Exploration in the past

Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming (Granta Books, 1998) £8.99.
Between 1816 and 1845, John Barrow launched the most ambitious programme of exploration the world had ever seen. His hand-picked teams of élite naval officers scoured the globe's empty spaces, often at odds with each other and in surreal conditions. This book is an account of the immense expense and human sacrifice that was made in the name of exploration.

Bright Paradise by Peter Raby (Pimlico, 1997) £10.00.
Accounts of the Victorian naturalists and scientists who set out from Britain to explore tropical forests and mountain ranges.

The Exploration of Africa by Anne Hugon (Thames & Hudson, 1993) £6.95.
The stories of Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker and Kingsley, who in the space of barely 50 years travelled to the sources of the Nile and tracked the course of the Congo and Zambezi.

The National Geographic Society by C D B Bryan (Harry N Abrams, 1994) £24.99.
A centennial history of the National Geographic Society with insights into the behind-the-scenes workings of this American institution.

The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (Penguin, 1992) £10.99.
About Persia and Afghanistan, this is one of the classic travel books. Robert Byron made the journey in 1933-4 and vividly describes the people he met and what he saw.

In the footsteps of...

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great by Michael Wood (BBC Consumer Publishing) £17.99.
Michael Wood follows Alexander the Great's 20,000-mile journey from Greece to India, travelling by plane, train, boat and camel and on foot through many of the 20th century's major trouble spots, including Beirut and Kurdistan.

Quest for Kim by Peter Hopkirk (Oxford University Press, 1997) £7.99.
Peter Hopkirk had long been fascinated by Rudyard Kipling's Kim. In Quest for Kim, he fulfils a life-long ambition to retrace his hero's footsteps across India, a task that was made simpler because many of the book's characters and locations were based on real people and places.

Saddled with Darwin by Toby Green (Orion, 1999) £20.
About 165 years after it was first done, Toby Green reproduced Darwin's epic journey through six South American countries, which eventually led to his theory of evolution. Travelling mainly on horseback, Green was beset by mishap and adventure, tales of which he interweaves with Darwin's own experiences and ideas in this most individual of travelogues.

Roughing it

Backpacker's Handbook by Hugh McManners (Dorling Kindersley, 1995) £7.99.
A guide to backpacking, including planning and preparing, getting physically fit, what food and equipment will be needed and information on different terrains and conditions.

The SAS Survival Handbook by John Lofty Wiseman (HarperCollins, 1999) £9.99.
Based on the training techniques of the Special Air Service, the famous élite fighting force, this book shows how to survive outdoors, on land or at sea, in any weather, in any part of the world.

Present-day travellers

Anatomy of Restlessness by Bruce Chatwin, edited by Jan Borm and Matthew Graves (Picador, 1997) £6.99.
Collection of essays and other writings - from the late 1960s onwards - by the traveller and writer Bruce Chatwin, including short stories, travel sketches and criticism.

The Traveller's Handbook (WEXAS, 1997, out of print).
This fully updated traveller's handbook contains over 150 articles by top travel writers and experts in their fields, including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Mark Tully, Dervia Murphy, David Bellamy, Michael Palin, Chris Bonington, Benedict Allen, Clive Anderson and Sir Crispin Tickell. Every conceivable traveller and every imaginable form of conveyance is covered - from diabetics to travelling musicians and from microlighting to cargo ship. There's also a 350-page global travel directory listing embassies, airlines, specialist organisations and so on.

Zen Explorations in Remotest New Guinea by Neville Shulman (Summersdale, 1997) £12.99.
The author joins a fund-raising expedition and treks through primordial Irian Jaya, part of New Guinea.

Ecotourism

Ecotourism: An introduction by David A Fennell (Routledge, 1999) £15.99.
Using international case studies and photographs, this is an introduction to the key foundations, concepts and issues related to ecotourism.

Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who owns paradise? by Martha Honey (Island Press, 1998, out of print).
An investigation into the past and future of ecotourism, with examples from across the world.