the armchair traveller at the bookhaus united kingdom london (13 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Fronted by one of the world's most iconic doors, 10 Downing Street is the home and office of the British Prime Minister and the heart of British politics. This is the story of the intimately entwined relationships between the house and its post-war residents, telling how each occupant's use and modification of the building reveals their own values and approaches to the office of Prime Minister. Number 10 was designed in the late seventeenth century as little more than a place of residence, with no foresight of its current purpose, meaning that constant adaptation has been necessary to accommodate the changing role and requirements of the premiership. Written by Number 10's first ever `Researcher in Residence', with unprecedented access to people and papers, 10 Downing Street: The Geography of Power sheds new light on unexplored corners of Prime Ministers' lives. The book reveals how and why Prime Ministers have stamped their personalities and philosophies upon Number 10, and how the building has constrained the ability of some Prime Ministers to perform the role. Both fascinating and extremely revealing, this is an intimate account of power and the building at its core. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of British politics. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Allison Hepburn (illustrator). In "A Traveller's History of Greece", the reader is provided with an authoritative general history of Greece from its earliest beginnings down to the present day. It covers in a clear and comprehensive manner the classical past, the conflict with Persia, the conquest by the Romans, the Byzantine era and the occupation by the Turks; and, the struggle for independence and the turbulence of recent years, right up to current events. This history will help the visitor make sense of modern Greece against the background of its diverse heritage. Illustrated with maps and line drawings, "A Traveller's History of Greece" is an invaluable companion for your vacation. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. It's time we got to know a little more about the Chinese. Did you know they don't eat soup, they drink it? That their surnames come before their first names? That their good sense is to be found not in their heads but in their hearts? Or that white is their colour of mourning? This guide to avoiding the numerous pitfalls of Chinese etiquette is both amusing and informative. The writer and journalist Kai Strittmatter lived and worked in China for ten years. This amusing, affectionate and perceptive book provides a fascinating guide to this lively, sociable and friendly people and their complex and often contradictory society. As the author says: 'Be prepared for everything when you come to Beijing. It really is unbelievable what can happen here'. The new material in this edition takes a critical look at the challenges posed by this, the next global superpower. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Alex Capus follows every step of Robert Louis Stevenson's last years, studying every clue left behind by the Scottish writer and reaching his own conclusion about the most dramatic turn in Stevenson's life: his decision to settle in Samoa, where the climate was poison for his already diseased lungs. When he arrived there in 1889, neither Stevenson nor his family particularly liked the Pacific island and wanted to stay for only a few days. Yet soon afterwards he changed his mind and, intriguingly, spent what little remained of his savings on a plot of land and began living there on a meagre income. Before long Stevenson set about building an opulent villa and lived out the rest of his days in splendour. What had happened? Capus asserts that Stevenson not only wrote the world-famous novel "Treasure Island" here but searched for the treasure himself and furthermore found it towards the end of his life, on a little island he could see from the peak of the mountain in Samoa where he settled. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling and hearing - if you join Rafik Schami and his sister Marie Fadel on a stroll through their native Damascus, you will discover this Queen of the Orient with all your senses. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Spain has more land under vine than any other country in Europe, and over the past thirty years has transformed its wine industry into one of the greatest in the world. Using a unique combination of native and imported grape varieties, Spain now produces a wide range of quality wines. Yet its wine regions and villages, many of which are located in unspoiled and remote areas, remain relatively unknown. The authors introduce the wine-loving traveller to these regions providing a background to their wines and leading bodegas, or wineries. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The River Ganges has a thousand names. Hindu priests regard it as a sin to call her a river at all. She is a goddess, the source of the world, her waters holy and healing and still sold to Hindus all over the world. Ilija Trojanow travelled along the Ganges, from the source, where it breaks free from the eternal ice in the Himalayas, to the great cities, by boat, by bus, on overcrowded trains. He visited the great Hindu festivals and talked to those who warn of ecological disasters resulting from gigantic dams. His colourful report describes a country between ancient traditions and astonishing modernity and the holy river that crosses it for hundreds of miles. In January next year Haus will publish Ilija Trojanow's description of another great spiritual journey: Mumbai to Mecca. His travelogue, in the tradition of the rihla, one of the oldest genres of classical Arabic literature, describes the Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy sites of Islam, through the eyes of a Westener, but with the heart of a Muslim. 