Stanfords Blog

Book of the Month: Atlas of Geographical Curiosities

Our Book of the Month for October 2022 is Atlas of Geographical Curiosities by Vitali Vitaliev.

Welcome to this compendium of interesting, unexpected and downright bizarre geographical anomalies that are guaranteed to delight and inspire. The world is full of little-known facts that have sometimes been a source of diplomatic or military struggle. Many still exist under the radar now to be revealed by this entertaining treasure trove.

Where else can you discover:

The Story of Tutankhamun

By Garry Shaw, author of The Story of Tutankhamun: An Intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King.

It has been one hundred years since Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. Famous today mainly because of his treasures, the boy king is often dismissed as an unimportant pharaoh, but this is far from correct. He lived through a turbulent time in Egyptian history, and helped to steer his country back to normality. Here’s five fascinating facts about Tutankhamun that give us an insight into his life and times.

Nellie Bly: Back on the map at the RGS

By Rosemary J Brown, author of Following Nellie Bly: Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World.

Nellie Bly fans unite! The life and lessons of the intrepid journalist will take centre stage in the Royal Geographical Society’s Ondaatje Theatre when BBC news presenter Martine Croxall delivers ‘Investigating Nellie Bly: reflections on journalism and the power of curiosity’ for the Monday night lecture on 26 September.

The Amur River by Colin Thubron in pictures

Rising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific, the Amur River forms the tense border between Russia and China. This is the most densely fortified frontier on Earth.

In his eightieth year, Colin Thubron takes a dramatic and often treacherous journey from the Amur’s secret source to its giant mouth, covering almost 3,000 miles. Harassed by injury and by arrest from the local police, he makes his way along both the Russian and Chinese shores. By the time he reaches the river’s desolate end, a whole, pivotal world has come alive.

To celebrate the paperback launch of the 2022 Stanford Dolman winning The Amur River by Colin Thubron here are some photographs taken on the journey.

Map of the Month: A Travellers’ Railway Map of Europe

All Aboard! Take to the tracks and see Europe via the most scenic routes rail travel has to offer.

Our Map of the Month for September 2022 is A Travellers’ Railway Map of Europe. Presenting the Continent in a series of six maps with their enlargements, including ten city maps indicating locations of their main railway stations and a map of the high-speed network.

Children’s Book of the Month: Atlas of Dogs

Our Children’s Book of the Month for September 2022 is Atlas of Dogs written by Frances Evans, illustrated by Kelsey Heaton, published by Lonely Planet Kids.

We love dogs here at Stanfords. We are a dog friendly shop and you are welcome to bring your dogs inside. Here are just a few of our favourite customers pictured on our map floors over the years:

When we heard about the Atlas of Dogs, we knew we had to make it our Children’s Book of the Month.

Book of the Month: High: A Journey Across the Himalayas Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China

Our Book of the Month for September 2022 is High: A Journey Across the Himalayas Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China by Erika Fatland, translated by Kari Dickson.

An ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by internationally bestselling, prizewinning writer Erika Fatland, on a journey along the Himalayas.

The Himalayas meander for more than two thousand kilometres through many different countries, from Pakistan to Myanmar via Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are interspersed with ancient shamanic beliefs. Countless languages and vastly different cultures exist in these isolated mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence.

Extract: My Family and Other Enemies

My Family and Other Enemies is part travelogue, part memoir that dives into the hinterland of Croatia. Mary Novakovich explores her ongoing relationship with the region of Lika in central Croatia, where her parents were born. In recounting her own family’s tumultuous history, Novakovich opens up a world that is little known outside the Balkans, telling the stories of people whose experiences weren’t widely reported at the time, when the devastation in Croatia was superseded by the Bosnian conflict and media attention moved elsewhere.

Here is an extract:

Launch of Journeys

Online event to celebrate the Launch of John Murray Journeys

On July 11th 2022 we teamed up with John Murray Press for an online event celebrating the republication of three titles for their Journeys series: In a Land Far from Home by Syed Mujtaba Ali, introduced by Taran Khan; Desert Soul by Isabelle Eberhardt, introduced by William Atkins; and Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand by Ella Christie, introduced by Caroline Eden.

The event was hosted by Nick Hunt (author of Outlandish) with Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award-winning authors; William Atkins, Taran Khan and Caroline Eden who introduce us to these three remarkable stories, sharing with us the reasons they love them and reading some short extracts. We were also joined by translator Nazes Afroz who translated In a Land Far from Home from Bengali to English.

European Cycling Maps

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” -Ernest Hemingway.

If you are feeling inspired to plan a cycling adventure, here are some of our favourite cycling maps to take you around Europe.