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The Ritz London: The Cookbook
by John Williams The Ritz Hotel (London) LimitedAS SEEN ON TVAs featured on ITV's 'Inside the Ritz' series 'When you look at the dishes in this book, the photographs - it's beyond beautiful. You wouldn't need to cook a thing. You could just flick through these pages - it is a proper feast for the eyes.' - Graham Norton 'As sumptuous as Williams's exquisite cooking, this is a magnificent volume. And a fitting tribute to one of the world's great restaurants. The recipes aren't simple but this is one of those books to immerse yourself in. Five-star brilliance.' - Tom Parker Bowles, Mail on Sunday'Less a classic cookbook than a contemporary guide to gracious living... Subdividing its contents into four seasons, each is introed with a classic cocktail, and there are contributions from The Ritz's stellar staff. But really this is Williams's show, a masterclass in munificence...' - British GQ'A real tour de force ... Definitely the stand-out recipe book of the year for me.' - The Caterer'John Williams's food at the Piccadilly institution is revered. Now it has brought out the cookbook so you can recreate the magic at home.' - ES Magazine'Part technical recipe book, part memoir. There are Williams's memories of growing up in South Shields, the son of a trawlerman, who accompanied his mother on shopping trips to the butcher and developed a precocious taste for tripe and Jersey Royals. As for the recipes, certain classics are within the range of the dinner-party cook (salt-baked celeriac, for instance, or venison Wellington).' - Telegraph 'A work of art, full of recipes exactly as they are made in the Ritz kitchen, beautifully photographed by John Carey. Marvel at the sheer amount of work and skill that goes into each dish, the processes and the perfectionism - and maybe start with the recipe for scones on page 112.' - hot-dinners.com'... As an exemplar of classic and timeless dishes, it is an invaluable book that lets the reader peer behind the screen of one of the capital's most enduring institutions. For Williams' anecdote on the eating habits of the late Margaret Thatcher, it is worth the cover price alone.' - Big Hospitality'Distinctive cookbook... This upscale offering is wholly in keeping with its subject: elegant, carefully studied, and more aspirational than practical.' - Publishers WeeklyThe Ritz: The Quintessential Cookbook is the first book to celebrate recipes of the dishes served today, at lunch and at dinner. The book features 100 delicious recipes, such as Roast scallops bergamot & avocado, Saddle of lamb belle époque and Grand Marnier Soufflé, and is divided into the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.The recipes reflect the glorious opulence and celebratory ambience of The Ritz; seasonal dishes of fish, shellfish, meat, poultry and game. Desserts include pastries, mousses, ice creams and spectacular, perfectly-risen soufflés. There are recipes that are simple and others for the more ambitious cook, plus helpful tips to guide you at home.Along the way, John Williams shares his culinary philosophy and expertise. For any cook who has wondered how they do it at The Ritz, this book will provide the answers. There will be plenty of entertaining tales about the hotel and unique glimpses of London's finest kitchen beneath ground.
River: One Man's Journey Down the Colorado, Source to Sea (Vintage Departures)
by Colin FletcherAt age sixty-seven, Colin Fletcher, the guru of backpacking in America, undertook a rigorous six-month raft expedition down the full length of the Colorado River--alone. He needed "something to pare the fat off my soul. . . to make me grateful, again, for being alive. " The 1,700 miles between the Colorado's source in Wyoming and its conclusion at Mexico's Gulf of California contain some of the most spectacular vistas on earth, and Fletcher is the ideal guide for the terrain. As his privileged companions, we travel to places like Disaster Falls and Desolation Canyon, observe beaver and elk, experience sandstorms and whitewater rapids, and share Fletcher's thoughts on the human race, the environment, and the joys of solitude.
