Description

Granta has long been known for the quality of its travel writing. The 1980s were the culmination of a golden age, when writers including Paul Theroux and Bruce Chatwin, James Hamilton-Paterson and James Fenton set out to document life in largely unfamiliar territory, bringing back tales of the beautiful, the extraordinary and the unexpected. By the mid 1990s, travel writing seemed to change, as a younger generation of writers that appeared in the magazine made journeys for more complex and often personal reasons. Decca Aitkenhead reported on sex tourism in Thailand, and Wendell Steavenson moved to Iraq as foreign correspondent. What all these pieces have in common is a sense of engagement with the places they describe, and a belief that whether we are in Birmingham or Belarus, there is always something new to be discovered.

Publisher Review

Jonathan Raban's introduction is an overture, weaving themes while underscoring the common elements in many of the collection's 23 pieces ... The New Granta Book of Travel a lethal companion to take to the bedside. You'd never sleep - Scotsman This inspiring anthology celebrates the genre's literary aspirations, as well as reminding us of the myriad ways in which exploring difference, even for armchair travellers, broadens minds - Independent on Sunday Lavinia Greenlaw conjures haunting poetry in her piece on the snowbound immensity of the Arctic Circle. John Borneman, an American caught up in the Sri Lanka tsunami over Christmas 2004, gives a knuckle-whitening account of the disaster and its aftermath ... suitable armchair escapism for the New Year - Ian Thomson, Spectator Jobey's judicious selection includes many pieces by newer writers such as Decca Aitkenhead and Kathleen Jamie - Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller A hefty collection taken from the last 14 years of Granta magazine, featuring a selection of travel literature's greats, including Colin Thubron, Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin and Jonathan Raban - Traveller A collection of short stories by a select band of acclaimed writers, turns the excitement in taking a vacation 180 degrees, and holds a mirror up to a world of fear and violence, escape and disaster, and sex and desire - Edinburgh Evening News Collecting the best of the magazine's travel writings from the last 20 years, this is steely eyed, post safari shorts travel writing - and with a forward row boasting the likes of Bruce Chatwin, Paul Theroux and Colin Thubron, you know you're getting some heavy lifters ... As greatest hits packages go, this is all killer, no filler - Tom Hawker, Wanderlust