated edition of Gombrich's classic is as handsome as it is engaging. (REF12, $29.95)

Bury the Chains, Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves


by Adam Hochschild

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 468 PAGES

Hochchild's riveting history of the remarkable British abolition movement in the late 18th century in which a few dedicated Englishmen (and women) precipitated the end of slavery in the British Empire. (WLD69, $16.00)

Postwar, A History of Europe Since 1945

Postwar, A History of Europe Since 1945


by Tony Judt

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 896 PAGES

A keenly observed, lively history of Europe, its politics, society and ambitions since WWII. (EUR195, $22.00)

The Lost Painting

The Lost Painting


by Jonathan Harr

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 271 PAGES

The absorbing account of the rediscovery of Caravaggio's Taking of Christ (painted in 1602 and famously lost to history until 1990) by a young graduate student at the University of Rome. The book is appealing on many levels, not least as a police procedural (with the benefit of being all true). Harr provides masterful detail not just on the search but also the art historians, scholars and others on the trail. (ITL676, $16.00)

A Land of Ghosts, The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western Amazonia

A Land of Ghosts, The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western Amazonia


by David Campbell

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 260 PAGES

Campbell writes with flair and insight of the people, history and ecological discoveries in the far western reaches of the Amazon Basin, a place where he has focused much of his work. (AMZ90, $18.95)

Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat and Camel

Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat and Camel


by Jeffrey Tayler

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 256 PAGES

The eye-opening account of an American journalist's trek across the Sahel, the southern region of the Sahara Desert, which encompasses Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon, Chad and Senegal. (WAF83, $25.00)

Assassination Vacation


by Sarah Vowell

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

An irreverent tour of American history by way of its presidential assassinations by a popular NPR commentator and essayist. Informative and thoroughly enjoyable. (USA119, $15.00)

Come Back to Afghanistan, A California Teenager's Story

Come Back to Afghanistan, A California Teenager's Story


by Said Hyder Akbar

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

A refreshingly candid, unsentimental portrait of post-Taliban Afghanistan. This book grows out of the teenage author's totally engrossing radio pieces for This American Life, in which he accompanies his expatriate Afghan father from California to Afghanistan. His father sold his clothingstore in California to take a position in Afghanistan as Hamid Karzai's spokesperson. (CAS119, $16.95)

Golden Boy, Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood

Golden Boy, Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood


by Martin Booth

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 337 PAGES

Booth writes with warmth of his youthful rambles in this sharp-eyed, affectionate memoir of coming of age in colonial Hong Kong. The book is a portrait of place, of a lost time, and most especially of his friends and family. (HKG23, $15.00)

Mao, The Unknown Story

Mao, The Unknown Story


by Jung Chang | John Halliday

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 814 PAGES

In this extraordinary biography Chang (Wild Swans) and her historian husband reveal Mao as a brutal, power-hungry monster with close ties to Joseph Stalin. (CHN301, $20.00)

Mark Twain On Travel

Mark Twain On Travel


by Mark Twain | Terry Mort

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER

A journalist, wanderer, opinionated and marvelously entertaining, Mark Twain wrote five well-received travel books over his long career. Editor Terry Mort handpicks choice selections for this satisfying anthology, organized geographically. (TVL77, $15.95)

On The Road with Francis of Assisi

On The Road with Francis of Assisi


by Linda Bird Francke

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

Assisi wandered for 20 years, affording Newsweek editor Francke and her patient husband plenty to see and do in the piazzas, sanctuaries and chapels of Assisi, Siena, Bologna, Venice, Gubbio, Rome and other choice spots. (ITL647, $15.95)

Quicksands, A Memoir

Quicksands, A Memoir


by Sybille Bedford

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

British novelist Bedford looks back at a long life, well lived, in this lyrical memoir. (GBR587, $14.95)

Seamanship, A Voyage along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles

Seamanship, A Voyage along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles


by Adam Nicolson

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

Nicolson offers an engrossing account of a coastal voyage from Cornwall, along the western coast of Ireland, out to the Faeroes and to Orkney in this brief hymn to the sea. (GBR561, $13.95)

The Last Gentleman Adventurer

The Last Gentleman Adventurer


by Edward Beauclerk Maurice | Lawrence Millman

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Maurice's poignant tale of coming-of-age with the Hudson Bay Company in the Canadian Arctic in the 1930s. Posted to Pangnirtung as a remarkably unlikely 17-year-old recruit, Maurice grew into a man with the fur traders and Inuit of Baffin Island, earning the name of Issumatak (One Who Thinks). (ARC173, $14.95)