The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time
by Simon WinchesterA stunning tour of China, its people, and its history. Chosen as one of the best travel books of 1996 by the New York Times Book Review. Rising in the mountains of the Tibetan border, the Yangtze River, the symbolic heart of China, pierces 3,900 miles of rugged country before debouching into the oily swells of the East China Sea. Connecting China's heartland cities with the volatile coastal giant, Shanghai, it has also historically connected China to the outside world through its nearly one thousand miles of navigable waters. To travel those waters is to travel back in history, to sense the soul of China, and Simon Winchester takes us along with him as he encounters the essence of China--its history and politics, its geography and climate as well as engage in its culture, and its people in remote and almost inaccessible places. The River at the Center of the World is travel writing at its best: lively, informative, and thoroughly enchanting.
River-Horse: A Voyage Across America (Core Ser.)
by William Least Heat-MoonNew York Times bestseller: &“A coast-to-coast journey by way of great rivers, conducted by a contemporary master of travel writing&” (Kirkus Reviews). In this memoir brimming with history, humor, and wisdom, the author of Blue Highways and PrairyErth &“voyages across the country, from Atlantic to Pacific, almost entirely by its rivers, lakes and canals in a small outboard-powered boat&” (San Francisco Chronicle). Setting off from New York Harbor aboard the boat he named Nikawa (&“river horse&” in Osage), in hopes of entering the Pacific near Astoria, Oregon, William Least Heat-Moon and his companion, Pilotis, struggle to cover some five thousand watery miles—more than any other cross-country river traveler has ever managed—often following in the wakes of our most famous explorers, from Henry Hudson to Lewis and Clark. En route, the voyagers confront massive floods, submerged rocks, dangerous weather, and their own doubts about whether they can complete the trip. But the hard days yield incomparable pleasures: strangers generous with help and eccentric tales, landscapes unchanged since Sacagawea saw them, riverscapes flowing with a lively past, and the growing belief that efforts to protect our lands and waters are beginning to pay off. &“Fizzes with intelligence and high spirits.&” —Outside &“Propels the reader with historical vignettes, ecological and geological detail, and often hilarious encounters with local eccentrics.&” —Time
River Master: John Wesley Powell's Legendary Exploration Of The Colorado River And Grand Canyon (American Grit #0)
by Cecil KuhneExperience John Powel's now-famous expedition through the Grand Canyon In 1869, Civil War veteran and amputee Major John Wesley Powell led an expedition down the uncharted Colorado River through the then-nameless Grand Canyon. This is the story of what started as a geological survey, but ended in danger, chaos, and blood. The men were inexperienced and ill-equipped, and they faced unimaginable peril. Along the way there was death, mutiny, and abject terror, but Powell persevered and produced a masterwork of adventure writing still held in the highest regard by the boatmen who follow his course today. With never-before-used primary sources and firsthand experience navigating Powell’s legendary route, Cecil Kuhne brings this remarkable chapter of frontier history to life. The American Grit series brings you true tales of endurance, survival, and ingenuity from the annals of American history. These books focus on the trials of remarkable individuals with an emphasis on rich primary source material and artwork.
River Monsters
by Jeremy WadeA tale of obsession and very big fish from Jeremy Wade, the presenter of ITV's RIVER MONSTERS.Over ten feet long, it weighs in at nearly a quarter of a ton. Covering its back are armoured plates made of bone. Five hundred stiletto-sharp teeth line its long crocodilian jaws. It's a prehistoric beast of staggering proportions; a fearsome creature from the time of the dinosaurs.But the Alligator Gar, an air-breathing survivor from the Cretaceous period is still with us today, patrolling inland rivers, hunting in murky waters shared by human communities.And for Jeremy Wade, described as the 'greatest angling explorer of his generation', the Gar and other outlandish freshwater predators have been an obsession for all his adult life. With names like Arapaima, Snakehead, Goonch, Goliath Tigerfish and Electric Eel, many of them have acquired an almost mythical status.In a quest that has taken him from the Amazon to the Congo, and from North America to the mountains of India, Wade has pursued the truth about these little known, often misunderstood animals. Along the way he's survived a plane crash, malaria and a fish-inflicted blow to the chest that, according to a later scan, caused permanent scarring to his heart.In RIVER MONSTERS, Wade delivers a sometimes jaw-dropping blend of adventure, natural history, legend and detective work. It reads like a hunt for the Loch Ness Monster. But it's all true. These are fisherman's tales like you've never heard before. The stories of the ones that didn't get away ...
