Deborah Manley’s selection of extracts reveals how generations of writers have viewed the landscapes of Malta and Gozo, the people of the islands, the splendours of Valletta and its famous harbour, and the celebrated festas, the village festivals that celebrate the island’s Catholic identity. An introduction places these extracts in context, while the anthology also considers how Maltese writers have imagined and depicted their homeland.

No railway journey on Earth can equal the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Vladivostock. It is not just its vast length and the great variety of the lands and climes through which it passes. It is not just its history as the line that linked the huge territories which are Russia together. It is a dream which calls countless travellers to the adventure of the longest railway in the world.From the birth aboard of Rudolf Nureyev to the childhood obsession with the railway of Lesley Blanch, t...

For the Love of Grief is a raw and honest account of personal grief. Anecdotes from the authors own experiences pepper the book, and Manley offers insight into the generally-accepted stages of grief. Having lost close friends and relatives herself, the author shares stories from her own journey and offers practical advice readers may find surprising yet helpful in coping with the storms they face. For the Love of Grief offers a helping hand to those who feel alone in their grief and who st...

"Egypt is one of the two wings of the world, and the excellences of which it can boast are countless. Its metropolis is the dome of Islam, its river the most splendid of rivers." al-Muqaddasi, c. 1000 To travelers, Egypt is a place of dreams: a country whose lifeblood is a mighty river, flowing from the heart of Africa. Along the fertile fringe of its banks an astonishing civilization raised spectacular monuments that our modern minds can hardly encompass. For centuries this past dominated...

In the absence of horses, saddle the dogs. This Arab proverb, suggesting the uncompromising determination of nomads to keep moving, whatever the obstacles, epitomizes also the travelling ethos of many early visitors to the 'exotic East'. The journeys examined here are linked by the light they shed on the experience of travel in Egypt, Greece and the Ottoman Balkans, and the Near East from the 17th to the early 20th century not so much what was seen as how one got there and how one got arou...

This is a provocative collection exploring the different types of violence and how they relate to one another, examined through the integration of several disciplines, including forensic psychotherapy, psychiatry, sociology, psychosocial studies and political science. By examining the 'violent states' of mind behind specific forms of violence and the social and societal contexts in which an individual act of human violence takes place, the contributors reveal the dynamic forces and reasoni...

Sinai has long attracted travelers to its ancient caravan routes and haunting landscapes, and visitors have frequently left written accounts of their experiences. In this wide-ranging anthology, Deborah Manley and Sahar Abdel- Hakim have collected dozens of accounts and observations from travelers who have written about Sinai, its people, its sights, and its historical and biblical landmarks. Starting with Egeria, a fourth-century Christian who relates her visit to Mt. Sinai and the Burnin...

"Relentlessly entertaining"—Michelle Green, The New York TimesWomen travelers in Egypt in the nineteenth century saw aspects of the country unseen by their male counterparts, as they spent time both in the harems of Cairo and with the women they met along the Nile. Some of them, like Sarah Belzoni and Sophia Poole, spoke Arabic. Others wrote engagingly of their experiences as observers of an exotic culture, with special access to some places no man could e...

Until late in the nineteenth century, few guide books acknowledged the presence of women as travelers - although women had been traveling around the world for centuries. Women's accounts of their journeys, distinct from those of male travelers, began to appear more frequently in the early nineteenth century, and Egypt was a popular destination. Women had more time to watch and describe and they spent time both in the harems of Cairo and with the women they met along the Nile. Some of them,...

In the depths of Victorian England, a young Jesuit priest named Gerard Manley Hopkins grapples with the complexities of faith, doubt, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world. Through his exquisite and enigmatic poetry, Hopkins explores the tension between his religious vocation and his passionate love for the natural world. "I Have Desired To Go" is a collection of Hopkins' most celebrated poems, including "The Windhover," "Pied Beauty," and "God's Grandeur." These works are...