Publisher's Synopsis
My first volume of travelogues offered the casual reader a few pleasant, I hope, journeys of the imagination. Also, it had a few points to make, or at least it had a question to answer. It was my attempt to puzzle out, via anecdotes, chance encounters and a kaleidoscope of travel experiences, the ways and means in which various ancient cultures wrought what we call "civilization". What produced the dominion of Egypt, the grandeur of Greece, the glory of Rome? This volume has no such theme. It's just for fun. Travel ought to be more than moving our protoplasm from place to place, and armchair travel ought to be more than leafing through travel brochures. It should be educational, amusing and inspiring enough to make us come back for more.
