Award-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns into an intriguing residency in the ancient hill village of Aliano, where Carlo Levi, author of the world-renowned memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, was imprisoned by Mussolini for anti-Fascist activities. As the Yeadons become immersed in Aliano's rich tapestry of people, traditions, and festivals, reveling in the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the culinary delights, and other peculiarities of place, they discover that much of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and other notable authors revealed still lurks beneath the beguiling surface of Basilicata.

The Outer Hebrides of Scotland epitomize the evocative beauty and remoteness of island life. The most dramatic of all the Hebrides is Harris, a tiny island formed from the oldest rocks on earth, a breathtaking landscape of soaring mountains, wild lunarlike moors, and vast Caribbean-hued beaches. This is where local crofters weave the legendary Harris Tweed — a hardy cloth reflecting the strength, durability, and integrity of the life there.In Seasons on Harris, David Yeadon, "one of our best travel writers" (The Bloomsbury Review), captures, through elegant words and line drawings, life on Harris — the people, their folkways and humor, and their centuries-old Norse and Celtic traditions of crofting and fishing. Here Gaelic is still spoken in its purest form, music and poetry ceilidh evenings flourish in the local pubs, and Sabbath Sundays are observed with Calvinistic strictness. Yeadon's book makes us care deeply about these proud islanders, their folklore...

RetailNote- Cover same as on Amazon/BNTakes readers to some of the last unspoiled places on Earth, detailing the author's experiences searching for monkeys and turtles in the jungles of Costa Rica, hunting wild boar in Iran, exploring the Sahara, and more.From Library JournalThis British writer now living in the United States has compiled a number of guidebooks. Here he collects 20 accounts of his visits to mostly remote destinations on four continents. He writes of cockfighting in Haiti, train rides in India and China, a camel journey in Morocco, and some jungle hiking adventures. He tells a good story and is particularly adept at capturing the dialog of interesting people he meets along the way. Included are Yeadon's own pen-and-ink sketches. The only element lacking is some kind of unifying theme or focus; no attempt is made to link these accounts. Skillful travel writing suitable for larger travel collections.- Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., AshlandCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

RetailThe author of The Back of Beyond continues the chronicle of his odyssey into some of the farthest corners of the world, from the Mountains of the Moon in Zaire, to wilderness Tasmania, to the unknown regions of New Guinea.From Library JournalYeadon, a Yorkshire-born American resident who writes frequently for the Washington Post , National Geographic , and National Geographic Traveler , has found a niche writing about lesser-known places. Here is a somewhat random collection of pieces about places far off the tourist track: Zaire, jungle Panama and Venezuela, the Australian Outback, the southern tips of Chile and Tasmania, and Fiji. No dauntless explorer, Yeadon comes off as an ordinary sort of traveler who sometimes underestimates the rigors of his ventures. Thus, we get plenty of bad weather, leeches, blisters, a corrupt official, some loneliness leading to introspection, and unappetizing food. But through it all, Yeadon's basically cheerful nature, his eye for local characters and ear for their dialog, and his concern for the environment and for native cultures make him one of us--and thus an agreeable travel companion. He also provides charming sketches. Only the maps are substandard: this kind of book requires something much better. This work is recommended for public libraries.- Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., AshlandCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsMore rollicking end-of-the-road adventures from Yeadon. Yeadon (The Back of Beyond, 1991, etc.), who calls himself your average happy traveler,'' now explores ninelost worlds,'' blurry regions on the map, where nature still reigns and man is at best a tolerated interloper. First up--and most entrancing--is the Mountains of the Moon, a remote chain of peaks rising from the rain forests of Zaire. Invariably, getting there is half the fun, as Yeadon cruises on an African barge--a floating city, really, with its own government, economy, and teeming masses--smokes pot with Pygmies in the primeval jungle, and feasts on roasted caterpillar. Then on to Venezuela, where he fishes for piranha with llano cowboys, symbol of Latin machismo. In the Venezuelan highlands, he discovers a Catholic hermit and his little hand-built church, the pure white architecture of which brings Yeadon a dash of spiritual awakening. On to Barbuda, an untouristed sliver of land in the Caribbean; to Panama, where he wanders the jungly Darien Gap with Cuna Indians; to the fjords of Chile, which he sails in an orgy of funny self-remonstration (``sailing is for suicidal nuts''); then halfway around the world to Australia's Bungle Bungle, filled with giant termite mounds and otherworldly rock formations, where the author has a brush with death as he nearly drowns in the coral reefs; Tasmania, where he fights leeches in the rain forest; and, finally, the blissful beaches of Fiji, where he dreams of settling down at last. Filled with Yeadon's trademark good humor, contagious love of wandering, and--a new and sometimes awkward element--heavy doses of ecomysticism, sincere but ripe with clich‚. Our advice: Stick to the sights--they're mind-boggling enough. (Line drawings, maps) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In recent years, Ireland has enjoyed a newfound prosperity as Europe's most affluent nation. But tucked away in a far corner of the so-called "Celtic Tiger," that other enduring and authentic country—that small, hidden place of simple magic and romance—still exists. Acclaimed travel writer David Yeadon and his wife, Anne, set out to find it.On the Beara Peninsula of southwest Ireland, the Yeadons discovered their own "little lost world," an enticing Brigadoon of soaring mountain ranges and spectacular coastal scenery, far removed from the touristic hullabaloo of Dublin, Killarney, and the Ring of Kerry. Here is the fabled "Old Ireland," alive and well with music seisuins, hooley dances, and seanachai storytellers—a haven for searchers, healers, artists, and poets hardy enough to have braved the same narrow and winding mountain roads that keep the package-tour coaches out.Bursting with color and life, At the Edge of Ireland is an intrepid wanderer's...