Great cities through travellers’ eyes

A curious global journey with some historic names

Author Peter Furtado (editor) Publisher Thames & Hudson Price £24.95 Released Out now

Great Cities Through Travellers’ Eyes, edited by Peter Furtado, is the perfect read for armchair travellers. Within its pages Furtado has assembled some of the best historical writing about nearly forty cities, from Alexandria to Washington DC. It seems as though all human life is here from soldiers heading into an uncertain fate to artists looking for their muse and simple tourists, off to explore the globe.

In nearly 200 extracts taken from across the millennia, Furtado assembles some famous – and infamous – names, as well as some who may be less familiar.

There are clearheaded descriptions of cities that readers may recognise and at the other end of the spectrum, flamboyant, personal collisions with them that left indelible marks on the travellers.

This anthology offers readers a chance to join the likes of Marco Polo on voyages of discovery that shaped the history of the world, or to meet a medieval Chinese holy man who was shown around Sainte-chapelle by none other than the King of France. What emerges as much as portraits of the cities are portraits of the travellers themselves. Within these short extracts there is humour and pathos and a good deal of excitement.

Great Cities Through Travellers’ Eyes is a perfect read both for those who like to travel and those who prefer to let others do the work for them. Its bite-sized extracts and vast variety of authors will appeal to readers, who are bound to learn something from this entertaining volume.

“In nearly 200 extracts taken from across the millennia Furtado assembles some famous names”