Books that have inspired you to travel?
 

I'm curious to know if there are any books that you've read that has inspired you to travel. I have some time off this summer and need to keep the wanderlust alive. Looking for suggestions. Some of my favorites are:

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon
Long Way Around by Charlie and Ewan
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Into the Woods by Bill Bryson
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (started but lost interest. Maybe try again this year)
The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne


Anyway, any suggestions?


Suggested Reading...[edited]

One Man Caravan by Robert Edison Fulton, Jr.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
Robert Byron - The Road to Oxiana (personal favourite)
Eric Newby - A Short Walk In The Hindukush
Wilfred Thesiger - Arabian Sands
Colin Thubron - Among The Russians / Lost Heart Of Asia
Travels of Ibn Batutah
Michael Palin - Around The World In 80 Days / Pole To Pole
Peter Hopkirk - The Great Game
Mungo Park - Travels To The Interior Of Africa
Mondo Enduro by Austin Vince
Terra Circa by Austin Vince
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
The Alexandria Quartet by Laurence Durrell
Among the Mountains, Travels through Asia by Wilfred Thesiger
Sailing Alone Around the World / Spray by Joshua Slocum
Good Vibrations - Coast to Coast by Harley by Tom Cunliffe
Backblocks America by Jo and Gareth Morgan
Under Asian Skies by Sam Manicom
Around the World in Wanderer III by Eric C Hiscock
Author Colin Thubron
Author Dan Walsh
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
Seven Ages of Paris - by Alistair Horne
Elseph Beard - Lone Rider

"One Man Caravan" by Robert Edison Fulton, Jr.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Caravan-I.../dp/1884313051

"This adventurous work records Robert Edison Fulton's solo round-the-world tour on a two-cylinder Douglas motorcycle between July, 1932 and December, 1933. First published in 1937."

An absolutely amazing story. Well worth reading. After being out of print for decades, it was recently re-published with some additional photos. I can't recommend it enough.

In fact, I haven't read it in about 20 years, and I notice they have a Kindle downloadable edition, so I think I might buy it and read it again. You may have to do a search of the title for the link to this: https://www.amazon.com/One-Caravan-R...ne+man+caravan

$14 US

Thank you! I've been on the fence about this one. I looked for the Kindle version just now and it doesn't appear to be available. Hmmmm...

I've also gotten recommendations for Elseph Beard's Lone Rider. Having seen the recent interviews with her on MCN's YouTube channel, she seems like a very good storyteller.

As I Walked Out One Misummer Morning
 

This is a memoir by Lauri Lee. It tells how the young author leaves the security of his Cotswold village in Gloucestershire to start a new life, at the same time embarking on an epic journey by foot.
In 1934 Lee walks to London and survives by playing the violin and labouring on a building site. As work dries up he scrapes enough money to raise a passage to Vigo in Spain, from where he tramps for a year to the south, eventually he is trapped by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
I first read it nearly 50 years ago and it inspired me.

Robert Byron - The Road to Oxiana (personal favourite)
Eric Newby - A Short Walk In The Hindukush
Wilfred Thesiger - Arabian Sands
Colin Thubron - Among The Russians / Lost Heart Of Asia
Travels of Ibn Batutah
Michael Palin - Around The World In 80 Days / Pole To Pole
Peter Hopkirk - The Great Game
Mungo Park - Travels To The Interior Of Africa

To name but a few...

Woah, I'm very glad that I asked. Thank you both

By the way, I took a look at your blog and I am already beginning to dive in. Fantastic site. :thumbup1:

Different sorts of books can inspire ... we have a few that are Motorcycle based, others are just great yarns. Films come into play as well.

Bruce Brown'sOn Any Sunday (1971) was a major inspiration for millions of young motorcyclists, mostly USA based. I saw the film and took up Flat Track racing ... at age 14! doh (I did not go far)

Easy Rider also got the worlds's attention. Hundreds of tacky biker movies from the 60's ... but none came close to Easy Rider. A classic.

