Top Ten Best Travel Books of the 20th Century
Literary Picks of Last Century's Travel Novels, Guides and Memoirs
Aug 23, 2008
Members of the International Society of Travel Writing (ISTW), "an organization devoted to encouraging and fostering the work of scholars, publishers, and creators of travel writing," voted in 2006 to select the best literary works on travel produced between 1900 and 1999.
In its poll, the International Society of Travel Writing asked members to select books based "on overall excellence and to consider all narratives dealing with travel not just travelogues or books on specific areas or subjects."
Best Literary Travel Books of the 20th Century
Announced in October 2006 at the society's conference in Denver, the ISTW's choices for ten best travel books of the twentieth century include:
- Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time for Gifts, the author's account of his walk from London to Istanbul as an 18-year-old in the 1930s. The work was also chosen in 2006 as "one of the greatest travel books of all time" by travel journalist Thomas Swick, writing on the blog World Hum. Leigh Fermor continued this tale in a second volume, Between the Woods & the Water, and was reported by the Guardian in 2007 to be learning how to type at the age of 92 in order to finish the third volume in the trilogy.A Time for Gifts was first published in 1977 and reissued in 2005 as ISBN 978-1590171653.
- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways: A Journey into America. First published in 1982 and available now as ISBN 978-0316353298, Blue Highways spent 34 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Eric Newby, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (1958). Coming in at only number 17 on World Hum's 2006 list of the 30 best travel books of all time, Newby's book was reissued on July 1, 2008, by Lonely Planet as ISBN 978-1741795288.
- V. S. Naipaul, An Area of Darkness. First appearing in 1964, this early work by the Nobel Prize winner is available as a 2002 Vintage paperback, ISBN 978-0375708350.
- Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1990).
- Mary Morris, Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone (1988, reissued 1998 Picador, ISBN 978-0312199418).
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957).
- Peter Fleming, Brazilian Adventure (1933).
- Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia (1978).
- Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar (1975).
About the International Society of Travel Writing
The International Society for Travel Writing "encourages and fosters the work of scholars, publishers, and practitioners of travel writing," drawing more than 800 members from 35 countries. Although the majority are employed as faculty in college and university English departments, anyone who is "interested in contributing to the study and practice of travel writing" can join the organization. Society publications include an online review journal, New Passages in Travel Writing, as well as an online newsletter, Snapshot Traveler, that is publshed monthly during the academic year.
More Travel Reading Recommendations
Click here for more lists of good reading choices in the travel genre.
