Writers' Journeys That Shaped Our World

Described as 'one of the country's finest pop culture historians', Travis Elborough is an acclaimed author and social commentator who lives in London. His work delves into the ephemera of retro culture as well as the history of London, geography, and a broad range of other subjects. His Atlas of Vanishing Places won the Illustrated Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in 2020, and he has also written The Bus We Loved, a passionate love letter to the Routemaster bus which defined London transport for more than 50 years. His other works include A Traveller’s Year, A London Year, The Long-Player Goodbye, Being A Writer and A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution. Travis is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and the Guardian, and has penned articles on all aspects of travel and culture, from pirates in the Caribbean to donkeys at the British seaside. He has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine and Kinfolk among others, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he teaches creative writing.

'This is a must read for lovers of literature, especially those with a lust for travel. But the book is much more than this in that it opens windows allowing the reader to view travel with fresh horizons. As Christie said, quoted in The Writer’s Journey, “Not until you travel alone do you realize how much the outside world will protect and befriend you.” The Writer’s Journey can be your friend.'

• IntroductionHans Christian Andersen Becomes a Novelist in ItalyMaya Angelou Loses Her Heart to GhanaW.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood Go to WarJane Austen Gets a Whiff of Sea Air (and Seaweed) in WorthingJames Baldwin Falls for Paris in the FallBasho Takes the Narrow Road to the Deep NorthCharles Baudelaire Fails to Make It to IndiaElizabeth Bishop Is Bowled Over by BrazilHeinrich Böll Is Enchanted by the Emerald IsleLewis Carroll Finds Another Wonderland in RussiaAgatha Christie Boards the Orient ExpressWilkie Collins and Charles Dickens Are Far from Idle in CumbriaJoseph Conrad Sees True Horror in the CongoIsak Dinesen in and out of AfricaSir Arthur Conan Doyle Discovers the Perfect Place to Bury Sherlock HolmesF. Scott Fitzgerald Bathes in the Light on the French RivieraGustave Flaubert Indulges Himself in the OrientJohann Wolfgang von Goethe Gets Lost in ItalyGraham Greene Learns to Love Life Again in LiberiaHermann Hesse Goes East in Search of EnlightenmentPatricia Highsmith Spots a Likely Character in PositanoJamaica and Haiti Cast a Spell on Zora Neale HurstonJack Kerouac Goes on the Road for the First TimeJack London Pans for Gold in the KlondikeFederico García Lorca Takes a Bite of the Big AppleKatherine Mansfield Mines Her Time at a German Spa for StoriesHerman Melville Sees the Watery Parts of the WorldAlexandr Pushkin Convalesces in the Caucasus and the CrimeaJ.K. Rowling Gets a Train of Thought on the Line from Manchester to LondonAntoine de Saint-Exupéry Crashes into the HeadlinesSam Selvon Sails to EnglandBram Stoker Stakes Out Dracula in WhitbySylvia Townsend Warner Finds Poetry in the Essex MarshesMary Wollstonecraft Soothes a Broken Heart in ScandinaviaIt’s All Greek to Virginia WoolfSelected BibliographyIndexPicture Credits​