River of Cliffs: A Linville Gorge History
by Christopher BlakeLinville Gorge was the first Wilderness Area on the East Coast, approved by Congress in 1964. “The Grand Canyon of the East” was named for William Linville, a member of a party of long hunters in 1766 who fell victim to a Shawnee attack. The difficult terrain made early settlements nearly impossible and logging unprofitable, and it remains one of the few examples of old-growth forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Unique rock formations, from Table Rock to the Chimneys, and miles of trails attract thousands of climbers, hikers and adventure seekers each year. In this revised edition, author Christopher Blake draws on American colonial reports, travel writings, diaries, fiction and numerous archival records to weave a narrative fabric of an American treasure.
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
by Buddy LevyFrom the acclaimed author of Conquistador comes this thrilling account of one of history's greatest adventures of discovery. With cinematic immediacy and meticulous attention to historical detail, here is the true story of a legendary sixteenth-century explorer and his death-defying navigation of the Amazon--river of darkness, pathway to gold. In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man." Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river. Soon hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, their numbers diminishing daily through disease, starvation, and Indian attacks, Pizarro and Orellana made a fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home barefoot and in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men, in a few fragile craft, continued downriver into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon, serenaded by native war drums and the eerie cries of exotic predators. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving eyewitness accounts of the quest with newly uncovered details, Buddy Levy reconstructs the seminal journey that has electrified adventurers ever since, as Orellana became the first European to navigate and explore the entire length of the world's largest river. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the native populations--some peaceful and welcoming, offering sustenance and life-saving guidance, others ferociously hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attack and intimations of terrifying rituals. And here is the Amazon itself, a powerful presence whose every twist and turn held the promise of new wonders both natural and man-made, as well as the ever-present risk of death--a river that would hold Orellana in its irresistible embrace to the end of his life. Overflowing with violence and beauty, nobility and tragedy, River of Darkness is both riveting history and a breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers along on an epic voyage unlike any other.From the Hardcover edition.
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana and the Deadly First Voyage through the Amazon
by Buddy LevyThe acclaimed author of Conquistador and Labyrinth of Ice charts one of history’s greatest expeditions, a legendary 16th-century adventurer’s death-defying navigation of the Amazon River. In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana’s journey as the first European to navigate the world’s largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon’s people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals. Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
by Candice MillardNATIONAL BESTSELLER • At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait—the bestselling author of River of the Gods brings us the true story of Theodore Roosevelt&’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.&“A rich, dramatic tale that ranges from the personal to the literally earth-shaking.&” —The New York Times The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil&’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever. Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt&’s life, here is Candice Millard&’s dazzling debut.Look for Candice Millard&’s latest book, River of the Gods.
River of Forgotten Days
by Daniel SpurrA poignant voyage of discovery down the great Mississippi.Praised by such authors as John Barth, and George V. Higgins, Dan Spurr's gently powerful memoir, Steered by the Falling Stars, captured the hearts of readers with its story of death, rebirth, and redemption and its evocative description of life under sail. Now, Spurr takes us on another adventure, a voyage into not only the heartland of contemporary America but also back into the rough and ready days of exploration and discovery 250 years ago.Following the trail of the enigmatic French explorer Rene de La Salle, Spurr takes his seven-year-old son Steve and his grown daughter Adriana down the Mississippi from Chicago to New Orleans in the rundown, underpowered Belle. Throughout the journey, the juxtaposition of modern America on the river's banks and the untamed wilds of La Salle's day, as revealed through journals and historical documents, illuminates the changes in the land and its people over the intervening centuries.The inexorable flow of Spurr's clean and honest prose mirrors that of this greatest of American rivers. The voices of the river's denizens and the keen observations of the author's young and wide-eyed shipmates take us deep into the heart of an ever-changing American landscape.
