Travel Europe Books

Editorial Reviews

Review
“Lutz presents its[Patagonia's] history, fauna and mystery with a fine realization of what is interesting (fascinating really).” — Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal, May 12, 2002

“This book provides a comprehensive look at a magnificent region…thoroughly researched…read it and enjoy.” — Dr. Richard Ryel, CEO, International Expeditions

The overview is systematic, excellent for beginning travelers. Of particular mention, his historical journals are fascinating… — Bard’s Ink, July, 2002

PATAGONIA is a thoroughly researched description of this region at the southern tip of South America. The book begins with a narrative account of a trip to the area and then continues with much more information. Included is a chapter on the environment, incorporating many facts about the interesting wildlife as well as the weather and the terrain. Next comes a chapter on the history of Patagonia, including the fascinating experiences of the early explorers. The fourth chpater is an excellent review of the now-extinct Indian tribes. The final chapter deals wth the present situation in Patagonia–the politics, the investment climate, and some of the controversies sparked by U.S. timber companies moving into this pristine land. With four pages of color pictures, numerous black and white photos, and graphics, including maps of the area. Extensive index and bibliography.

Order Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World: Dick Lutz form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Georgia Lee is a natural story-teller with an eye for detail and an ear for nuance. Above all, there is her capacity for shared intimacy. Lee began her fieldwork on Easter Island in 1981, entering into close relationships with the islanders, both men and women. She describes her relationships with the Rapanui people, weaving strands of communal tales together, achieving a tapestry of the island unlike anything else. Rapa Nui, Island of Memory is truth from a contemporary perspective in all its direct and elusive complexity.
–from the Introduction, by Beverley Haun

Order Rapa Nui, Island of Memory form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Review
I think Footprint’s new jackets work very well. It will provide stiff competition for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. — The Bookseller

Of all the main guide series this is genuinely the only one we have never received a complaint about. — The Bookseller
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This updated and revised travel guide to Argentina contains ideas on how to plan a visit, when to go, where to stay and how to get about. In the same series as “The South American Handbook”, it includes Chilean Patagonia (including Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) and excursions from Buenos Aires into Uruguay. The book features: extensive listings on Buenos Aires for all budgets; information on “where to tango”; a special section on “estancia” tourism and adventure tourism, from climbing and trekking to skiing; comprehensive background information on history, culture, art and theatre; colour maps to help plan a journey, with dozens of local town and site maps; and Spanish words and phrases.

Order Footprint Argentina Handbook : The Travel Guide: Charlie Nurse form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Some people will go to the ends of the earth for a good story; Nick Reding went to the end of the road, which turned out to be one and the same. When the Pan American Highway was extended into Chilean Patagonia, it exposed a people long believed to be extinct–the gauchos. While the gauchos had struggled for centuries with the hantavirus, extreme isolation, and visits by the devil, what the road brought was truly overwhelming. Reding befriends the likes of Duck, an alcoholic slowly breaking from the pressure of the outside; John of the Cows, a cattle thief on the lam; and Don Luis, an aging gaucho with terrific stories to tell. From its dramatic opening to its turbulent end, this elegant, brutal, and funny dispatch from one of the world’s most forlorn places attempts to answer the inconceivable: What happens when you suddenly find yourself two centuries in the future? –Lesley Reed