I read a lot when on the road in the 70's (mostly none bike travel).
I stumbled upon Simon's Jupiter's Travels I read it in around 1986 ... it still holds up strong today.
Turns out Ted and I were in S. America at the same time (sometime in 1975)
Nope, never ran into him!

Also liked Austin Vince's books from his two films: Mondo Enduro and Terra Circa. Of course the films are better as they came first, books came as addendum's. But the books aren't bad ... Austin is a funny guy!

One favorite author that brought inspiration to travel was Henry Miller. He wrote Tropic of Cancer in 1934. Controversial at the time and banned in USA and elsewhere.

Other Favorites:
The Alexandria Quartet - Laurence Durrell

Easy Rider certainly rang the bell for me. At the time it was just the bikes, music, travel, hippy peace and love lifestyle that appealed but I must have watched it 20 times since - last time a few months ago - and I see more and more 'philosophy' in it. That's what comes of watching it sober these days :rofl:

Ted and I were biking on opposite side of the Mediterranean back in '73 when he set off but he didn't wave. :rofl: When Jupiter's Travels came out it was a real game changer for me. No longer the 'Darkest Africa' of Stanley and Livingstone that school had left me with or the sheet of sandpaper as a map of the Sahara, but somewhere you could actually go to yourself. All you had to do was get on the road and keep going. And that's still the case, give or take a bit of politics, today.

You need to read Zen and the Art at least twice and, even then, it needs a great deal of thought, not to say effort; without that effort, you won't progress with his theme.

Motorcycle riding is but the stage on which he sets his theme.
Perzig's later book, about morals, is still one that I haven't managed to finish.



In contrast, I lost interest in Stewart's book when he became a politician.


Anything written by Eric Newby is worth a look - he was a travel writer.
"A short walk" has very little to do with walking, but it is about the Hindu Kush.

Whereas, Thesiger happened to put his life into words.


Thesiger and Newby met in one or other of the Stans.

I recently read a book by Newby from his 1977 journey on the Trans-Siberian. Good, but nothing like as witty as 'A Short walk...'

Thesiger was an amazing man, tough and extremely strong. When he came upon Newby and his climbing partner in Afghanistan, exhausted and sick with dysentery after their attempt on the summit of Mir Samir and presently trying to inflate an air mattress he remarked 'Gosh, you must be a couple of pansies'.

Thesiger managed to document a very intimate look into two societies now disappeared; The Bedu of Arabia and the Marsh Arabs. Sadly the rest of his travels in Africa and Central Asia are not very extensively documented.

I recently read a book in a similar vein to 'Arabian Sands'; 'Nunaga' by Duncan Pryde. It's a great look at the author's life with the Eskimos of northern Canada in the 1950s and 60s. A great account, though the author does not have Thesiger's social and academic credentials and the book may have been ghost-written.

Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World", on the "Spray", published 1899. I read my father's copies of Slocum's two voyages about age 10. Slocum's second book ended early when he disappeared at sea. It sparked my dream of traveling to far and distant lands, seeing all sorts of exotic places. Made me a National Geographic fan all my life.

"Among the Mountains, Travels through Asia" by Thesiger covers at least some of his time travelling in the Stans.
To me, he was one of the old school "class" people of the UK who simply lived out their lives irrespective of any one else's concepts of how to do the same.
He not only travelled but he LIVED - not everyone does that.

His time spent with the Marsh Arabs, for instance (later, Saddam tried to end that way of life by draining the marshes).


Thesiger was living life in the mode of Nietzsches' philosophy.

These authors are now dead - Pirzig died only about a year ago - I know of no one who can replace them, with a possible exception of Jordan Peterson who is sweeping all before him at present, coming at life from a very different, professional, perspective but covering similar ground nevertheless.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...-Thesiger.html


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/b...intenance.html




I recall that book from my teen years also, when I was very much into sailing and all things associated with being at sea. A man who was way ahead of his time I guess.

'Good Vibrations - Coast to Coast by Harley' by Tom Cunliffe. (2000)
and
'Backblocks America' by Jo and Gareth Morgan. (2007)

These books both inspired me to ride 42,000 km (26,000 miles) around North America during 2007/08.

