Books by Laurie Lee
“He’s got a bit of cash in his back pocket, and he effectively hitchhikes all the way to Galicia. He arrives there in 1935, then heads down to Zamora, then Toledo, and reaches the sea by September. He’s in Almuñécar in 1936, when the Spanish Civil War breaks out. A British destroyer arrives at Gibraltar, and he’s quite torn. He’s a Brit abroad and he is in danger, he should take the opportunity to go home. But he’s been searching for a story, for life on the road. He does go back to the UK, but then the rest of the book is about him trying to return to Spain—he makes his way back through down through France and through the Pyrenees, to fight. The backdrop to all this, of course, is the violin. It’s his tool, a simple instrument with which he makes his way financially. It’s so easy to carry, and everyone understands the language of music. They invite him to all these wonderful places.” Read more...
The best books on Long-Distance Journeys
Louis Hall, Travel Writer
Interviews where books by Laurie Lee were recommended
The best books on Long-Distance Journeys, recommended by Louis Hall
Travelling over long distances offers extraordinary opportunity for reflection and re-orientation, explains Louis Hall—the equestrian travel writer whose new book, In Green, describes his trek through the Alps and Pyrenees. Here, he recommends five classic travel books about long journeys that have stood the test of time.
The Best Hiking Memoirs, recommended by Gail Simmons
Accounts of journeys on foot capture the imagination; partly this is a function of the satisfaction of following a linear journey from start to finish, and partly it is a quality inherent to walking itself—a freeing of the mind. Gail Simmons, who follows an old English pilgrimage route in her book Between the Chalk and the Sea, selects five hiking memoirs that celebrate the liberation that comes from putting one foot after another.
The Best Books by Adventurers, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
One morning in early June, Laurie Lee said goodbye to his mum at the garden gate and went off on an adventure. Is now the moment for you to do the same? Bestselling author and adventurer Alastair Humphreys recommends five books written by adventurers that can’t fail but inspire you to ‘go simple, go solo, go now.’
The best books on Spain, recommended by Jason Webster
From the book Robinson Crusoe was based on to surrealist filmmakers, Jason Webster chooses five books that illustrate the power of the Spanish imagination.
