Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Birds of Europe
by Lars Svensson
Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, the second edition of this exquisite guide features updated text and maps.
Vanishing Cornwall
by Daphne, Dame Du Maurier
Du Maurier celebrates Cornwall, the county that served as the haunting backdrop for Rebecca, exploring its legends, history and people -- and making a powerful plea for its preservation.
A Pair of Blue Eyes
by Thomas Hardy
One of Hardy's lesser-known novels -- tragic, romantic -- and set in Cornwall.
Persuasion
by Jane Austen
Set in Lyme Regis and Bath, this novel is possibly Austen's most mature finished work. There's particular pleasure for Bath-goers here, as much of the final action unfolds in streets and buildings that exist in Bath to this day.
Cornwall Map
by Ordnance Survey
A colorful, British produced map of Cornwall at a scale of 1:100,000.
King Arthur and His Knights
by Eugene Vinaver
A volume of Arthurian legends directly attributable to Mallory's original tales.
Rising Ground, A Search for the Spirit of Place
by Philip Marsden
From Bodmin Moor and Tintagel to the granite tombs of the southwest, writer- journalist Philip Marsden profiles Cornwall’s most ancient sites and ritual places. At the heart of his discussion: the relationship between man and landscape.
In Search of England
by H.V. Morton, Jan Morris (Introduction)
The much-beloved, enduring account of Morton's ramblings through the English countryside in the early days of the motorcar. Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture and history of the place with his own keen observations.
Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
Du Maurier's classic is a sustained, suspenseful psychological novel, memorably set on the Cornish coast. This book is a must-read for literarily inclined travelers to Du Maurier country. Our narrator is Mrs. de Winter whose husband, a widower, holds a growing obsession with his first wife.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan, Sir Doyle
Conan Doyle's only full-length novel featuring the beloved Sherlock Holmes, this intrigue is set on in eerie Dartmoor.
Prehistoric Britain
by Timothy Darvill
An archaeological history examining the development of societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of 43 AD.
The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages
by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg
This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a chronology.
The Cornish Coast Murder
by John Bude
A classic crime novel first published in 1930s and set in a vividly depicted fishing village on the picturesque Cornish Coast. Inspector Bigswell must work with the shrewd Reverend Dodd to uncover the truth behind a mysterious murder.
Kingdom by the Sea
by Paul Theroux
This time, the prolific writer recounts a coastal journey around the British Isles in 1982, displaying his occasional ill temper alongside his celebrated ability to combine social history with a good old-fashioned traveler's tale.
No Fixed Abode, A Journey Through Homelessness from Cornwall to London
by Charlie Carroll
Charlie Carroll travels from Cornwall to London the old-fashioned and quaintly English way: on foot. Carroll explores ideas of homelessness as he experiences the life of a tramp firsthand. Mixing current affairs with travelogue, he interviews Boris Johnson, Jeremy Paxman and the homeless people who work with them along the way.
Jamaica Inn
by Daphne du Maurier
This classic, set in Cornwall, has all the elements of a guilty pleasure: piracy, murder, the High Church, a dying request and a dashing young horse thief.
Roman Britain, A Very Short Introduction
by Peter Salway
An excellent, brief overview of the Roman period in Britain by a leading specialist.
England Southwest, Midlands, Wales Map
by Michelin Maps
Presented in vivid color, this highly detailed road map of England and Wales reaches from Liverpool and Manchester, south to Penzance and Portsmouth. Scaled at 1:400,000.
Wild Coast
by Marianne Taylor
A celebration of Britain's magnificent coast through authoritative text and oversized color photographs. Taylor not only captures the island's sheer limestone crags and rocky shores but also the coastline’s wildlife habitats, where terns and plovers bicker and wildflowers crown clifftop meadows.
Lonely Planet Devon & Cornwall
by Lonely Planet
This comprehensive practical guide in the hallmark Lonely Planet style includes local and regional color maps, a section of photographs, and chapters on history, culture and attractions.
Seamanship, A Voyage Along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles
by Adam Nicolson
Nicolson offers an engrossing account of a coastal voyage from Cornwall, along the western coast of Ireland, out to the Faroes and to Orkney in this brief hymn to the sea.
