Here is the new collection of essays from Matthew Stevenson, a contributing editor of Harper'™s Magazine who lives in Switzerland and who is the author of the critically acclaimed Letters of Transit: Essays on Travel, History, Politics, and Family Life Abroad, which the poet Robert Watson called "a stunning book, the best travel writing I have seen in years." 
In 1991, Stevenson moved from Brooklyn to a house in the vineyards outside Geneva, Switzerland. In this book he writes about his travels around Europe ("On a hot July evening, in the company of other backpackers, we boarded the midnight Geneva-Trieste express and scrambled to our compartment, so that long into the night children could bicker about who was most deserving of the upper bunks.") and his impressions of visiting the United States ("the size of the suburban houses made me think America has become a nation of great Gatsbys.") 
In these essays, Stevenson, with wit and insight, describes crossing Poland by bicycle, the countries of former Yugoslavia, visiting the battlefields of Okinawa, and Albania'™s brave new world ("The province of pyramid schemes and stolen cars"). He explores the myths of Omaha Beach and Steven Spielberg'™s Saving Private Ryan ("a war movie by a guy who has seen a lot of war movies"). Whenin New York after September 11, he recalls his earlier visits to Asian battlefields ("the skeletal frame of the Trade Center evokes the dome at Hiroshima").

Letters of Transit: Essays on Travel, History, Politics, and Family Life Abroad

Literature & Fiction

Stevenson, Matthew

Poetry

Odysseus Books

In these essays, Stevenson, with wit and insight, describes crossing Poland by bicycle, the countries of former Yugoslavia, visiting the battlefields of Okinawa, and Albania's brave new world (?the province of pyramid schemes and stolen cars?). He explores the myths of Omaha Beach and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (?a war movie by a guy who has seen a lot of war movies?). When in New York after September 11, he recalls his earlier visits to Asian battlefields (?the skeletal frame of the Trade Center evokes the dome at Hiroshima?).

Mentioned in Dispatches: The Travel Essays of an Expatriate American

Travel

Stevenson, Matthew Mills

Travel Writing

In these essays, Stevenson, with wit and insight, describes crossing Poland by bicycle, the countries of former Yugoslavia, visiting the battlefields of Okinawa, and Albania's brave new world (?the province of pyramid schemes and stolen cars?). He explores the myths of Omaha Beach and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (?a war movie by a guy who has seen a lot of war movies?). When in New York after September 11, he recalls his earlier visits to Asian battlefields (?the skeletal frame of the Trade Center evokes the dome at Hiroshima?)

In April 2005, Matthew Stevenson author of the acclaimed Letters of Transit and Mentioned in Dispatches , both collections of travel essays flew from his adopted home in Switzerland to his native United states and set out on a cross-country journey by car. Written in the accessible style of a long letter home, this book combines the narratives if travel, memoir, sports and history, which blend together in Stevenson s wry sense of observation.

An April Across America

History

Matthew Stevenson

Americas

In this new collection essays, Matthew Stevenson weaves together a historical tapestry of the last hundred years. From the battlefields of Gallipoli and those around Armenia, to Cold War Washington and modern Beirut, he has written a compelling, yet often humorous and always accessible account of persons and places encountered in his travels.

Remembering the Twentieth Century Limited

Matthew Mills Stevenson

From his European home, prize-winning travel writer Matthew Stevenson sets out across the United States by train, rental car, plane, and bike, to reconnect with such celebrated places at the South Dakota Badlands, post-Katrina New Orleans, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Civil War Virginia, and gentrified New York City. Along the way he writes about former President Bill Clinton, Senator George McGovern, private rail cars, Amish Lancaster, and Mount Rushmore. The book is delightful tapestry of American places and history.

Whistle Stopping America

Acclaimed travel writer Matthew Stevenson, author of Whistle-Stopping America and other books, drives across Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, in search of the coal industry and forgotten battles of the American Civil War.

Appalachia Spring

Reference

From the author of Letters of Transit, Reading the Rails, and Appalachia Spring comes this delightful account of a journey across the Peoples Republic of China, in search of the men who shaped its modern history. Along the way Matthew Stevenson visits Maos cave house in Yenan, where Chiang was kidnapped in Xian, General Joseph Stilwells house in Chongqing, and Sun Yat-sens hideouts in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Between Beijing and Hong Kong, and many places in between, Stevenson moves around by bicycle, train, and foot, allowing him to describe the places that shaped the lives of Chinas founders. Of Maos cave in Yenan, Stevenson writes: The simple houses are dug into the side of the hill and are reached by climbing steps from the parking lot. Most have nothing more than a bed, a few chairs, a table, and a cupboard -- the revolution playing out in what New Yorkers would call a single-room occupancy. The Revolution as a Dinner Party is a graceful book, full of observation and humor, that is perfect for one today thinking about China -- either its past or future. It also an accessible history of Chinas last hundred years and biographies of the men at the heart of the countrys many conflicts.

The Revolution as a Dinner Party: Across China with Edgar Snow, Mao Tse-tung, Joseph Stilwell, Chiang Kai-shek, and Sun Yat-sen

Noted travel writer Matthew Stevenson sets out by train and bicycle from his home in Geneva, Switzerland, and rides from the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian War around Sedan to Paris, Tours, and Biarritz. The book is an easy blend of travel, diplomatic history, literature, and French politics. Along the way Stevenson sees the trenches around Verdun, the siege lines at Sedan, the cities of Paris and Orleans, and the haunts of Biarrtiz, which so enticed German Chancellor Bismarck. Stevenson writes with empathy and humour, making him the ideal companion for this little tour of France.

Biking with Bismarck: A Little Tour in France

Europe

Our Man in Iran: An American Writer Travels Around the Islamic Republic on the Edge of War and Peace

Historical Study & Educational Resources

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Books by Odysseus Books

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Odysseus Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Letters of Transit: Essays on Travel, History, Politics, and Family Life Abroad

Mentioned in Dispatches: The Travel Essays of an Expatriate American

Mentioned in Dispatches: The Travel Essays of an Expatriate American

An April Across America

Remembering the Twentieth Century Limited

Whistle Stopping America

Appalachia Spring

The Revolution as a Dinner Party: Across China with Edgar Snow, Mao Tse-tung, Joseph Stilwell, Chiang Kai-shek, and Sun Yat-sen

Biking with Bismarck: A Little Tour in France

Our Man in Iran: An American Writer Travels Around the Islamic Republic on the Edge of War and Peace