Historical
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Moving Mountains—Intrepid Women Climbers and the Peaks Named in Their Honour: Rosemary J. Brown
Published by The History Press, 2026, 282 pages If you are asked to name mountaineers who have climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world, do you think mainly of climbers who are men? If you do, you are… Continue reading
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Stories of the Sahara: Sanmao
Translated from Chinese by Mike FuPublished by Bloomsbury Publishing, 1976, 416 pages Sanmao, a Taiwanese writer, had always been attracted to the desert. In the early 1970s, she and her Spanish partner José moved to El Aaiún, the capital of… Continue reading
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South to America—A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation: Imani Perry
Published by HarperCollins, 2022, 432 pages To understand the United States, you need to understand the South, its history and its legacy. That is the premise of this book by Imani Perry, a Black scholar from Birmingham, Alabama, who has… Continue reading
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Following Nellie Bly—Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World: Rosemary J. Brown
Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2021, 184 pages “I want to go around [the world] in eighty days or less. I think I can beat Phileas Fogg’s record. May I try it?” The idea came from Nellie Bly,… Continue reading
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Black Lamb and Grey Falcon—A Journey Through Yugoslavia: Rebecca West
Published by Penguin, 2007, 1,232 pages. First published in 1941 in two volumes. This book, first published in 1941, is a travel classic and a priceless source of information about what used to be Yugoslavia. Rebecca West travelled with her… Continue reading
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How to Climb Mont Blanc in a Skirt—A Handbook for the Lady Adventurer: Mick Conefrey
Published by ONEWorld Publications, 2011, 224 pages “Take every precaution and abandon all fear.” Mary Hall, c. 1905 Why is it, when asked to imagine an explorer, people inevitably think of a sunburned unshaven white man squinting into the sun?… Continue reading
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The Lost Pianos of Siberia: Sophy Roberts
Published by Grove Press, 2020, 448 pages “Siberia is a nightmare or a myth full of impenetrable forests and limitless plains, its murderous proportions strung with groaning oil derricks and sagging wires. Siberia is all those things, and more as… Continue reading
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Destination Heartland—A Guide to Discovering the Midwest’s Remarkable Past: Cynthia Clampitt
Published by 3 Fields Books, 2022, 272 pages “Why Midwestern history? Because I love American history, and the history of the Midwest is, to a greater extent than most people realize, a key element of that history. … [P]eople need… Continue reading
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Forward—Letters Written on a Trip Around the World: Lina Boegli
Published by Cornell University Library / Legare Street Press, first published in 1904, 326 pages Alone in Cracow (in what was then Austria) and bored and lonely, Swiss pioneer traveler Lina Boegli decided to see if a woman could work… Continue reading
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A Slow Train to Switzerland: Diccon Bewes
Published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2013, 320 pages While researching a book on a Switzerland, Diccon Bewes—a Briton who has lived in Switzerland for over eight years—found a reference to a diary written by an English woman, Jemimah Morrell (known… Continue reading
Women's Travel Books 