Around the Edge

by Peter Ford

An English journalist describes his travels along the Central American Caribbean coast from Belize to Panama

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Zack Rusk · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and fun book about Ford's adventures traveling down the coast. The story is equal parts providing historical and cultural context, describing interesting landscapes, and all of the trumps and challenges backpacking includes.

At times it was difficult to keep up where Ford was exactly, I kept having to refer to a map to get a sense of the distance that he was trying to traverse. This is especially so during the parts of the novel where he is walking along beaches.

Even though that took away from some of the momentum while I was reading it, this was a fun read. It never lingers on one topic for too long, is well paced, the descriptions are skillful and explanations are easy to follow. I expect you will enjoy it as well if you are into unconventional traveling stories.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting travelogue and history about the Caribbean coast of Central America as a British reporter and writer journeys from Mexico to Panama, recounting the regions legacy of poverty, pirates and political intrigue. Doesn't view the region very positively, however, (it's poor!) but then it was a difficult era, (the 1980s) what with war in Nicaragua and Guatemala and the gray, socialist rule of the Sandinistas to criticize.