River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny
by Jeffrey TaylerThe author of In Putin’s Footsteps chronicles a deadly trek through the icy Russian region known for gulags and isolation.In a custom-built boat, Jeffrey Tayler travels some 2,400 miles down the Lena River from near Lake Baikal to high above the Arctic Circle, recreating a journey first made by Cossack forces more than three hundred years ago. He is searching for primeval beauty and a respite from the corruption, violence, and self-destructive urges that typify modern Russian culture, but instead he finds the roots of that culture—in Cossack villages unchanged for centuries, in Soviet outposts full of listless drunks, in stark ruins of the gulag, and in grand forests hundreds of miles from the nearest hamlet.That’s how far Tayler is from help when he realizes that his guide, Vadim, a burly Soviet army veteran embittered by his experiences in Afghanistan, detests all humanity, including Tayler. Yet he needs Vadim’s superb skills if he is to survive a voyage that quickly turns hellish. They must navigate roiling whitewater in howling storms, eschewing life jackets because, as Vadim explains, the frigid water would kill them before they could swim to shore. Though Tayler has trekked by camel through the Sahara and canoed down the Congo during the revolt against Mobutu, he has never felt so threatened as he does now.Praise for River of No Reprieve“This is a fiercely evocative account of an astonishing journey, wrenched out of near-disaster.” —Colin Thubron, author of In Siberia and The Lost Heart of Asia“Nonfiction adventure at its best. A page-turner from cover to cover.” —Adventure Journey“Reads like a Dantean tour of purgatory, providing a gloomily beautiful glimpse of nature—and humanity—at its bleakest edges.” —Men’s Journal
River of Spirits: A Natural History of New Mexico’s Las Animas Creek (Natural History)
by Matilde HolzwarthOriginating high in New Mexico's mysterious Black Range and flowing to the Rio Grande amid contorted, ghost-like sycamores, Las Animas Creek remains one of the least accessible landscapes in the nation. The watershed is best known as the site of Apache chief Victorio's last major battle with the U.S. Cavalry before his retreat and ultimate defeat by the Mexican army. Despite its geographic isolation, the watershed remains closely linked with the history of nearby Kingston, Hillsboro and Caballo. Once home to New Mexico's last grizzly, Las Animas sustains a diverse range of native plants and wild animals, including bison, prairie dogs and mountain lions, as well as a host of endangered species. Aldo Leopold Wilderness and Ted Turner's Ladder Ranch ensure it remains Rio de las Animas, the "River of Spirits." Wildlife research biologist Harley G. Shaw compiles a human and natural history of this remote ecosystem.
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
by Candice MillardThe harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy—from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic. <p><p>For millennia the location of the Nile River&’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires. <p><p>Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. <p><p>Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself. Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. <p><p>This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived. <p><p>In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
River of the Sacred Monkey
by Dimitar KrustevAn authentic chronicle of wilderness river exploration in Central America, with a valid portrayal of the last remaining descendants of the vanishing Mayans.
The River Queen: A Memoir
by Mary MorrisThis story of a middle-aged woman's odyssey down the Mississippi River is a funny, beautifully written, and poignant tale of a journey that transforms a lifeIn fall 2005 acclaimed travel writer Mary Morris set off down the Mississippi in a battered old houseboat called the River Queen, with two river rats named Tom and Jerry—and a rat terrier, named Samantha Jean, who hated her. It was a time of emotional turmoil for Morris. Her father had just died; her daughter was leaving home; life was changing all around her. It was then she decided to return to the Midwest where she was from, to the river she remembered, where her father had played jazz piano in tiny towns. Morris describes living like a pirate and surviving a tornado. Because of Katrina, oil prices, and drought, the river was often empty—a ghost river—and Morris experienced it as Joliet and Marquette had four hundred years earlier. As she learned to pilot her beloved River Queen without running aground and made peace with Samantha Jean, Morris got her groove back, reconnecting to her past. More important, she came away with her best book, a bittersweet travel tale told in the very real voice of a smart, sad, funny, gutsy, and absolutely appealing woman.