Then I read: 'Under Asian Skies' by Sam Manicom. (2007)

I broadly followed Sam's tracks for a few years from 2009/10 onwards.

Originally though, back in the 1970s, I read and re-read 'Around the World in Wanderer III' by Eric C Hiscock. (1957) .. or was it by J. R. Hartley?

I never did sail around the world! although I managed to sail a trans-Atlantic (Gibraltar ~~> New York City) back in April 1989.

Books can and definitely do give us inspiration & motivation. :yes:

Gertrude Bell and the Arabs
 

In contrast to the modern day political animal, here was a real politician who got things done and held real beliefs while not being afraid to express them; not a Thesiger certainly, but living her life fully.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell

Not dead yet 2nd edition by Oisin Hughes dropped on my doorstep Friday.
Only brought this after seeing his RTW trip on Youtube. Will let you know how it pans out but if his videos are anything to go by then it should be a 9 or 10 out of 10.

Thanks for the heads-up. :thumbup1:

I've just hooked-into the first of his video series. Looks like a fab story to follow. Six minutes into Part 1 of 52 .. and I've already subscribed!

I'm a Dan Walsh fan as well. :thumbup1: Dan was on HUBB years ago and is mentioned in several posts over the years. And you might even find his posts here under Dan23.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ays-must-36591
You can buy his book on Amazon, also sold under title of "Endless Horizons".
https://www.amazon.com/These-Days-Th.../dp/1846053102

I liked the book but for me his best were articles he wrote for UK's
BIKE magazine. He worked for them for years, goes even further than his book does. Africa, UsA, Latin America and more.

I had mentioned Dan to some Motojourno friends I knew at US Motorcyclist magazine. They ended up sponsoring Dan after reading his BIKE pieces. They got him a new BMW F650 and some up front cash and he did a few installments for the magazine.

So off he went, writing pieces for both BIKE and Motorcyclist ... but something happened in Buenos Aires and Dan kind of went into a self described drunken spiral. He finally pulled out and managed to get the book done.

But as I've said, IMO, Dan's best work were his articles from the road.

Dan is a Manchester, UK native. Not sure where he is now.

So many good suggestions. I'll have to update the first post and make a comprehensive list.

I'm glad to see that a number of you mentioned quality of writing as well. It's something that I particularly look for being a English teacher and having done my fair share of wordsmithing.

Patrick, any chance there's an online resource for Dan's work from his motojournalism days?

cry of the kalahari
 

the cry of the kalahari took me to africa!!

It's been a while since I last read These are the Days etc but a little like Zen and the Art etc you start off wishing you could lead his lifestyle and then end up pleased that you don't. Both the best of times and the worst of times at the same time.

Paul C's (anyone here?) review of These are the Days on Amazon puts bike travel books in a kind of scholastic pecking order: Sam Manicom is the trusted teacher who delivers the goods, Graham Field's lessons will pass in a blur. You won't remember half of what you did but it was inspirational, but Dan Walsh is the crazy supply chemistry teacher who got sent home at lunchtime. Pity that Dan wasn't around for the 'is this the real life, is this just fantasy' early days of Bike but making it back from his first 'road test' might have been problematical.

If he does get back into print I hope he manages to avoid second album syndrome. I've been reading Three Men on the Bummel recently. No, it's not some kind of Victorian gay porn epic but the follow up to Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome where, now somewhat portly, they wheeze their way round the Black Forest on bicycles. It would be perfect for a literary version of those 'you'll never believe what that cute kid actor looks like now' click bait sites.

IMO, Dan's work is nothing like Zen and the Art.

For me, only readable part of Pirsig's "Zen and" were his literal bike maintenance parts, too few and far between for me.

The rest were scattered thoughts of a semi boring Philosophy teacher. :nono:

In contrast, Dan's book is mostly totally readable ... funny and entertaining, save the very end ... which gets a bit depressing. But mostly we see humor everywhere ... which is very hard to do!

But as I said above ... IMO, all his BEST WORK can be found in his earlier BIKE articles. All funny, up beat, crazy ... and FUN! (a good editor can make even an average writer look brilliant!)

