The broken road : from the Iron Gates to Mount Athos

Of the three books in the trilogy, this is probably my favourite. Whether this is because I am very familiar with one of the stops on the journey (Bucharest), which made this a fascinating description of the interbellum city and its inhabitants, or whether it is because this was the first part of the tale to be written down and thus has a more youthful, raw tone, I am not sure. Certainly the final stages of the book, which take place after the completion of the journey, are drawn directly from diaries written at the time, which lends the observations an immediacy that is refreshing.

The trilogy as whole is the very definition of a tour de force, unlike any other travelogue (except maybe Jupiters Travels). It captures both the atmosphere of inter-war Europe, when Eastern Europe could still be as mysterious a place as the Far East, and also paints a wonderful picture of the people encountered on the way. The author obviously has a deep respect for the people who crossed his path or helped him on his way.

This should be high on the reading list of anyone with an interest in real life adventure (with a small ‘a' since the book deals more with human relationships than adversity).