Lonely Planet Curiosities and Splendour: An anthology of classic travel literature

by Lonely Planet

Journey back in time with this collection of classic travel writing from great authors and adventurers. These extraordinary odysseys over land and sea captivated audiences and gave them a glimpse into countries, cities and cultures like never before.


Tales include Robert Falcon Scotts doomed Antarctic expedition of 1910-13; Robert Byrons ten-month journey through Persia to Afghanistan in the early 30s; Jack Londons 1907 sailing adventure across the south Pacific; and Teddy Roosevelts scientific exploration of the Brazilian jungles exotic flora and fauna.


Each author and their piece of writing is introduced by editor Mark Mackenzie, who gives context to the work and provides an insightful look into how travel has changed since they were originally published.


Features extracts




The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard

The Road to Oxiana - Robert Byron

Sea and Sardinia - DH Lawrence

Cruise of the Snark - Jack London

American Notes - Charles Dickens

Through the Brazilian Wilderness - Teddy Roosevelt

Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain

Letters Written During a Short Residence in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark - Mary Wollstonecraft

In Morocco - Edith Wharton

Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa - David Livingstone

The Histories - Herodotus

The Story of Shackletons Last Expedition 1914-1917 - Ernest Shackleton
About Lonely Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the worlds number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, weve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. Youll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks and more.


Important The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2019

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Heidi Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment and it certainly wasn’t travel writing. It was more of a book that described destinations in detail and I should’ve suspected as much as it is put out by lonely planet. They were only a few stories that described the writers experience of the journey. I am setting this one aside halfway through. What a disappointment.

[Maria João · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, though well curated, fell short of my initial expectations. Its collection of excerpts of travelogues from various authors, can never, of course, compete with the complete work from which they were taken; in addition, as the travel accounts in the book range from 18th to early 20th centuries, both in form as well as in content, it may not be the easiest or the most entertaining read. On a very positive note, each excerpt is accompanied by an intro about its author and its travel, which helps immensely to contextualize the when, the how and the why, and the reasoning why such travelogue may be of importance in the literature or the society of the time it was written.
My favorites were: Voyage of the Beagle (Charles Darwin), The Histories (Herodutus), Tales of the Alhambra (Washington Irving), A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (Samuel Johnson) and South (Ernest Shackleton).

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book there are chapters in a variety of writing styles and language including scientific, formal, old-fashioned, contemporary, descriptive, informal family letters, and all detailed.
There are excerpts from scientists such as Charles Darwin, explorers, for example Ernest Shackleton, Captain James Cook, and authors, namely Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Washington Irving.
But one that really impressed me was by Mary Anne Barker, a young English woman who moved to New Zealand in the 1860s to set up a sheep farm. Her report involved a severe blizzard and its effects on the people and animals. The account was included in a letter to her sister.
Each chapter is introduced with some background on the author which helps to explain their actions.


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[Julie Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a fascinating selection and pleasant collection of well written pieces from many writers and periods of history. Inevitably with same a gamut of contributors there was a varying pull, some extracts I loved the writing, the pieces written about the artic and antarctic I found a bit tedious. not to everyone's taste I imagine but recommend for those who enjoy and appreciate travel writing.

[Keri Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. It’s a lovely idea. I appreciate the invitation to get a taste of various naturalists and explorers and other historical figures. I felt it was missing something. I would have liked this more if it had a few artistic images, maps, or illustrations within each chapter. Some visuals would have brought the excerpts to life.

[Natasha Cowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of excerpts from well-known travel writings through history.

I wanted to like this. Of course, it’s not hard to respect the adventures and writing skills of the authors, but some of these excerpts were so boring. Incredibly dull and I found them a real slog to get through.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice selection of authors.

[Michelle Birkby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of travel pieces from some interesting people

[Jeanine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the introductions to each author’s piece.

[Tamara Wasylenky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this anthology for its author bios and historical context, but the excerpts themselves are really short. It would be nice if they were a little longer.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of info.

[Kylie Bevan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read halfway. Enjoyed the concept, and would have continued to dip in and out to finish it, however it was a library loan so decided to return it part-read.