Iraq, Land of Two Rivers

Travel

Young, Gavin

Middle East

Wm. Collins Sons & Co.

It was the legendary traveller Wilfred Thesiger who first introduced Gavin Young to the Marshes of Iraq. Since then Young has been entranced by both the beauty of the Marshes and by the Marsh Arabs who inhabit them, a people whose lifestyle is almost unchanged from that of their predecessors, the Ancient Sumerians. On his return to the Marshes some years later Gavin Young found that the twentieth-century had rudely intruded on this lifestyle and that war was threatening to make the Marsh Arabs existence extinct. Return to the Marshes, first published in 1977, is at once a moving tribute to a unique way of life as well as a love story to a place and its people. 'A superbly written essay which combines warmth of personal tone, a good deal of easy historical scholarship and a talent for vivid description rarely found outside good fiction.' Jonathan Raban, Sunday Times

Return to the Marshes: Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq

Travel Writing

Collins

It started as a simple idea, an adaptation of the old dream of running away to sea: take a series of ships of many sizes and kinds; go where they lead for a few months; see what happens. Inspired by memories of his childhood on the inhospitable Cornish coast, discouraged from planning a route by unhelpful travel agents and unreliable shipping guides, Gavin Young embarked on a game of traveller's roulette. Starting at Piraeus, with Canton as his final destination, he would board any vessel moving in the right direction: tanker, freighter, dhow or junk, visiting as many ports of call as possible in between. It took seven months and twenty-three vessels to complete the journey, and in spite of frustration, anxiety and near despair, this extraordinary account sparkles with colour and excitement, through encounters with pirates, unspeakable food and lasting friendships formed. 'A joy to read, engaging, civilized, sharply observant, richly descriptive and sometimes hilarious...a genuine modern adventure story' - Graham Lord, "Sunday Express". 'An unusual and fascinating book' - Hammond Innes, "Guardian".

Slow boats to China

Hutchinson

Arrow (A Division of Random House Group)

Slow Boats Home

Random House, Incorporated

Physical description; xxiv, 344p. : ill., maps ; 24cm. Subjects; Young, Gavin 1928- - Journeys. Voyages and travels - 1951-1980.

Worlds apart: Travels in war and peace

In Search of Conrad

Literature & Fiction

RANDOM HOUSE UK

In 1946 Roy Farrell and Syd de Kantzow's beloved, battered wartime DC-3 touched down in Shanghai for the first time. On board was a cargo of morning coats and toothbrushes from New York, forging the first post-war supply route across the treacherous eastern Himalayas. The international airline now known as Cathay Pacific was born. Gavin Young tells the swashbuckling story of an empire of the air, a thrilling, action-packed adventure that began in an era closer to Biggles and biplanes held together by wire and safety pins than to our own. 'Pioneers like Farrell and de Kantzow would have had plenty of time to enjoy the dawn over Kangchebjunga. Would thye think of us with envy or contempt, cruising seven miles up with hundreds of passengers, air-conditioning, i-flight concerts, movies, hot four-course meals with an elaborate wine line and all mod-cons? . . . All this in forty years! Could the world have changed so much and so fast?' This is Gavin Young himself eloquently reflecting on the extraordinary changes in air travel. There can be little doubt where his own sympathies lie.

Beyond Lion Rock: The Story of Cathay Pacific Airways

History

Americas

Hutchinson Educational

From Sea To Shining Sea

Spine ends chipped. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Penguin

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