From Publishers Weekly
Reding’s first book is a fascinating tale of cattle herders (gauchos) living in the desolate reaches of Chilean Patagonia. A successful mix of journalistic reportage and cultural study, it uses the complex linguistic fabric of the gaucho to weave a dynamic story that reads more like fiction than pop-anthropological research. For the better part of a year, Reding lived on land owned by a hardworking, harder-luck couple, Duck and Edith; much of the account focuses on their lives and those of their few neighbors. As a child under Pinochet’s regime, Duck saw many people “disappeared” from his semiurban slum, a hotbed of Perin-inspired socialism. Meanwhile, Reding himself embarks on engaging cattle drives, has close brushes with devils real and imaginary, and lives and breathes the stunning isolation and loneliness of life on the high plains of the middle Cisnes River. Despite his fairly intimate relationships with his generous, likable but deeply troubled hosts Duck is a violent alcoholic; Edith is terrified, angry and convinced her husband is possessed by the devil Reding also delves deep into the inevitable cultural, social and economic divide between them. The gorgeous landscapes, the threatening scenes of drunkenness and folly, the prosaic workdays and the cowboy particulars are surely reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, but present here is a fastidiously humanist angle, in which the interloping narrator never forgets humility or sensitivity. An exciting third act plays out all the promise and horror when Duck, Edith and their children leave the mountainside and move to the slums of Coyhaique, a fated move for the story’s protagonists as they undergo the trials of drink, exorcism and urban decay.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Order The Last Cowboys at the End of the World: The Story of the Gauchos of Patagonia: Nick Reding form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
When British travel writer and all-around thrill seeker Thorpe was traveling the wilds of Bolivia by bus, he passed the time by eavesdropping on a Frenchman talking to an Australian about a boat made of reeds. The conversation seemed more interesting than your average cross-cultural traveler exchange, so Thorpe listened intently as the Frenchman talked about legendary voyager Thor Heyerdahl and about continuing his legacy, about building this reed boat in Huatajata and sailing to Easter Island in it just eight men and a duck. Thorpe’s enthusiasm for this insanity was such that he had to get involved. And not just as a documentarian: an original crew member dropped out, Thorpe dropped in and soon the journalist found himself making sails. The resulting narrative is witty, sad and as brave and daft as those who sail. Thorpe’s British self-deprecation and eye for detail legitimize his passing comments on his fellow crew members, providing comic relief in an often claustrophobic text. A master of tension, Thorpe mingles storms, bruised egos, paranoia, food shortages, botched launchings, lamented loved ones and utterly inept seamanship into a tale of triumph against the odds. In Thorpe’s hands, a travelogue becomes a comedy of errors, a farce, a Latinate epic and a picaresque tale. It’s a warm, wonderful book, a story of enthusiasm superseding expertise in which Fate smiles favorably.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Scottish award-winning journalist and travel writer Thorpe happened upon this “improbable” adventure while riding a bus in Bolivia. He overheard a conversation about an ambitious voyage across the Pacific and instantly decided to join in. Phil Buck, the American who conceived and led the voyage, believed that Thor Heyerdahl’s controversial migration theories could be proven with the Viracocha, a modern copy of a pre-Incan boat made of totora reeds. He recruited a local crew and employed local reed boat builders to make the craft. The only problem was that since reeds absorb water, the boat would start sinking as soon as it was launched. In this entertaining story of the 44-day journey, Thorpe recounts the many difficulties crew members encountered, such as storms and ship and shark sightings. Although the eight-man crew ultimately prevailed, when they reached Easter Island they learned that their sinking ship could not be saved and had to be burned. This well-written story is sure to be popular in public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Order 8 Men and a Duck : An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat to Easter Island: Nick Thorpe form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Review
We are telling everyone that is the best guide we have ever used … — Shirley & Jack Burtnett

With its superb integration of text, graphics, photos, and maps, [this] book makes a great contribution to Chilean travel literature. — Ambassador John O’Leary

Published by South America’s most respected publisher of road maps and travel guides, and now available for the first time in the US, Chile Experience represents a new category of South American travel guides. With full color printing throughout, and countless maps, drawings, and photographs, this new guide presents the country in resplendent graphic detail, while focusing specifically on the topics of greatest interest to most travelers to Chile: nature, culture, and adventure.

Part sourcebook and part field guide, Chile Experience features extensive, illustrated practical and background information sections, outdoor activity sections, and field guides to natural and cultural wonders, without skimping on the local detail, maps, and hotel and dining tips that are indispensable in the field. Whether you are in the planning or dreaming stages of your trip, this guide is a must.

