Arabian Sands by  Rory Stewart
 “Arabian Sands is Wilfred Thesiger’s record of his extraordinary journey through the parched ‘Empty Quarter’ of Arabia. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life—‘the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets.’ In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels. His now-classic account is invaluable to understanding the modern Middle East.” 


Fodor's Puerto Vallarta 2008  Published by Fodor's (Mexico)
One of Mexico's most exciting destinations is one of Fodor's most exciting new books. Puerto Vallarta has everything you could want in a relaxing south-of-the-border vacation: beaches, world-class restaurants, luxurious resorts, and fabulous shopping. Fodor's Puerto Vallarta 2008 has everything you could want in a guidebook. In-depth coverage of restaurants, hotels, shops, outdoor activities, and nightlife. Hotel charts help readers find the perfect place to stay on any budget. Word-of-mouth quotations from members of the online Fodor's community. Coverage of excursions to Guadalajara and Barra da Navidad. Photo-rich features that center on cultural attractions like Huichol art and mariachi, give the lowdown on finding the best spas and top restaurants, or act as visual tools to help readers plan their trips, with itineraries, charts, and illustrations. With eight thematic chapters focusing expressly on metropolitan Puerto Vallarta, Fodor's Puerto Vallarta 2008 is the most complete guide to this destination available today.

Liverpool 800 - Culture, Character, and History  by John Belchem
Published to mark the 800th anniversary in 2007 of the founding of modern Liverpool by King John, “Liverpool 800” is the definitive biography of this magnificent world city. Contributors explore the life of Liverpool over eight centuries, looking at the town’s early development, the eighteenth-century foundations of its mercantile economy, the golden period of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the difficult inter-war years, the fifties boom and the subsequent disastrous and seemingly irreversible decline - seemingly, because the winning of European Capital of Culture status for 2008 reflects Liverpool’s contemporary renaissance, an aspect of current history which is also reflected upon by the contributors.


Japan - Kobe by  Guy Bristow (Japan-Kobe)
Kobe is a city most people have heard of because of the devastating earthquake that hit it in 1995. It was rebuilt with astonishing speed and is back to being one of Japan's most pleasant cities. Hemmed in by mountains to the north, it spreads for miles along the shores of the inland sea, joining the urban sprawl of Osaka to the east. To the west is the 'White Egret Castle' of  Himeji-jo, the ultimate samurai castle and one of the few genuine ones left. Next door is a museum where you can dress up as a samurai and sit on a stuffed horse to have your photo taken...


The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan A few have called The Road to Oxiana the “Ulysses” of travel writing, which implies a zenith. No. More properly it is the “Don Quixote” of travel writing—ground zero of an entire genre. People wrote travel literature before Byron, of course, but few wrote it the same way after him. The persona he created—fussy, funny, patient (except when he is not), respectful of others but always ready to pounce—can be seen in much of the great travel literature of the latter half of the 20th century. It is a book that makes you laugh harder than you thought possible. It is a book whose beautiful prose can make you cry. Most important, it is a book that will get you out of your house, your city, your country, in search of your own Oxiana.