River Road Rambler Returns: More Curiosities along Louisiana's Historic Byway
by Mary Ann Sternberg Elizabeth Randall NeelyIn River Road Rambler Returns: More Curiosities along Louisiana’s Historic Byway, Mary Ann Sternberg follows up her successful River Road Rambler with new delightful histories from Louisiana’s most famous route. Her latest explorations include a trip on a towboat as it pushes a fleet of barges down the river; the true story behind the Sunshine Bridge, fondly called the Bridge to Nowhere; a tour of one of the last working sugar mills along the River Road; stories about how two iconic plantation houses were saved; and much more.Well researched and engagingly written, River Road Rambler Returns provides keen observations on unappreciated places and offers rich histories of unusual attractions along the winding road that lines the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866–73
by Milton OsborneIn 1866, six Frenchmen set out on a dangerous mission to seek a trade route up the Mekong. During the two years that followed, they would journey through more than four thousand miles of unmapped territory, from the tropical heat of the swamps of Vietnam and Cambodia to the bitter cold of the mountain ranges of southwestern China. Their historic expedition is the dramatic subject of River Road to China by world-renowned Southeast Asia expert Milton Osborne. Selected by The New York Times as one of the best books of 1975 when it was originally published, this edition has been updated to include a new postscript by the author and more than thirty full-color illustrations by the expedition's artist.
River Rough, River Smooth: Adventures on Manitoba's Historic Hayes River
by Anthony DaltonManitoba’s Hayes River runs over six hundred kilometers from near Norway House to Hudson Bay. On its rush to the sea, the Hayes races over forty-five rapids and waterfalls as it drops down from the Precambrian Shield to the Hudson Bay Lowlands. This great waterway, the largest naturally flowing river in Manitoba, served as the highway for settlers bound for the Red River colony, ferrying their worldly goods in York boats and canoes, struggling against the mighty currents. Traditionally used for transport and hunting by the indigenous Cree, the Hayes became a major fur trade route in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, being explored by such luminaries (Pierre Radisson (1682), Henry Kelsey (1690) David Thompson (1784), Sir John Franklin (1819), and J.B. Tyrrell (1892). This is the account of the author’s invitational journey on the Hayes from Norway House to Oxford House by traditional York boat with a crew of First Nation Cree, and later, from Oxford House to York Factory by canoe in the company of other intrepid canoeists – modern-day voyageurs reliving the past.
The River Sea: The Amazon in History, Myth, and Legend
by Marshall De BruhlSince its discovery by Europeans in 1500, explorers, visionaries, soldiers of fortune, men of God, scientists, and slavers have been drawn to the legendary Amazon. The River Sea is a sweeping chronicle of those brave and hardy souls, ranging from the Spanish seafarer Vicente Pinzón, who discovered the river, to contemporary heroes and heroines, like Sister Dorothy Stang and Chico Mendes, whose efforts to save the rain forest cost them their lives.Among the vast cast of characters who people this drama of the Amazon are Francisco de Orellana, the first European to traverse the river from the Andes to the sea; the fiery priest Bartolomé de las Casas, defender of the indigenous peoples; the great scientist explorers Alexander von Humboldt and Alfred Russel Wallace; the madman and psychopath Lope de Aguirre; and the Peruvian Evangeline, Isabel Godin, who in 1769 crossed the continent, braving the terrors of the jungles to reunite with her husband, whom she had not seen in twenty years.The River Sea is a compelling account of five centuries of the history, the myths, and the legends of Río Amazonas, the most exotic and fascinating locale on earth.
