The Hejaz Railway, built at the dawn of the twentieth century, was a miracle of its age: eight hundred miles of track laid across some of the harshest terrain on earth, beginning in Damascus and ending at the holy city of Medina. It cut the Hajj pilgrimage from forty days to just three and offered a lifeline to the ailing Ottoman Empire. But its promise was never truly fulfilled. By 1917, large sections lay in ruins, blown up by Arab tribes and British soldiers.A century later, Leo...

An unforgettable journey through the Middle East that follows the history of the miraculous and promise-filled Hejaz Railway.Just over a century ago, it was possible to leave Damascus by train and head south, into the desert, towards the holy city of Medina. The laying of 800 miles of track at the dawn of the twentieth century offered a political and military lifeline for the ailing Ottoman Empire, and revolutionized the Hajj pilgrimage from a forty-day overland or...

A compendium of fascinating and evocative new writing on railway travel and history. Telling of little known journeys and uncovered histories on railway routes around the world - from the UK, Europe and Africa to North America, the Middle East and Asia.From Myanmar's highlands to the British Pennines, from slow travel between coffee plantations in Borneo to a cross-continent odyssey on African railways, from the pioneers of the American West to European trains in war, this is a new...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2024'As epic as it is engaging' Tom Holland'Jaunty, highly informative and ultimately sobering' New York Review of Books'A fine book... Leon McCarron's tough journey paints a rich and enthralling portrait' Sir Michael PalinThe river Tigris is in danger. It has been the lifeblood of a...

‘It seemed a terrible shame to meet my end in Iowa; I couldn’t imagine anywhere more disappointing to die. If I were a betting man I’d have reckoned on the most dangerous thing in this state being sheer boredom. The scenery hadn’t changed for weeks and I was slowly dissolving into stimulation-deprived madness. My current predicament, then – attempting to escape through cornfields from a gun-toting alcohol-soaked rancher – was not something I expected.’Just months after graduating fr...

A compendium of fascinating and evocative new writing on railway travel and history. Telling of little known journeys and uncovered histories on railway routes around the world - from the UK, Europe and Africa to North America, the Middle East and Asia.From Myanmar's highlands to the British Pennines, from slow travel between coffee plantations in Borneo to a cross-continent odyssey on African railways, from the pioneers of the American West to European trains in war, this is a new...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2024'As epic as it is engaging' Tom Holland'Jaunty, highly informative and ultimately sobering' New York Review of Books'A fine book... Leon McCarron's tough journey paints a rich and enthralling portrait' Sir Michael PalinThe river Tigris is in danger. It has been the lifeblood of a...

Kindle bestseller in US TravelThe Great Divide is America's premier long distance mountain bike route. It is the longest unbroken mountain bike route in the world and was included in National Geographic's list of the 50 most amazing places on earth. The route makes its way 2500 miles from Canada to Mexico as it crisscrosses the Continental Divide.Metcalfe and his riding buddy JK are mountain bikers, and Dividing the Great is the hilarious account of their journey as they at...

Within a ten-month period, Neil Peart lost both his 19-year-old daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jackie. Faced with overwhelming sadness and isolated from the world in his home on the lake, Peart was left without direction. This memoir tells of the sense of personal devastation that led him on a 55,000-mile journey by motorcycle across much of North America, down through Mexico to Belize, and back again.Peart chronicles his personal odyssey and includes stories of reuniting with fri...

For thirty years drummer author and songwriter Neil Peart had wanted to write a book about “the biggest journey of all in my restless existence: the life of a touring musician.” Finally the right time and the right tour . . . In the summer of 2004 after three decades twenty gold albums and thousands of performances spanning four continents the band Rush embarked on a celebratory 30th Anniversary World Tour. The “R30” tour traveled to nine countries where the band performed fifty-seven show...

This book is about abandoning everyday life and greeting the world and adventure with open arms. With no skills, no prospects, no plans and nowhere really to go except into the wilderness of our dreams we did just that. We had an easy comfortable life in Polperro, England, a life we had worked hard for many years to make. But as we lived this life the realization that it was not what we wanted and the need for adventure grew until in 1998 we left everything behind for the untamed wilds of ...

Following in the tradition of Ghost Rider and Traveling Music, Rush drummer Neil Peart lets us ride with him along the backroads of North America, Europe, and South America, sharing his experiences in personal reflections and full-color photos. Spanning almost four years, these twenty-two stories are open letters that recount adventures both personal and universal — from the challenges and accomplishments in the professional life of an artist to the birth of a child. Thes...