A Book of Travellers' Tales, by Eric Newby

Oh, I love Eric Newby. He was born in 1919, and following a period as a POW spent his life in the fashion business and book publishing, writing such classics as "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" (one of my favourites), and "Slowly Down the Ganges."

In his travel writing he veers from the poetic and evocative to the downright hilarious, but in this travel compendium he has gathered some of the funniest and most poignant snippets I've ever read.The book covers over 2000 years of travel writing and over three hundred different authors, as disparate as Queen Victoria, T.E. Lawrence and Shackleton. It is, put simply a gem.

Read it cover to cover or dip in and out of its cool, refreshing waters on a hot, sticky day; what will strike you most is the fact that the experiences of travellers for the last two millenia have hardly changed at all. You'll find this reassuring next time you are being fleeced in Egypt, lose your baggage or are heartily seasick.

Of particular value are some handy phrases from Murray's Handbook of Travel Talk; the usefulness of the German phrase for "the coachman is drunk and impertinent" is only rivalled by that of "'tis is quite a hurricane. I am really much alarmed," the latter obviously coming in more pertinent in this time of global warming.

There are also a multitude of tips from a Rev. Tatchell, who dispenses many words of wisdom.."A llama has but one method of attack or defence and that is to spit in your eye, and the ploughing buffaloes of Siam, though driven with ease by a tiny native child, resent the smell of a white man."

"There are few beds more comfortable than a dry ditch in England in June. The law is that you must not sleep within fifteen yards of the middle of the road."

"Should you be attacked by a mob in the east, hurt one of the crowd and hurt him quickly. The others will gather chatting round the injured man and you will be able to slip away. However.. you are much more likely to be attacked by a dog."