The Century travellers

272 p. ; 22 cm

From Goodreads: When Freya Stark travelled along Turkey's west coast in 1952 she met only one other tourist. Today, this region is the most popular in the country, but to travel with Stark — whose aim was to 'create a guidebook in time' — is to experience Turkey in a richer & more inspiring way than any modern guide or history can provide. In the ruins & vanished cities of Ionia lay the record of history — of what made us what we are today. Her longing to know more, to unearth the living from the wreckage of the past & to discover the ingredients that shaped the ancient world drove her forward. With Herodotus as her travelling companion, she began her quest in Smyrna & traced a route thru the ancient cities of Asia Minor, which were haunted by echoes of Odysseus & Alexander the Great, by the poets, philosophers, musicians & mathematicians who flourished in this world. Wandering beyond the boundaries of travel, she entered into the soul of ancient Ionia, examining the ever-present tension between East & West & the elements of religion, society & commerce that forged the culture of a civilisation. A journey thru the ancient world that resonates in the modern, her Ionia is travel writing at its most elegant & history at its most dynamic — a powerful & beautifully-rendered classic of 20th century literature.

"Isabella Bird, an Englishwoman whose extensive travels and writings earned her the first female membership of the Royal Geographical Society, visited Malaya, Singapore, Indo-China and Hong Kong in 1879. She wrote 23 letters describing her adventures to her sister Hennie in Scotland, and named the collection The Golden Chersonese after the ancient name given to the Malay Peninsula by the Greek scholar, Ptolemy. Her detailed descriptions of the Malay Peninsula in the 1870s are in startling contrast to present-day Malaysia and Singapore, and provide a fascinating account of many aspects of the region, including the people, culture, landscapes, and wildlife, all described with the Victorian stiff upper lip typical of her time."--Publisher's description.