This week Go Read looks at A Corkscrew is Most Useful: The Travellers of Empireand the Lonely Planetguide to Southwest England
A Corkscrew is Most Useful: The Travellers of Empire
Nicholas Murray
Little, Brown, £25 in UK
Tourism is no new phenomenon, and this book is a
collection of more than 40 Victorian travellers who roamed the
British empire and beyond.
Each chapter is a rapid account of one explorer's trip, seasoned with snatches of his or her writings. We have, among others, Richard Burton sneaking disguised into Mecca, a place forbidden to Christians; James Ross battling the elements in the Antarctic; Fanny Parks enraptured by India; and Henry Stanley in pursuit of Dr Livingstone.
Many of them seem full of self-importance, pontificating on how the natives fall short of British standards. Racism and xenophobia are rarely far away: this is the world viewed through a twisted, empire-enthused prism.
Some of the features still crop up in travel writing: in 1849, for example, Josias Porter bemoans the fact that "in this age of locomotion, the romance of travel is gone"; everything has been seen, and tourists are the bane of the true traveller, particularly those on tour with a certain Thomas Cook.
Devon, Cornwall Southwest England Lonely Planet,
£10.99 in UK
Some of Murray's selections might have been better
served by holidaying at home, particularly when England can offer
so much, particularly along its southwest coast. This guide covers
the rugged toe of Britain, from the regal grandeur of Bath to the
ancient mysticism of Glastonbury Tor, and from the brooding
expanses of Dartmoor to the wild, wind-blown coast of Cornwall.
This guide has an appetising, outdoorsy feel that makes for perfect
weekend-away planning.