How to Make Friends and Oppress People: Classic Travel Advice for the Gentleman Adventurer

by Vic Darkwood

No traveler to date has matched the intrepid 19th-century gentleman for his bravery, derring-do, and ability to make a perfect cup of tea in the most malarial of climes. But the sun has set on the golden age of exploration, and the records of these fearless, mustachioed adventurers have vanished from the shelves. In their place have appeared timorous travel guides written by authors who could hardly locate Rhodesia on a classroom globe let alone comment on the proper etiquette of an Italian duel.
Now, with the publication of Vic Darkwood's How to Make Friends and Oppress People, at long last today's aspiring adventurers can avail themselves of the best of classic travel advice on such invaluable topics
-Using Anthills as Ovens
-Hunting Elephants and Hippos with a Javelin
-Sleeping on a Billiard Table as a Means of Avoiding Vermin
-Digging a Well with a Pointy Stick
Fully illustrated with over 150 drawings and woodcuts, this inestimable collection of wisdom drawn from actual 19th- and early 20th-century guidebooks will prove essential to any traveler looking to enjoy his excursion abroad or hoping to avoid death at the hands of inhospitable natives.

Genres: Humor, Travel, Comedy, Nonfiction, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2007

About the author

After 15 years of concentrating exclusively on painting Nick Jolly embarked on a haphazard writing career in tandem with his pursuits as an artist. This initially took the form of articles penned for the Art Review. Then in 1999 he co-founded The Chap magazine, under the alter ego of Vic Darkwood, with his erstwhile colleague Gustav Temple. During this time, as well as producing a quarterly magazine, they also wrote 3 spin-off Chap books.

At the end of 2003 Vic Darkwood left The Chap, as he felt that his work on that periodical was done. At the time he cited 'artistic differences' and 'a pronounced fatigue at superimposing yet more pipes onto vintage photographs of gentlemen' as his reasons for leaving, but an urge to dedicate himself more fully to the studio was the real motivation.Despite these best resolve, in 2005 he collaborated once more with Gustav Temple to construct a final Chap tome and then in 2006 wrote his first solo book The Lost Art of Travel (published in the U.S. under the title: How to Make Friends and Oppress People)

For the past four yeares Jolly has spent most of his time working on the development of his paintings. An exhibition of these will be held at 108 Fine Art in 2009.

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny book. Vic Darkwood, formerly of Chap Magazine, takes us around the world and gives travel advice for the "Gentleman Adventurer". Advice includes commentary on why camels are uglier than people, how to engage in gun battles like a gentleman and advice on the use of fireplaces on boats. This is a dry, tongue-firmly-in-cheek collection for people who are possibly too poor to travel. Much of the advice in the book is culled from old (1700's or older) travel guides that may or may not be real. It also contains advice on how to communicate with locals all over the world. "Abroad", Darkwood suggests, "conversation need not necessarily be intellectual, or even intelligible, in order to be entertaining." It's a perfect guide for Americans traveling abroad in an era when Americans abroad aren't necessarily welcomed. Granted, the book assumes that if you go to another country, you'll inevitably wind up riding an elephant. Some may view this as proof that the book is a touch out-of-date. I, for one, however, think this is probably the most relevant travel book currently in print. Now go dig your sleeping ditch.

NC

[Coogs7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first review of a book on goodreads. First of all, I would like to point out I had no idea what this book was about in the slightest, it was upon a display in my local bookstore that I frequent somewhere between gardening and music and history, or something...I really thought it was about Englishmen going upon African safaris and to be blunt I thought it was a survival guide of sorts. What I discovered was a hilarious collection of outdated tips for the would-be traveller and one simply has to read this at some point if they consider themselves to posess a command of the English language. My favorite part is nestled toward the beginning or middle where references of body searches in airports is skillfully referenced. It took me by surprise, the pictures are breath taking, let me just put it that way.

[Tim Wainwright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other reviews are pretty accurate as a composite!

[Ilze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny, I thought I would like this book better. I love going through old manners books for laughs, and I love the purple prose that was popular in generations past. But after an enthusiastic start on this one, it became more and more of a chore to read as I went on. Perhaps the author just chose the wrong excerpts from old travel books or something. Most of the advice that the books gave about travel didn't seem all that dated or outrageous really. Most of it seemed sensible, so reading it for entertainment purposes didn't work so well. Great idea for a book though. I just wish more exotic examples had been used I guess, or perhaps more pointed commentary.

[Cera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had such an entertaining premise that I really wanted to love it, but aside from a few falling-over-laughing sections, much of it didn't work for me. It's a selection of 19th & early 20th century travel advice, strung together by Darkwood's narrative, and illustrated by random period clip art. The travel advice is often fascinating and hilarious in itself, and Darkwood's narrative is sometimes very funny indeed, but a lot of the book was just slogging through to the next entertaining bit, and I didn't tend to appreciate the illustrations at all. A good effort, and perhaps recommended for people with a more generous sense of humour, as mine is rather narrower than I'd like.

[Ryan Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine a "White Man's Burden" imperialist was transported to the here and now and forced to write his thoughts on the sorry state of international travel (no coolies?!). That's the conceit here, and "Vic Darkwood" does an admirable job of skewing himself, the British, and the last 200 years of tourism. A good Sunday read before you explore the Dark Continent. Which at this point is probably Antarctica.

[Karl Agius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, easy reading, despite trying too hard to be funny in places. The selected excerpts are great, and the bibliography is quite rich - many of the sources would make interesting reading in their own right.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts are of course the excerpts from travel guides of decades past. Those bits are held together by the weaker glue of made up stories. It's easy enough to just read the excerpts though, full of racism, imperialism, sexism, and any other ism you can be offended by.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can learn a lot from those old Victorian era travelers' guides, especially when they're extracted this well and edited so cunningly. Fucking hilarious & generally brilliant.

[Andrea]

I must have the travel bug- found this at Gulliver's books in Fairbanks and the title alone made it a must-buy.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining but not remarkable.

[Robert Godden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the way it mixed genuine old travel advice with new material. My favourite of the 4 or 5 of Vic's books I've read.

[Jornt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny in a quaint way...

[Rat Boy Hedonist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most important book I've ever read.

[Thuy Pham · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Unhand me, silly woman”

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointingly predictable.

[David Page]

Still on the toilet tank.