So did you actually read his BIKE articles? His Africa stories were some of my favs. :thumbup1:

2nd album syndrome is tough. As much as I wanted to love Ted Simon's follow on books ... I did not. Jupiter was it. His Zenith, IMHO.

The guy being left out ... a real current pioneer ... is Austin Vince.
Hopefully we'll get a new crop of young traveler geniuses soon to re-define the genre and keep us interested.

Same Manicom tried to pass off a trip he'd made 5 years previous for a current Adventure book. Some decent writing ... but a bit sleepy for me. A classic "jumping on the ADV band wagon" guy.

bier

Years ago I looked but could not find much of his work in the BIKE archives. Now?
I'm sure it's all out there somewhere.

You may find his work in archives of Motorcyclist's magazine and perhaps BIKE's are now more comprehensive than 10 years ago when I last looked.

I used to hang onto BIKE magazines when I was working at City Bike. But ditched everything about 8 years ago. Too much clutter. Tons. :oops2:

I had stacks and stacks of magazines that I was hoarding. I made the purge a few years back too. What is the year range I'd be looking for in the archives online?

Good question ... I'm not positive but thinking from 1999 up to about 2004.
Good hunting. bier

Updated the first post with the running list. I've got a few that I'm definitely going to dig into.

Cheers!

Books that inspired travel
 

Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. Stunning read at the time

One text is listed twice.
I'll let you figure the dual listing.

Another case of a good author with a very good command of the use of English who happened to also have an interest in travelling by motorcycle.


It's easier that way round; some motorcyclists wouldn't know how to construct a coherent sentence.
But ghost writers and youtube will deal with that.

Fixed beer

Agreed. I like Ted Simon for the quality of writing. I had heard an interview with him and he is particularly proud of Jupiter's Travels for this very reason. It may sound a little boastful, but I can't argue that it is very well written and I will give credit where credit is due.

No, that's not what I was trying to say. The two books are at opposite ends of the spectrum but it's my reaction to them that's the same. I'm happy riding along with the bike trip bits but but once they start exploring some of their respective 'lifestyle concerns' I start squirming in my literary seat and wondering where it's all going.

I've read "These are the Days' twice (although, as I mentioned, not recently) and remember it as being funny, engaging, superbly written and full of life. It's what he's writing about - 'life max' I suppose, that makes me feel uneasy. If it's not the writing that's supersaturated it all then Dan's burning through his life at a different rate to the rest of us. You just know there has to be consequences, if not now then eventually, and at some level you fear for him.

Remember that bit at the end of 2001 A Space Odyssey where one minute they're trundling along looking at the scenery in their spaceship and the next it's all gone psychedelic - 'my god it's full of ... quality. Whatever you think of Pirsig's philosophy you have to wonder where he's gone mentally. For me both books ended up as slow motion mental car crashes, trips where the wheels came off.

Re Bike mag, the early weed and chops editions from '71 on - anarchic and 'lifestyle' orientated with bikes almost as bit players, would have suited Dan's style perfectly had he been active then. But whether it would all have been 'excessive' is anyone's guess. The requirements of publishing deadlines and profit margins didn't seen to have the same priorities then as they did when Dan was writing for them years later. But that's just from the outside looking in. Maybe I simplistically bought into a vision conjured up by 9-5 latte sipping city types tapping away on their typewriters and more Bentley than BSA. I hope not.

Book!
 

Seven Ages of Parisb - by Alistair Horne

One of my very favorites <3

Elspeth Beard - Lone Rider
 

Plus 1 for this book. Amazing way she portrays her journey. It's not just about the riding or destinations. It describes the personal issues travelling as a lone female in a man's world (as it was deemed back then). the break downs (both bike and relationships), working, harassment, extortion etc...

I read it in 2 days. :thumbup1:

Agreed there. Riding and destinations are fine, but articulating the experience and how it affects you is where the depth of the writing comes into focus.

Which rather neatly encapsulates the dire condition of many blogs about riding motorcycles that are churned out these days.

I don't follow.

This is DEAD ON! and yes ... I felt that fear too. For a while he went missing and no one seemed to know where he was. Before that I saw this darkness closing in on him ... and I feared the worst.

