Accompanying these 21 passionate travellers on their personal quests, we discover what drove them, and share their incredible journeys through deserts, mountains, jungles and seas to every continent, spanning 2,000 years of history from 480 BCE to the 1930s. These are true stories of daring adventure, courage, cunning, even murder and, above everything, sheer determination against all odds. Most … odds.
Most of these eight women and thirteen men were ordinary people transformed by their journeys. They travelled from Africa, China, Persia, Russia, and the Mediterranean as well as from Europe and America. Their backgrounds were diverse, including: poet, artist, invalid, slave, pilgrim, doctor, missionary, scholar, diplomat, dilettante, storyteller, and anarchistic opera singer.
Not all survived. Many have been forgotten. Who now knows that Octavie Coudreau, stranded in a canoe on the Amazon in 1899 with her dead husband, continued to chart the river? That Thomas Stevens was the first person to cycle around the world on a penny-farthing? And why was an English parlour maid abandoned on the Trans-Siberian railway and arrested by Stalin’s secret police?
With painstaking research and powerful storytelling, the author, herself a world-traveller, has created an intimate experience of each traveller’s journey and recaptured a vanished world. A compelling travel read and a treat for history lovers.
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This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Passionate Travellers: Around the World on 21 Incredible Journeys in History
Author: Trish Nicholson
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 23
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 9/10
Of the 23 readers:
22 would read another book by this author.
21 thought the cover was good or excellent.
23 felt it was easy to follow.
23 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 12 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 11 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
17 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
22 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“A fabulous book for the history buff.” Male reader, age 49
“The range of travels in this book is astonishing, in terms of when they traveled and to where. Although I would love to have seen a few more illustrations and the text is rather dense in part, it is an eye-opening book. Anybody interested in history and the great – and often unknown – travellers of the world will be thoroughly gripped by such passionate storytelling.” Female reader, aged 66
“This must have been a labor of love. I’m so impressed by the level of this author’s research and how well she put across the story of each and every traveller. I particularly liked the layout of the contents page, a short, enticing blurb written under each heading. Anybody interested in travelling and exploring the world from the comfort of a sofa, will find this compelling.” Male reader, aged 38
“My oh my, this is a good read. It follows 21 passionate travellers, sharing with the reader what drove them to do it and the amazing parts of the world they visited. Clearly written and wonderfully interesting, I suspect the author worked incredibly hard to put this together. I very much enjoyed it.” Male reader, aged 72
“There’s more information in this book than in an encyclopedia! It’s a little overwhelming, but you’ll never feel the author is skimming over the subject. History students and history scholars will find much to enjoy here.” Female reader, age 27
To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating exploration or passionate travellers, where they went, what they did, and why they did it. A FINALIST and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Passionate Travellers by Trish Nicholson
Around the World on 21 Incredible Journeys in History
A bit of history and a lot of travel is experienced in this collection of mini-biographies. I am not sure what I was expecting but this book did introduce some new and rather interesting characters that I would not have heard of without having read this book. I did find a few I had heard of before but not many.
What I liked:
* reading about the motivation behind the trips
* finding out about those taking the trips
* hearing about the people met and experiences had on the journeys
* wondering what I would have done in similar situations
* learning that Robert Louis Stevenson had tuberculosis and died so young…also intrigued by his choice of wife
* reading that travel by sea was considered medically therapeutic
* relating to the women
* gaining respect for those that made the trips and recorded them for us to read about later
* the references listed at the end
What I would have enjoyed
* photos of the people and places when possible
* A bit more about the feelings and reflections of those on the trip
Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing – Matador for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
One of the most fascinating books I have ever read! These accounts of unusual and challenging journeys are incredible. Spread of centuries, the stories the author relates will have the reader spellbound by the conditions, hardships and situations many had to endure. These stories include several remarkable women too. Eye opening and astonishing, all of them!