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50 Wonders of the World: The Greatest Man-made Constructions from the Pyramids of Giza to the Golden Gate Bridge
From Stonehenge and the Empire State Building to Angkor Wat and the Pyramids, this book surveys every continent to discover the most impressive, exotic, and intriguing manmade wonders of the world Arranged in order of longitude, this spectacular guide to the 50 most breathtaking constructions on the planet reveals the awesome architectural achievements that people have created over the centuries. This is also the story of the extraordinary peoples and civilizations that created these buildings and the key roles they played as centers of religion, culture, or trade. Most selections are from previous centuries, reminders that whatever the achievement of our own technologically advanced civilization, previous cultures were capable of extraordinary monuments.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2009
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About the author
Hugh Thomson
141 books42 followersHugh Thomson believes strongly that the world is not as explored as we like to suppose.
He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'
For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.
For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.
His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.
His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.
In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.
"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)
See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.
He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'
For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.
For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.
His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.
His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.
In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.
"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)
See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.
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