He finally surfaced in an old Buenos Aires Hotel, after a long bender. Seems like he was lucky to have made it through. :mchappy:

It takes a writer to write a decent blog
 

For example:-

https://www.writerswrite.com/authorblogs/

I recognize some of those authors. Very nice. :thumbup1:

I'd add "A Fortune-Teller Told Me", by Tiziano Terzani.
Not so much to do with fortune tellers, to be honest, just a Dude who made up an excuse to go to some pretty interesting places, and talk to some interesting people. A very engaging writer, I thought.

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is a short, but powerful book about life and travel, that feels like it's so much longer, in a good way.

I also had problems, at first, with "Zen and the art of.......".
After finding the right time, and forcing myself through it, I've now read it multiple times.
It's one of those book that doesn't actually seem to say a lot in itself, but sends me off down another rabbit hole, that I'd not even thought of before.

Another one, that is nothing to do with travel or motorcycles, but it kind of makes me want to travel, just in the grasp the moment, you only have one life kind of a way, is "As a man thinketh" by James Allen. Another thin book, short book, that feels like an epic, and a multiple reader for me.

Big thumbs up for Joshua Slocum too. If you liked that, try "Ocean Crossing Wayfarer", by Frank and Margret Dye. Not quite the epic of Slocums tale, but a similar spirit of adventure, and gets the travel/adventure juices flowing.

Good suggestions. I've read The Alchemist and As a Man Thinketh. I enjoyed both, although they did not stir me as much as I had expected. Perhaps their reputations led to greater expectations. :thumbup1:

As an update, I re-read Jupiter's Travels and then paired it up with Riding High, both by Mr. Ted Simon. I still think he is one of the best wordsmiths out there in this genre. I finished Lone Rider by Elspeth Beard a few days ago and found her book very engaging. She went through some crazy experiences on her trip.

I began Sam Manicom's Into Africa but didn't mesh with it. I tried a few others and eventually settled on The Long Ride Home by Nathan Millward. Guy rode a postie from Australia to London. Millward has a good sense of humor and I enjoy his reflective writing. I guess with a max speed of 68km/h you have plenty of time to reflect! haha

The nice thing about a Kindle is that you can usually download a sample chapter for free. Really enjoying that little device.

Also, I was looking for Dan Walsh's These are the Days that Happen to You for my Kindle, as getting books down here to Honduras is a pain the ass. The Amazon USA store sells only paperback and hardcover. Upon investigating, Amazon UK offers a Kindle version but it wouldn't let me download it to my device! How annoying. I reached out to Walsh and he said that he sold the rights to the book and has no involvement with the distribution and that he couldn't help me at all. /shrug

Perhaps also search for the alternate title:

Endless Horizon

https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Horiz.../dp/0760336040

But several dealers stock the book under both titles.

Thanks for the update ... YES, Ted's books do hold up well over the years!

Thanks for the recommendation with the alternate title. I gave it a go and it looks like I'll have to wait until my family sends me a box from the motherland. I found a used copy on Amazon for a few bucks. With my work at school starting this week, I doubt I'll have much time for leisure reading anyway. beer

Edit - Where there is a will, there is a way! It's up next after I finish Millward's book.

I'm happy to report that The Long Way Home by Nathan Millward was a surprisingly good read. So far I've read Ted's books, Elspeth's Beard's and now Millward's, all in the past month or so. I find it interesting that all three stories take the same turn towards the last quarter of the book. Each picks up the pace and makes a dash for home. The writing falls off and suddenly the author has passed through a grip of countries in just a few pages.

I can relate to that, when I was on my way home from my long-ish trip, simply getting up super early and doubling the daily mileage in Mexico until I landed back in the USA. It's probably why I wouldn't consider shipping my bike to Ushuaia and then riding back home to New England.

On a side note, I just started Walsh's book. 10 pages in and I can already tell that it's going to be good.

