Richard Halliburton's Second Book of Marvels: The Orient

by Richard Halliburton

Travel / History / Middle Eastern & India region culture. Early 20th century American travel writer and adventurer Richard Halliburton presents this volume's tour for school students, introducing the people, religions, architecture, customs, and scenery from Greece to Mt. Fuji in Japan, multi-cultural regions then called "The Orient" and maps of his travel routes. Places featured are Greece and Ephesus, Turkey, King Mausolus's tomb, western Turkey, Colossus-Rhodes, off Turkey, Pharos-lighthouse, Alexandria, Egypt, Sphinx and Pyramids, Egypt, Pyramids Today-Cairo, Egypt, The Labyrinth-Crete, Slave City-western Africa, Victoria Falls, So Africa, Allahs children-Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Enchanted Temple-Petra, Holy Land, The Dead Sea, Rock of Abraham-Jerusalem, Solomon's Temple-Jerusalem, Temple of Jupiter, Syria, Queen of Palmyra, Syria, Bagdad, Persia/Iraq, Babylon-Iraq, Madrasa College and Isfahan-Persia, Udaipur-west India, Palace in Udaipur-west India, Taj Majal, India, Top of the World (Mt. Everest, Nepal/Tibet), Land of Mystery (Lhasa, Tibet), Palace of the Living Gods (Bhuddist Dalai Lama, Lhasa, Tibet), Thirty Million Idols (Hindu temple, Madura, southern India), Tale From the Jungle (Indo-China temple, Angkor, Cambodia), The Great Stone Serpent (Great Wall, China), Magic Mountain (Fujiyama, Japan) ~ From Wikipedia: Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 - presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American traveler, adventurer, and author. Best known today for having swum the length of the Panama Canal and paying the lowest toll in its history-thirty-six cents-Halliburton was headline news for most of his brief career. His final and fatal adventure, an attempt to sail a Chinese junk, the Sea Dragon, across the Pacific Ocean from Hong Kong to the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, made him legendary.

Genres: Geography, Nonfiction, Travel, History, School

316 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Writer, Lecturer, and World Traveler, Richard Halliburton published numerous books during his short lifetime. During his world travels, he visited exotic locales such as the Taj Mahal in India, climbed the Matterhorn, flew across the Sahara desert in a bi-winged plane, and swam the entire length of the Panama Canal. He also roamed the Mediterranean Sea retracing the route followed by Ulysses in Homer's Odyssey and crossed the Swiss Alps on the back of an elephant in a recreation of Hannibal's expedition. Halliburton died (or, more accurately, disappeared) in March 1939 as he and his crew attempted to sail a Chinese junk, the Sea Dragon, from Hong Kong to San Francisco as a publicity stunt. The vessel was unseaworthy and went down in a storm around March 23-24, 1939. His body was never recovered

Reviews

[Erin Ching · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did this one as a read aloud for my kids ages 9-15. We all really enjoyed reading the adventures and discoveries of long forgotten places across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read for AO year 6 and loved it! The best way to “learn geography!” I don’t understand his impulse to climb every mountain he sees, but I love reading about it. Filled with so many stories and legends too. A and C are still reading it and they love it! “Take my advice, children, and never climb Fuji in January!”

[Noah Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Love every chapter. I learnt many things about the ancient world, Asia, mountains, lost cities, dangerous adventures, magical legends, and more. Absolutely recommended... stuffed with knowledge a d easy to underestand.

[Julie Mabus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halliburton has an enchanting voice and storytelling ability. It was fun to travel with him through the Orient to experience these wonders.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is an interesting view from a 1930's point-of-view of artifacts and stories from ancient times, I just couldn't get past Halliburton's patronizing attitudes towards indigenous people and particularly his unforgivable story of hiring two 10 year old slaves while he was in Timbuktu. I suspect this story was fictionalized and I know I am judging him by modern standards, but I still found this in particular to be exceedingly distasteful.

[Rachel Snowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I read this for his schooling this year and really, really enjoyed it. The stories connected to the locations are engaging, and it was delightful to take the imaginary trip to these locations.
(Fair warning, there is a chapter that relates an encounter at a slave market in Africa that is written in a troubling tone. I had warning of it, and AmblesideOnline has some great notes on the chapter.)

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The usual wit and poetry and adventure that are part and parcel of Halliburton's travel books. These are follow up travels to many of his original adventures in his first 5 books. This may have been a travel book intended for children but it's highly informative and enjoyable for adults as well. This is also a trip back to the world of the 1930s. It also provides more background on his travel adventures in his prior books.