River Tourism
by Malcolm Cooper Bruce PrideauxRivers constitute a major tourism resource, providing spectacular settings, recreation facilities, a means of transport, a sense of heritage and adventure, and links with the environment and natural world. River tourism accounts for a significant proportion of the world's tourism consumption, with activities such as Nile cruises and rafting holidays making it an economically important area of tourism demanding in-depth analysis. This book explores river tourism from a range of perspectives including uses, heritage, management, environmental concerns, and marketing.
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
by Peter HesslerWhen Peter Hessler went to China in the late 1990s, he expected to spend a couple of peaceful years teaching English in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. But what he experienced - the natural beauty, cultural tension, and complex process of understanding that takes place when one is thrust into a radically different society - surpassed anything he could have imagined. Hessler observes firsthand how major events such as the death of Deng Xiaoping, the return of Hong Kong to the mainland, and the controversial consturction of the Three Gorges Dam have affected even the people of a remote town like Fuling.Poignant, thoughtful and utterly compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a place caught mid-river in time, much like China itself - a country seeking to understand both what it was and what it will one day become.
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
by Peter HesslerA New York Times Notable book, this memoir by a journalist who lived in a small city in China is “a vivid and touching tribute to a place and its people” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society.Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.“This touching memoir of an American dropped into the center of China transcends the boundaries of the travel genre and will appeal to anyone wanting to learn more about the heart and soul of the Chinese people. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal“This is a colorful memoir from a Peace Corps volunteer who came away with more understanding of the Chinese than any foreign traveler has a right to expect.” —Booklist
River Vale (Images of America)
by Edmund A. ModerackiRiver Vale explores a historically rich community that has been known over the years as the Overkill Neighborhood, Harrington Township, Washington Township, and the borough of Eastwood. One of the first settled areas of the Kakiat Patent, River Vale was the scene of the Baylor Massacre, New Jersey's bloodiest skirmish of the Revolutionary War. The area's fine farmland enabled some of Bergen County's earliest settlers to flourish. Strong streams provided power for the mills and the famed Collignon chair factory.By the 1920s, a change came over the township. Its proximity to New York City made River Vale's land more valuable for recreation than for farming, and the township became known for its summer charms, golf courses, and ice arena. Visitors arriving in bus caravans traveled from urban areas to enjoy the pleasures of Herrmann's Grove, and fishermen flocked on opening day to angle for trout in the clear waters of the Hackensack River and the Pascack Brook. It was this very appeal that led to tremendous change as River Vale became one of North Jersey's attractive bedroom communities.
River Without a Cause: An Expedition through the Past, Present and Future of Theodore Roosevelt's River of Doubt
by Sam MosesA riveting journey down Theodore Roosevelt's "river of doubt" with a diverse crew of adventurers, scientists, and Indigenous leaders who shine light on the past, present, and future of a natural wonder.Sam Moses took part in the adventure of a lifetime when he, along with seventeen men and two women, embarked on the Rio Roosevelt Expedition. They would follow the former president's wake down five-hundred miles of extreme whitewater into the dark heart of the Amazon. The party was guided by two chiefs from the Cinta Larga tribe—the same tribe that stalked Roosevelt&’s expedition in 1914—who, between rapids, tell the story of the tribe&’s own Trail of Tears. After the wildest whitewater is past, Moses travels with the chiefs to their village to witness the massive illegal mahogany logging from their forest, the Roosevelt Indigenous Territory. River Without a Cause puts us in the raft during those heart pounding rapid descents, as we experience the drama, dynamics and disputes between the Bull Moose and his co-leader, Brazil&’s most famous explorer, the rigid Colonel Candido Rondon. As the Amazon stands on the precipiece of hope with the election of a new Brazillian president, River Without a Cause is a moving and galvanzing tale of adventure that is a fitting tribute to this world wonder.