Not quite what you mean I suspect, but my parents put my wanderlust down to "Around the world with Ant and Bee"! That must have been embedded in my subconscious, but I was introduced to overlanding by a friend of my father who gave me his cherished "First Overland" by Tim Slessor when I was about 12. I subsequently spent 11 years driving overland trucks, eventually making the London - Singapore trip twice. He was very proud to have influenced me in this way, and my mother never forgave him!

My buddy just had his first kid this year and I'm the godfather to him. Already have gotten moto related things for him and have plotted the string of books that will get to him once he's old enough. /devilish grin

Everything I've read by Paul Theroux has been good. Also Graham Greene - Journey Without Maps, Wilfred Thesiger - Arabian Sands, Peter Mathiessen - The Snow Leopard and Eric Newby - A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush.

I don't see any mention of Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. It's about a tour around the USA in the late 70s by van, not motorcycle, but I found it a very interesting read. I recommend it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Highways

A map of his trip:
http://littourati.squarespace.com/st...s/moon_map.htm

Agreed. I think Theroux is a great writer. Thanks for the other suggestions.



Intriguing! Thanks for the links!

I tried out a few more recently after getting tired of Dan Walsh's incessant sarcasm and pessimism. Settled on Chris Scott's Desert Travels. He's impressively articulate and a good storyteller.

My reading has slowed down a bit as school has started and I'm teaching multiple novels.

Inspirational
 

One title missing from the discussion is
Last Hurrah! : From Beijing to Arnhem 2005
(author) Des Molloy


An incident-packed three-month trek from Beijing to Arnhem on 'Penelope', a 1965 Yorkshire-made 650cc Panther, and 'Dutch Courage', a 1954 Norton 600. The route took them across the Northern-most of the Old Silk Roads over the roof of the world through China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the burning deserts in Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and finally to Arnhem in Holland.

Jupiter's Travels was, for me, a landmark read in the late 1970's.
Nothing was the same after reading it.
Now, at the age of 63, I am finally able to make plans to ride from Cape Town to Nordkapp.
It's going to be interesting.

Not sure its been mentioned but 'Running with the moon' by Jonny Bealby. Great book with lots of adventure and some romance (traveling down Africa) I've lent it to plenty of non bikers and they really enjoyed it as well.

Anything written by Austin Vince or his wife Louis. Likewise Nathan Millward and Chris scott.

So many great books out there.

Riding with the wind, about the iron butt rides.

Two great books instantly spring to mind:

10 years on Two wheels by Helge Pedersen

These are the days that must happen to you by Dan Walsh

Also great books and very popular:
Adventure Motorcycling Handbook by Chris Scott and Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon.

travel books and books that inspire
 

For Me Ted Simons books
then
The Jungle is Neutral by by Freddie Spencer Chapman, not a travel book per se, but one that puts your odd little incidents into perspective

Stolen Journey, by Oliver Philpot, a journey though occupied Europe
again thought provoking

War Walks by by Professor Richard Holmes, shows the interlinking of history over thousands of years, and renewed my interest in the Great War, by showing how history keeps criss crossing the same arteries of trade

With a machine Gun to Cambrai by George Coppard
an ordinary soldiers account of the Great War, and his Return many years ago to lay the ghosts to rest

Round the World A Wheel by John Foster Fraser
an uninspiring cycle ride around the world with 2 friends in July 1896
so typical of the Victorian generation he made light of his problems
I have a first edition, its rare but worth seeking out or borrowing

and finally, Two Wheel to War by Martin and Nick Shelly
A book I reviewed a few years ago see below

First let me lay my cards on the table !

I have long had a keen interest in motorcycles, and from a very early age I was dreaming about riding and touring on one, later on against parental wishes I took to the road, and still today at my advanced age continue to ride and explore the world around me, viewing it in wonderment and awe

Many of the places mentioned in this book are familiar to me from reading about the Great War, and motorcycling along many of the same roads and villages. My wife's family have always been confused by my love of motorcycles, (they being simple country folk, grew up with cars and tractors) but recently it emerged that her grandfather, was a despatch rider in the Great War and rode a triumph Model H (a picture found on the wall of a relative long forgotten about, brought this fact to life and jogged a few memories).

