Madeira And The Canaries

Ostensibly a guide book, or a sort of promotional publication, the author based this book on several trips to each - the Madeira Archipelago and the Canary Archipelago. Madeira is 400km north of the Canaries, and the former is an autonomous Portuguese territory, the latter an autonomous community of Spain.

The author, we are told, is a travel writer for The Sunday Times, and it comes across as a little formulaic. Published in 1953 (my edition republished by The Travel Book Club in 1954), it is obviously going to be dated, but captures the time it was written. The real guide basics are contained in the appendices - how to get there, where to stay, car hire, public transport, passports, currency - sounds a bit Lonely Planet doesn't it!

The book follows a similar template for each half, dedicated to one of the destinations. The main body of the book covers the journey there (or more accurately several ways to get there, as she wraps up multiple visits), a chapter on history (two for the Canaries), the physical attributes of the islands, an explanation of the main towns, the main industries and exports. In the case of Madeira there are a couple of chapters on Madeira wine, and for the canaries chapters on each island - Gran Canaria, Lanzarote & Fuerteventura, La Palms, Hierro & Gomera and Tenerife.

It wasn't gripping; it was pretty mild and touched on basic tourism; but, there are not many books on Madeira and I will generally read anything published by The Travel Book Club, and the excellent ones certainly outweigh the slightly dull.

2.5 stars, rounded down.