Order Chile Experience Travel Guide: Josh Howell form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Wanderings in Patagonia is an account of Julius Beerbohm’s expedition to Patagonia in 1877. He vividly describes the natural history and geography of the country which he labelled “the last of nature’s works.” Beerbohm travels across deserts and through jungles with the native Indians, the people Ferdinand Magellan came upon in 1520 when he discovered the country. Magellan and his crew described seeing giants nine feet tall, with huge feet. Beerbohm details a trek through this notoriously hostile terrain and overcomes snowstorms and mutiny, survives a flood and encounters “ostrich” hunters, puma, and swans. Littered with literary quotes and historical references and parallels,this bookis written in an engaging style and brings to life this little-known part of South America.

About the Author
Julius Beerbohm (1854-1906), a European engineer, travelled to Patagonia in 1877, as part of a group sent to survey the land between Port Desire and Santa Cruz. Wanderings in Patagonia is the account of the time he spent there.

Order Wanderings in Patagonia: Or Life Among the Ostrich Hunters (Travellers, Explorers & Pioneers): Julius Beerbohm form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

It was Charles Darwin’s account of his experiences in Patagonia’s terra incognita that caught the imagination of a young George Musters, an officer in the Royal Navy. On April 17, 1869, he landed at Gregory Bay, and over the course of the next11 months traversed across the Patagonian steppes, from the Rio Santa Cruz to the Rio Negro. During this odyssey, Musters lived and travelled with the Teheulche tribes, and found in these “South Sea giants” a gentle and deeply intelligent people. Unlike Darwin or any of the other anthropologists who had walked this “untrodden ground,” Musters’ work is devoted entirely to the lifestyle of the Teheulche, their rituals and their hierarchies, an empathetic account of their fascinating lives. First published in serial form in the Buenos Aires Standard, At Home with the Patagonians is regarded as “an ethnographic monument,” providing, as it does, a first-hand insight into the ways and days of a vanishing people.

About the Author
George Chaworth Musters was born in Naples on 13 February 1841, to John George Musters and Emily Hammond. He was orphaned at a young age, and was raised by his extended family. He joined the Royal Navy, and upon his retirement set sail to explore Patagonia, a region with which he had long been fascinated. He married a Bolivian woman and lived in Bolivia until 1876. In 1878, he was named as the next British Consul of Mozambique. On 25 January 1879, shortly before taking up the post, he died aged 38.

Order At Home with the Patagonians (Travellers, Explorers & Pioneers Series): George C. Musters form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

Folded road and travel map in color of Tierra del Fuego. Scale 1:750,000. Distinguishes 4 types of roads, ranging from major paved roads to tracks. Legend shows places to stay and places of interest, international/provincial boundaries, railways, ferries, airports/airfields, ports, lighthouses, parks/reserves, camp sites, shelters, ski areas, checkpoints/borderguards, mines/quarries. Includes inset of Ushuaia Town Centre. Legend in English and Spanish.

About the Author
ITMB Publishing (International Travel Maps and Books) of Vancouver, Canada, has published detailed reference and travel maps of countries, regions, and cities around the world since 1985. The company’s titles include many that are unique or the first of their kind, including the first commercially available travel map of South America.

Order Tierra Del Fuego Map (Travel Reference Map): ITMB form Amazon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Although Taber’s account of Patagonia fails to ignite the imagination, it nevertheless reveals much about that remote corner of the world and its populace.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Desolate places often inspire good books. The windswept and almost empty landscape of Peninsula Valdes in southern Argentina attracted Taber who, with her husband, went there to study whales. However, this book is not about the whales but rather the handful of hardy inhabitants who work the vast and isolated sheep estancias, and whom she came to know and respect over a period of several years. Much of the text is in the inhabitants’ own words, and it reflects their simple and sparse life. Most books on Patagonia are written by travelers just passing through; this one probes deep into the meaning of living there. The result is a fine piece of writing worthy of most travel collections.
- Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., Ashland
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Order Dusk on the Campo: A Journey in Patagonia: Sara Mansfield Taber form Amazon.