The Orientalist, Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life

The Orientalist, Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life


by Tom Reiss

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES

A storyteller of the first order, Reiss weaves a wonderful tapestry of information about the cultures and religions in the Caucasus in this wonderful tale of the remarkable life of Lev Nussimbaum -- a fabulist, interpreter of cultures, novelist and rogue who reinvented himself as Kurban Said. (CCS27, $17.00)

Theatre of Fish, Travels Through Newfoundland and Labrador

Theatre of Fish, Travels Through Newfoundland and Labrador


by John Gimlette

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 356 PAGES

A rollicking account of Gimlette's adventures in Newfoundland and Labrador on the trail of a great-great grandfather. It's a witty tale, soaked in fishy history, myth, lore and incident. (CND234, $15.00)

Travels with My Donkey

Travels with My Donkey


by Tim Moore

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 328 PAGES

In this wickedly comic account of grand adventures on the 500-mile pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostela with a French-speaking donkey, Moore salts his anecdotes of fellow travelers and grand adventures with an account of the history and culture of the medieval Way of St. James. (SPN242, $14.99)

Where God Was Born, A Daring Adventure Through the Bible's Greatest Stories

Where God Was Born, A Daring Adventure Through the Bible's Greatest Stories


by Bruce Feiler

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

This third of Feiler's books on the Bible and the Middle East, takes him to Israel, Iraq and Iran. He interweaves his own spiritual quest with interviews and an account of travels with archaeologist Avner Goren. (MDE91, $14.95)

Saving Fish from Drowning

Saving Fish from Drowning


by Amy Tan

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 474 PAGES

Tan interweaves history, incident and magic in this beguiling novel of Americans on tour who disappear into the jungles of Burma. (BMA44, $15.00)

Shalimar the Clown

Shalimar the Clown


by Salman Rushdie

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

Rushdie's sprawling novel overflows with allusions, ideas, characters and commentary. As told through the life of Shalimar, it concerns the fate of Kashmir, Hindu and Muslim animosity, adultery and contemporary Los Angeles. (IDA270, $16.00)

Small Island, A Novel

Small Island, A Novel


by Andrea Levy

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A marvelous novel of family, displacement, belonging, race and empire, set in a Jamaican immigrant community in post-WWII London. (GBR560, $15.00)

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse


by P. D. James

  • MYSTERY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Set on an island off Cornwell, where you can almost hear the crashing of waves and the taste of the salt air, an unpleasant and famous novelist is bizarrely murdered. It's the classic whodunit by the reigning queen of the genre. (GBR604, $15.00)

The Turning, New Stories

The Turning, New Stories


by Tim Winton

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 321 PAGES

These 17 overlapping stories, steeped in everyday life on western Australia, follow the fates of a handful of characters in a small coastal town outside Perth. Winton, short-listed twice so far for the Booker Prize, has published a string of memorable novels, children's books and stories, all richly set in the working class milieu of the sparsely populated coastal desert. (AUS169, $15.00)

Chasing Neotropical Birds

Chasing Neotropical Birds


by Vera and Bob Thornton

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 254 PAGES

A Neotropical sampler, featuring 116 color photographs of dazzling, rare and charming birds of Central and South America. (SAM76, $34.95)

Dancing at the Dead Sea, Tracking the World's Environmental Hotspots

Dancing at the Dead Sea, Tracking the World's Environmental Hotspots


by Alanna Mitchell

  • SCIENCE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 239 PAGES

Mitchell deftly combines the personal, political and scientific in this engaging report on scattered threatened habitats and places around the globe. (TVL66, $25.00)

Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs

Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs


by Robert Sabuda | Matthew Reinhart

  • SCIENCE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 12 PAGES
  • FAMILY

It was only a matter of time! Sabuda and Reinhart turn their magic on dinosaurs in six dazzling double-page marvels of paper engineering. Each dramatic page is festooned with text, illustrations and smaller booklets, many with their own miniature pop-ups, 35 in all. It's hard to say which we like best: the roaring T-Rex, jazzy blue-green archeaopteryx that flies off the page or dueling triceratops. (SCI102, $27.99)

National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America, Folio Edition

National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America, Folio Edition


by Jonathan Alderfer

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 504 PAGES

Both art book and reference, this spectacular book features thousands of exquisite illustrations, range maps and identification details. (USA122, $50.00)

The Bedside Book of Birds

The Bedside Book of Birds


by Graeme Gibson

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 352 PAGES

Gibson brings together literary excerpts, paintings, drawings, and essays for this terrifically illustrated ornithological miscellany. (BRD31, $37.50)

The Naming of Names, The Search for Order in the World of Plants

The Naming of Names, The Search for Order in the World of Plants


by Anna Pavord

  • SCIENCE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 384 PAGES

An enthusiastic and terrifically illustrated history of botany and botanical nomenclature by the author of The Tulip. (NAT91, $45.00)

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.