Granta – The Bell Bookshop

Islander

Emma — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Britain is an archipelago made up of two large islands and 6,289 smaller ones. Some, like the Isle of Man, resemble miniature nations, with their own language and tax laws; others, like Ray Island in Essex, are abandoned and mysterious places haunted by myths, ghosts and foxes. In this evocative and vividly observed book, Patrick Barkham explores some of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain as he travels to ever-smaller islands in search of their special magic.

Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey

Emma — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Few landscapes in the British Isles are as iconic as the islands that lie off the north-western Scottish coast. Over a period of six years, Madeleine Bunting returned again and again to the Hebrides, exploring their landscapes, histories and magnetic pull. With great sensitivity and perceptiveness, 'Love of Country' delves into the meanings of home and belonging, which in these islands have been fraught with tragedy as well as tenacious resistance.

Hotel Years

Emma — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The hotel that I love like a fatherland is situated in one of the great port cities of Europe, and the heavy gold Antiqua letters in which its banal name is spelled out shining across the roofs of the gently banked houses are in my eye metal flags, metal bannerets that instead of fluttering shine out their greeting. In the 1920s and 30s, Joseph Roth travelled extensively in Europe, leading a peripatetic life living in hotels and writing about the towns through which he passed. Incisive, nostalgic, curious, and sharply observed - and collected together here for the first time - his pieces paint a picture of a continent racked by change yet clinging to tradition.

Indonesia Etc.

Emma — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

One in 30 of the people on this planet is Indonesian. The 13,000 islands of their homeland, scattered along the equator, stretch the distance from London to Tehran, and the residents of the capital, Jakarta, tweet more than those of any other city on the planet. By any standard, Indonesia is a global hub, one of the most dynamic and diverse countries of the 21st century. But you don’t have to look far from metropolitan Jakarta to find poverty, superstition, ancient rituals and black magic.Travelling from volcanoes and jungles to reefs and snowy peaks, investigative reporter Elizabeth Pisani sets out to capture the real Indonesia. On the way she meets the Sultan of Jogjakarta, a former presidential candidate who keeps a posse of albino dwarfs in his court, visits one of the largest red light districts in Asia, joins protesters trying to ban Lady Gaga from their homeland, and takes tea with a recently deceased grandmother.Written with Pisani’s trademark wit and brio, this is an entertaining and indispensable guide to a fascinating country we can’t afford not to know more about.