Tourism History

They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers, rain forest royalty, more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our prehuman ancestors, influenced diverse cultures, and played key roles in the dawn of civilization.

Every journey has its stories. Beginning with Enid Blyton and childhood in the Isle of Purbeck, Peter Fiennes embarks on a unique exploration of Britain. He follows in the footsteps of some our greatest writers, tracing the paths recorded in their books, journals and diaries, and looks for the country they knew. How much has time changed us? And has it been for better, or worse? Are we trapped in the past?

Der John Verlag veröffentlicht die schönsten irischen Sagen, Mythen und Legenden als Hörbuch. Die grüne Insel Irland blickt auf eine lange Geschichte zurück. Erste menschliche Spuren stammen aus der Zeit um 8000 v. Chr. Die ersten Kelten, die die irische Kultur bis zur Christianisierung prägen sollten, gelangten um 600 v. Chr. auf die Insel.

Aokigahara, also known as the sea of trees, is a forest on the flanks of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, spread over 30 square kilometres of rock hard lava which was laid down during the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864. The western edge of Aokigahara, where there are various caves that fill with ice in winter, is a popular destination for tourists. Parts of Aokigahara are very dense, and the porous lava rock absorbs sound, all adding to a sense of solitude that some visitors decide to be the perfect place to implement their final act.

A Speck on the Sea chronicles the greatest ocean voyages attempted in the littlest boats.

In 2016, while working as a journalist in Yangon, Clare Hammond discovered an obscure map that showed a web of new railways spanning the length and breadth of the country - railways not shown on any other publicly available maps. She was determined to uncover the railways' origins, purpose, and most of all, the silence that surrounded them. She would spend three months travelling on these mysterious railways, and the next five years piecing their story together.

In 1888, Nellie Bly, a feisty, investigative reporter for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World newspaper, pitched a story idea of traveling around the world in 75 days to beat the record achieved by Phileas Fogg, the character in Verne's book. While the editor thought it a great idea, he naturally thought the trip should be made by a man. The idea was shelved for over a year.

In 1967, a retired army major and self-made millionaire named Paddy Roy Bates cemented his family’s place in history when he inaugurated himself ruler of the Principality of Sealand, a tiny dominion of the high seas. And so began the peculiar story of the world’s most stubborn micronation on a World War II anti-aircraft-gun platform off the British coast. Incorporating original interviews with surviving Sealand royals, Dylan Taylor-Lehman recounts the battles and schemes as Roy and his crew engaged with diplomats and even thwarted an attempted coup.

In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain.

From autumn 2018 to spring 2019, British journalist Stephen Powell traveled the length of Portugal, following a zigzag path of nearly 1,500 kilometers on foot. Away from the mass tourism, he wanted to form his own unhurried impressions of this very distinctive country. He discovered a very mixed reality. The dark side was the blight of rural exodus that is emptying so many villages. But he also found a profoundly generous, warm-hearted people with time to converse—a gift that is not found everywhere.

Author and art historian Laura Morelli is here to help. In Italy, it's not easy to tell the treasures from the trash. In this audiobook, Morelli leads you through the region's most authentic arts. By teaching you the difference between authentic master artisans and the knock-offs, Morelli will make you every tourist trap's worst nightmare: an educated buyer. Join Laura Morelli on a journey beyond the souvenir shops into an immersive cultural experience you won't find in any other guidebook.

“In Australia, where the language spoken is English (well, sort of, there is the real possibility for the tourist to soak up just a little of the Australian culture,” the authors declare. Graeme Newman, professor at SUNY, Albany and a native of Australia, and his daughter, Tamsin, provide “a personal guide on getting to know Australia and Australians… linking the things tourists like to do (sightseeing, eating and relaxing) with the history and character of the Australian people.” With helpful tips on preparing for your trip, as well as suggestions for background reading before ...

Francis Parkman was a noted 19th Century American historian who wrote widely about the American West.

Dave Hill was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. But his grandfather was from Canada. Inspired by a publisher's payment of several hundred dollars (Canadian) in cash, Dave has traveled all over Canada, reconnecting with his heritage in such places as Montreal, Moose Jaw, Regina, Winnipeg, and Merrickville, meeting a range of Canadians, touching things he probably shouldn't, and having adventures too numerous and rich in detail to be done justice in this blurb. The result, he promises, is "the greatest Canada-based literary thrill ride of your lifetime".

Jeff Shaara, America's premier Civil War novelist, gives a remarkable guided tour of one of the Civil War battlefields every American should visit. He captures the true meaning and magnitude of the conflict.

Indiana Counties The Stories of Indiana's Counties includes a thumbnail history of each of Indiana's 92 counties. The history includes a sketch of each county's namesake as well as the dates they were established by the Indiana legislature. Indiana History The establishment of counties was a key step in the history of Indiana as settlement in the state advanced from the regions near the Wabash and Ohio River and the areas near the border with Ohio. County Seat and Courthouse Histories of each of Indiana county courthouses are also included, as these structures are the cornerstone of many ...

The green fields, rugged highlands, and rolling hills of England, Scotland, and Wales are commonly associated with adventure, romance, and seclusion as well as literary figures like Jane Austen and William Wordsworth. But in reality, many of these rural places—with their country houses, lakes, and shorelines—were profoundly changed by British colonial activity. Even hamlets and villages were affected by distant colonial events.

This audiobook tells the story of the brave officers and men of the nuclear attack submarine USS Queenfish who made the first survey of an extremely important and remote region of the Artic Ocean. The unpredictability of deep-draft sea ice, shallow water, and possible Soviet discovery all played a dramatic part in this fascinating 1970 voyage.

One-third of the Earth's surface is classified as desert. Restless, unhappy in love, and intrigued by the Desert Fathers who forged Christian monasticism in the Egyptian desert, William Atkins decided to travel in eight of the world's driest, hottest places. Each of his travel narratives effortlessly weaves aspects of natural history, historical background, and present-day reportage into a compelling tapestry that reveals the human appeal of these often inhuman landscapes.

This thoughtful examination of a century of travel writing about the American West overturns a variety of popular and academic stereotypes. Looking at both European and American travelers' accounts of the West, from de Tocqueville's Democracy in America to William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways, David Wrobel offers a counternarrative to the nation's romantic entanglement with its Western past and suggests the importance of some long-overlooked authors, lively and perceptive witnesses to our history who deserve new attention.