Eric Newby Pořadí knih (chronologicky)

A collection of writing from Britain's best-loved travel writer, `A Merry Dance around the World' is the culmination of a lifetime of adventure.

This book is a lush and beautiful memoir of a very special house and a superb recreation of a bygone era.

Veteran travel writer Eric Newby has a massive following and is cherished as the forefather of the modern comic travel book. However, less known are his adventures during the years he spent as an apprentice and commercial buyer in the improbable trade of women's fashion.

Alla vigilia della Seconda guerra mondiale, il diciottenne Eric Newby. stufo del suo lavoro d'ufficio in un'agenzia pubblicitaria, decide di imbarcarsi come apprendista a bordo del Moshulu. un brigantino a quattro alberi adibito all'importazione del grano australiano. Il Moshulu faceva rotta alla volta dell'Australia passando per il capo di Buona Speranza e rientrava in Europa, attraverso capo Horn. con un carico di cereali. Ogni anno una dozzina di navi gareggiavano tra loro per realizzare il viaggio nel più breve tempo possibile e spuntare i prezzi migliori (di qui la 'regata del grano'). A bordo, Newby si trova a condividere le fatiche quotidiane di un difficile apprendistato con un equipaggio formato quasi per intero da marinai finlandesi, individui spesso bizzarri, ostici e litigiosi. Le difficoltà di comunicazione, il cibo immangiabile, le invasioni notturne di cimici fanno da sfondo a quello che diventerà un vero e proprio viaggio d'iniziazione, tra violente tempeste, incontri sorprendenti, zuffe, trionfi sofferti e record mancati.

Im Frühjahr 1956 erhielt Eric Newby, der in einem Londoner Haute-Couture-Salon arbeitete, ein Telegramm aus Rio de Janeiro: „Kannst du im Juni nach Nuristan reisen?“ Absender war ein exzentrischer Freund im diplomatischen Dienst. Es war der perfekte Zeitpunkt für zwei Abenteurer, ins Innere Afghanistans vorzudringen, da die britische Armee das Land verlassen hatte und die Region noch unberührt von Touristen und Konflikten war. Ihr Ziel war ein Sechstausender im Hindukusch, obwohl sie keine Erfahrung im Bergsteigen hatten. Sie kämpften sich durch reißende Flüsse und eisige Pässe, litten unter Hunger, Dysenterie und Insektenstichen, und trotz der Widrigkeiten bewahrten sie ihren Humor. Newby beschreibt am Ende der gescheiterten Expedition ein Gefühl ekstatischer Freude. So entstand ein Klassiker der englischen Reiseliteratur. Nebenbei zeigt sich, dass der stoische Held die Sprache der Einheimischen spricht und über umfassende Geschichtskenntnisse verfügt, diese Fähigkeiten jedoch geschickt verbirgt. Evelyn Waugh bemerkte dazu: „Lieber Leser, wenn Sie etwas für das eigentümliche Inselvolk der Briten übrig haben, werden Sie diesem Kunststück nicht widerstehen können.“

'Whatever else we remember of our travels, we remember our departures and arrivals. Often they are the most enduring of all our memories of them.' From one of Britain's best-loved travel writers comes a fascinating collection of incredible highlights from an eventful life.

Whatever else he was doing, Eric Newby has always travelled on a grand scale, whether under his own steam or as Travel Editor of the "Observer". In all of his adventures his camera has never been far from his side, and the 250 photographs reproduced in this volume represent some of his finest work

As they travel around the sea at the centre of Western history, Eric Newby and his wife Wanda visit not only the better-known Mediterranean sights and cities but also venture into places where Westerners are Albania under Hoxha, the holy Muslim city of Fez, and a country about to disappear in civil war - the former Yugoslavia. Eric Newby entertains and enlightens as he follows in the footsteps of Cleopatra and St John, and waits for a meeting with Colonel Gaddafi. With his customary flair for description, he is equally at ease pondering King David's choice of Jerusalem as the site for a capital city or enjoying a meal cooked by one of France's finest chefs. His acute curiosity and encyclopedic knowledge combine to make absorbing reading, whether he is explaining the workings of a defunct Turkish harem or the contemporary Mafia. From antiquity to the present, Eric Newby's erudite, engaging tale is not a simple tour but a tour de force .