Now the title of this book may lead one to believe that it is all about motorcycles, and that could make for boring and mundane reading for those of you not afflicted with my passion. Worry not, this is a story of the Great War, young men from all social classes coming together, and growing up quickly and learning to cope, while the world changed around them, and staying sane amidst the horror and destruction for which their generation were ill prepared.

This comprehensive book written by Martin and Nick Shelly, who are both motorcyclists and restorers of Vintage motorcycles, and Marque experts for the V.M.C.C., and highly respected amongst the motorcycling fraternity, is a labour of love, and well worth reading.

The book is based upon the diary and letters home of W.H.L. Watson, one of the intelligent and articulate young men of his day, of whom so many were slaughtered in the Mud of the Somme.So many of these Bright young men were lost that universities had to open up to a wider range of students (one of those being the son of a mill worker, J.B. Priestley)

W.H.L Watson wrote about his life, from joining up with the R.E and taking his motorcycle along to qualify (it is likely that he purchased his machine solely to join up) he writes with great skill of his friends and comrades, the experiences and the horrors, and yet makes light of his suffering. His book, published in 1915 was based upon letters that he wrote home, and that his family loaned to his old school to publish, the Censors initially missed this out, the book being heavily censored, the censored paragraph's are all included and highlighted in this book.

To add to this fine work, Martin and Nick have managed to locate many of the pictures taken at that time by Watson and his comrades, and to decipher their real names from the nicknames used in the stories.

Also letters home from from other members of his regiment are included and nicely cross reference the various scenes so vividly illustrated by him.

Many of these articles have not been seen since 1916 , and appear fresh and new to our modern eye.

Also included is an entire chapter devoted to the types and makes of motorcycles used in the Great War, and to the tools and spares that these men carried on their motorcycles, and to the riding and maintenance of them.

Now reading about their trips, often in darkness, on poor roads (long before tarmac), with the risk of enemy action, mechanical failures, friendly fire, and just the physical damage done by riding in such awful conditions, one is filled with respect for their actions; more so when you consider the fact that the motorcycle as a form of transport was still in its infancy and not considered much more than a rich man's toy!

The motorcycles of this Great War generation, share about as much in common with modern motorcycles as do the Wright Brothers flyer and the Boeing 737. They both have engines and they both fly, but their the similarity ends. (I purposely rode one yesterday to make a full comparison)

These machines, jokingly referred to as gas pipes, were little more than a conventional bicycle to which a crude and often unreliable stationery engine had been affixed, lights were either oil or acetylene, punctures common, as were bent and fractured fork blades, broken spokes, bent rims and snapped frames, broken drive belts, or snapped valves, or just mysterious faults beyond comprehension.

Added to this fact was the lack of petrol and oil available and the lack of skill mechanical engineers well versed in motorcycles to assist the riders.

Many human stories of triumph over adversity are in this fine book, of course the heroism and danger is downplayed as was common with that generation.

The story of them getting behind the lines and stealing a car under the noses of the enemy is real boys own stuff.

Upon first joining the Royal Engineers, Watson's opinion of the Regular soldier is not one of praise or respect, but then the different social stratas that they inhabit would explain that.

However given time, his experiences of the British Army, turn his opinions around, and I find he has a fair old judgement of the system before long, balanced and fair, and heaps praise gently upon the men serving under him and of those he serves and works under.

This book ties in well if you are studying the Great War, so many stories of this period were written by the leaders and decision makers, often some time afterwards and with little personal criticism or explanation of their actions.

The battles of Le Cateu, Mons, The Aisne, and the Retreats, the panics, and some terrible actions are well recorded, you will learn much about how the ordinary soldier lived and eat, their opinions of senior officers, the fear as they went out into the night

This is a very comprehensive book, and even those who know little or nothing about motorcycles will learn from it, all the complexities of the machines are explained in simple terms and with great accuracy, without glorifying the technical details. It runs to 302 pages, well printed and easy to read, 100 black and white photographs and 8 maps.

It is a book well worth reading on a dark evening with the window open and the smell of the French countryside wafting in, if only to remind you how lucky you are, and reading it made me wonder how I could have coped under those conditions ?