The New "Grand Tour"

In this book, the author sets up for his own “Grand Tour” by providing a dry chapter on the British tradition for the well-to-do to go on tour. He quotes lots of example texts, discusses routes etc and put me to sleep at least twice.

His own “grand Tour”, some time just prior to publication of this book in 1970, is not the most adventurous - in fact it is a coach tour, with circa 30 other people, looked after by a driver / guide and his assistant. The initial chapter through Europe is particularly boring, and I was heading rapidly towards beginning to skim read. There was an improvement when he reached Turkey, a further improvement in Iran and Afghanistan. India and Nepal were pretty good too.

There are a number of things I look for in travel books. This author has really only hit on two of these things - which is excellent descriptions of things he sees; and historical context - explaining the history of the places travelled through, and tying it back to the journey.

As for the things that, for me, are missing in this book include:
a/. Interactions with people encountered. Any interactions are very short and typically consist of someone wanting to sell him something. Coach travel means interactions are limited to ‘when you stop', whereas travelling in local transport opens a window into how other people live. Isolation from the people you are travelling amongst doesn't make for great reading.
b/. The actual travel. We hear practically nothing of the travel, and likely this is because the coach travel is not interesting - it is isolated and non-interactive with the places being passed through. We move seamlessly from one city to the next, and one country to the next.
c/. Pacing - the ebb and flow of adrenaline as travel goes well, and goes bad. As a reader I want to experience vicariously some excitement. Literally nothing went wrong on this trip. A few bits fell off the coach on some rough roads, but there was just no danger, no crescendo, no revelations. It was all just very pedestrian.
d/. Photos and maps. These were present and they were ok, very small map, but better than none.

However what saved this book from fewer stars than I awarded is his nicely written descriptions. In particular his descriptions of markets, souks and bazaars. It sorely misses interactions with people though!

3 stars