'From the very first moment they realize that the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca - is among the duties of each and every Muslim - the faithful long to go.' So one January morning Ilija Trojanov, with the help of his friends donned the ihram, the traditional garb of the pilgrim, and boarded a plane in Mumbai to fly to Dhiba. He joined hundreds of thousands of Muslims, who each year go on the Hajj, the greatest demonstration of the Muslim faith. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This omnibus edition brings together the three books of Nicholas Woodsworth's critically-acclaimed Mediterranean Trilogy in a single volume for the first time, allowing the reader to fully appreciate the scope of Woodsworth's search for a distinctively Mediterranean 'cosmopolitanism'. Combining travel narrative, history and reflection on contemporary lives and cultures, Woodsworth finds an intimacy, a garrulous warmth and a near-tribal sociability as he travels from Alexandria, through Venice and finally installs himself in a former Benedictine monastery in Istanbul overlooking the Golden Horn. Responding to this experience, he argues that the sea should not be seen as an empty space surrounded by Europe, Asia and Africa, but as a single entity, a place from whose coastlines people look inwards over the water to each other, for it has its own cities, its own life, its own way of being. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Lars Gustafsson and Agneta Blomqvist have written a personal guide to their Swedish homeland. Setting off from the south their journey leads them all the way up to Norrland, from the farms of Scania to the Laponian area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But it is the idyllic fjord in Bohuslan, in the Vastmanland region, as well as Lake Malar and Stockholm that they call home. Alive with their varied interests and entertaining suggestions for excursions - from journeys across the forests and moors to collect berries and mushrooms, encountering the odd elk or wolf along the way, to visits to the graves of Kurt Tucholsky and Strindberg, Smile of a Midsummer Night is knowledgeable, loving and poetic. A must-have for all fans of Sweden. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. On ten strolls through some of the most interesting areas of London, Rudiger Gorner explores the literary landscape of the capital. He meets Shakespeare, Heine and Hogarth south of the river, finds Virginia Woolf and Lady Ottoline Morell in Bloomsbury, discovers Blake and Trollope in Westminster, happens on the Carlyles in Chelsea, comes across John Keats in beautiful Hampstead and searches for Bacon and Hanif Kureishi in the London suburbs. Following this literary rambler means discovering familiar places and their history anew, by seeing them through the eyes of those who walked the streets before him. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Jerusalem is not an ordinary city and Crossing Jerusalem is not a standard telling of a city's story. While the author himself is deeply skeptical of religion, this book is both a portrait of a spiritual Jerusalem, and a recounting of the effect the city has on the spirit of one visitor who discovers its ongoing distress - through it he discovers some sort of spirituality in himself. At the same time a travelogue, a questioning of spiritual values, and an examination of the beliefs that have sustained Jerusalem's populations through centuries of conflict and division, Crossing Jerusalem offers an unusual and penetrating perspective of the city. While many of the themes the author touches upon are inevitably sensitive and controversial, Crossing Jerusalem is intended to provoke thought rather than antipathy. At a time when both Jewish attitudes and the West's foreign policy options on a Middle East solution are evolving, Crossing Jerusalem is now especially relevant. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. During its "golden age", Spain was a political giant whose influence spanned the world from Germany to the Western Pacific. Rich on American gold and silver, Spain was able to send the Armada against England, defeat the Turks and challenge France for the hegemony of Europe. This book will unlock the secrets of Spain's vibrant and colorful past, its people and culture for the interested traveller. It takes the reader on a journey from the earliest settlements on the Iberian Peninsula, through the influences of the Romans, the Goths and the Muslims, the traumas of expansion and the end of the Empire, right up to the present. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The first Europeans to catch sight of the islands of the South Seas thought that they had chanced upon paradise, and the tales they told on returning to their homes encouraged all other Europeans to idealise the islands as a tropical Arcadia. The truth was very different and the apparent idyll of the South Sea islanders was shattered by the fatal impact of European discovery. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.