Synopses & Reviews
Rudyard Kipling's genius for evoking the sights, sounds, and atmosphere of a place was crystallised in his fiction, in which he introduced Victorian and later readers to the drama and exoticism of the East. Kiplings poetry, journalism, and letters also encapsulated the spirit of the places he visited, from Egypt, India and Brazil to the United States and Southern Africa. Introduced and edited by Andrew Lycett, Kipling Abroad captures the range, curiosity and sheer talent of this beloved author, revealing as much about Kipling himself as it does about the places he visited, and staking a claim for his recognition as the father of modern travel writing.
Review
PRAISE FOR “The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes”
"Comprehensive and action-packed.... The first [biography] to incorporate private family papers that became available only after the death of the author's last surviving offspring.... We see Conan Doyle's flaws as clearly as his virtues...." -- The Washington Post
"Lycett seamlessly interweaves Conan Doyle's letters, autobiography, and published travel writing.... The most detailed map yet published." -- Los Angeles Times
"[An] excellent biography.... Comprehensive and authoritative, it is undoubtedly the best account of Doyle to date, and the best we are likely to get." -- The Sunday Times
"[A] sympathetic new biography...shrewd and thorough...entertaining." -- The Independent on Sunday
Review
Praise for KIPLING ABROAD:
"Andrew Lycett has had the good idea of making a collection of Kiplings travel writing...[he] has compiled a very enjoyable anthology. There is scarcely a single piece that isnt worth reaing. Kiplings keen observation and gift for illuminating phrase are everywhere apparent and book will be welcomed by aficionados." --Allan Massie, Literary Review
"This perfect bedside book collects the most descriptive and revealing of his travel writings...Kipling comes across as an engaging travel companion- thoughtful, curious and acute- and a writer perfectly able to evoke and crystallise the sights, sounds and spirit of a place." --Clover Stroud, Sunday Telegraph
"[Kipling] was one of the great travel writers... But despite his wonderful fluency, quality inevitably suffers with volume, making a selection such as this particularly valuable. This excellent selection shows us once again, if we were in any doubt, that this man really could write." -- Jad Adams, The Guardian
"Kiplings biographer Andrew Lycett presents a useful anthology of the authors travel writings, drawing on letters and journalism as well as on Kiplings published books and poems." --London Review Bookshop
"Yet it is increasingly clear from this excellent selection of travel writing across five continents that (Kipling) is at his strongest in Indian and Egypt, as if the east were not a place that he must describe, but a part of his very being that he must express...For all his sins (which were many), this excellent selection shows us once again, if we were in any doubt, that this man really could write." --Jad Adams, The Guardian
"Kiplings native India is well covered, but also to be found here are his impressions of the United States and descriptions of the Caribbean, Egypt, South Africa, the British Isles and Japan." --London Review of Books“If Kipling has been a closed book to you until now, this is a good place to start before heading over the mountains to his marvellous poetry and fiction.” -- Alasdair Buchan, Diplomat
"A sensitive illustration of the awareness expressed by Kipling in his poetry." -- Elizabeth Lowry, Times Literary Supplement, May 2010
PRAISE FOR “The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes”
"Comprehensive and action-packed.... The first [biography] to incorporate private family papers that became available only after the death of the author's last surviving offspring.... We see Conan Doyle's flaws as clearly as his virtues...." -- The Washington Post
"Lycett seamlessly interweaves Conan Doyle's letters, autobiography, and published travel writing.... The most detailed map yet published." -- Los Angeles Times
"[An] excellent biography.... Comprehensive and authoritative, it is undoubtedly the best account of Doyle to date, and the best we are likely to get." -- The Sunday Times
"[A] sympathetic new biography...shrewd and thorough...entertaining." -- The Independent on Sunday
Synopsis
Rudyard Kipling's genius for evoking the sights, sounds, and atmosphere of a place was crystallised in his fiction, in which he introduced Victorian and later readers to the drama and exoticism of the East. Kiplings poetry, journalism, and letters also encapsulated the spirit of the places he visited, from Egypt, India and Brazil to the United States and Southern Africa. Introduced and edited by Andrew Lycett, Kipling Abroad captures the range, curiosity and sheer talent of this beloved author, revealing as much about Kipling himself as it does about the places he visited, and staking a claim for his recognition as the father of modern travel writing.
About the Author
Andrew Lycett is author of the definitive biography of Rudyard Kipling. As a former foreign correspondent, he has travelled widely and worked in most parts of the world written about by Kipling, legendary author of The Jungle Book and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Lycett's other books include much praised biographies of Ian Fleming, Dylan Thomas and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is a member of the Council of the Kipling Society and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Table of Contents
* Introduction * India - From the Plains to the Hills * Asia - Eastern Promise * North America - Beautiful Land of the Masses * Britain - The Glory of the Garden * Europe - Cradle of Good Living * Middle East and North Africa - A Taste of the Orient * South Africa - Winter Warmth * The Sea - On the Long Trail * South America and the Caribbean - Rolling down to Rio * General - Further Aspects of Travel * Bibliography * Index *