The book is lavishly illustrated with Halliburton's own superb photos. In addition to literary talent he had a photographer's 'eye'.

[Malory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This travel book was such a fun read. Halliburton wrote in such a descriptive way that it felt as if I were truly standing there with him. I just wanted to visit all the places he described! Finished this with my daughter for school. I'm sad that it's over, but I'm looking forward to reading it with my younger kids again.

[Amy Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! We read it over the school year, one chapter a week, in our homeschool reading group for upper elementary aged kids. After we read each chapter, we “travelled” to the place on a Google Earth app.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically same review as the first book . . . Interesting stories from a real adventurer. Some of the explanations of the actual trips are tedious. The best parts are the stories he tells of the background of the different places.

[Joanna Zuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

We loved this book, this series. Each story was well crafted and opened our eyes to a culture beyond our own. Every time we finished a chapter we would talk about how much we wanted to travel to that location.

[Carson Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not quite as good as the first one, and a few of his chapters were annoying becuase of his theology or beliefs. This book, however, was very educational, and taught me many things. I read it for school.

[Danielle Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed journeying with Mr. Halliburton through the Orient. He is a charming storyteller and adventurer. This one was not as good as the first book for us, because it was so bogged down with false religions.

[Don Gubler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Wonders of the world visited in a more accessible time. Nice historical aspects and eye witness accounts.

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Meredith Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud with Ben and Mabry. We started The Complete Book of Marvels around 2018 we think! We SLOWLY read through these books together! A little sad to be finishing - we loved it!

[Caroline Norris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the chapters were good, many we didn’t enjoy. For my next kiddo, I’ll just choose a few chapters from this one before moving on to something else!

[Lisa Rosenow · Rating 5 out of 5]

We were sad to finish this series! I read it to the girls and we all really enjoyed the stories

[Stacy Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a blast to read. And now I want to travel to all of these magnificent places!

[RaeAnna Goss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took us quite a while to finish but it was sooooo worth it! We just kept reading until we finished and although a lot of the information is outdated, it was delightfully written!

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book of Marvels is a marvelous armchair travelogue for readers who are young at heart. Those who are old and grumpy and too sensitive might want to stay home. Richard Halliburton has a marvelous way of telling stories because he read fairy tales as a child. He tried to live magical adventures by traveling to the wonders of the world. He actually gave a prince a ride in his flying carpet--it really is true and you will need to read the book to find out how it is true.

He opens the book with imaginary trip to see all but one wonder of the ancient world. A father and his young boy travel to see them in 250 BC as they would have been in their glory. Then, Halliburton shares what is left of the wonders today.

When he takes the reader on a visit to a wonder, he baits the reader with some tempting tidbit, connected to the wonder. Sometimes, he shares one of his wild adventures. It seems he had a policy of begging for forgiveness rather than asking for permission. It served him well except for his visit to Gibraltar which he shared in his book The Royal Road to Romance (he spent a few days in a British brig for taking unauthorized photographs). He shares a fascinating history or interesting architectural or geographic features. Or, he opens with the legend or myth believed by the people or the first person who found a marvel hidden in the jungle. Halliburton has an eye for beauty and he found only one place hideous while admitting that the pilgrims going there hold the opposite opinion.

A couple of points if you are reading with a younger person:
* Be sure to check out modern resources that offer links to go with each chapter. https://completebookofmarvels.com/mar...
https://www.wonderandwildness.com/hal...
* Halliburton is more open-minded and charitable than many people of his time. Some readers might find him too offensive but I did not. However, one chapter might need careful editing or it can be a conversation about slavery and its existence today, depending on the age of the child. https://www.amblesideonline.org/ao-y5...
* Some stories seem outlandish and turn out to be true. A few are false but represent the thinking at the time. Regardless, I encourage the reader to question and research.
* This book goes really well with mapwork. The location of a country is going to stick with you much longer after you have traveled to it with Halliburton.
* Book of Marvels used to be a “unicorn” book--hard-to-find and out-of-print. Thanks to Living Book Press you can order it in printed copy or e-book that has been slightly edited with current information and measurements. https://www.livingbookpress.com/produ...

[Mariam Cheshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book took us through the East. He and his crew left Hong Kong in a Chinese junk, The Sea Dragon, and were lost at sea. Halliburton contributed so much with his adventures and writing to kids planning to follow in his footsteps. It made the world a smaller place back before WWII. I kept this book for many years and then re-read it when I finally had to part with it.

[Gianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating