- Hardcover: 208 pages
- Publisher: Cadogan Guides (21 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1860113338
- ISBN-13: 978-1860113338
- Product Dimensions: 18.3 x 11.9 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,012,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
San Francisco Chronicle
(About Mathew Lyons' previous book ‘There and Back Again’): A delightful, well-written book... Keenly observed and precisely detailed
Tom Shippey, Author of J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
(About ‘There and Back Again’): An excellent guide... about England, about landscape, about history and prehistory.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An interesting book on difficult journeys from the distant past and their often wholly fictitious written histories. The style was a little dry in parts - the author should have given his obvious wit a freer reign. Nevertheless, well worthwhile.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Irritatingly patronising
9 Nov 2009
Format:Hardcover
"Impossible Journeys" by Mathew Lyons is an irritatingly patronising book. Too often he treats his subjects as gullible fools. His main aim seems to be to mock and make fun of their endeavours from a viewpoint of superiority.
Which is a pity, because the stories Lyons tells are fascinating. The principal actors deserve better than Lyons' putdowns.
The people he writes about were no less intelligent, or more gullible, than ourselves. By and large, they were the product of their times with its attitudes and state of knowledge. Who can say which of our own firmly-held beliefs will be held up to ridicule for their naivety centuries hence?
A far more interesting and worthwhile book would have been to explain why these people believed and acted as they did in the context of their times. There would be a rational explanation for every "ridiculous" fact that Lyons recounts. So people believed that barnacle geese grew on trees. Tell us why, don't just mock it.
If you can ignore the jocular style and focus on the wonderful stories, the book is worth reading.
Which is a pity, because the stories Lyons tells are fascinating. The principal actors deserve better than Lyons' putdowns.
The people he writes about were no less intelligent, or more gullible, than ourselves. By and large, they were the product of their times with its attitudes and state of knowledge. Who can say which of our own firmly-held beliefs will be held up to ridicule for their naivety centuries hence?
A far more interesting and worthwhile book would have been to explain why these people believed and acted as they did in the context of their times. There would be a rational explanation for every "ridiculous" fact that Lyons recounts. So people believed that barnacle geese grew on trees. Tell us why, don't just mock it.
If you can ignore the jocular style and focus on the wonderful stories, the book is worth reading.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Patience pays off for the history buff
10 July 2010
Format:Hardcover
This work takes a little patience to fully enjoy. Lyons covers a wide range of what he calls 'Impossible Journeys" to include: remarkable, but generally historical events; legendary events that may have a basis in historical events; myths and legends; and outright made-up voyages and voyagers. There is no apparent order in this collection of essays, and I found that the first one or two were not very engaging, but I enjoyed the collection quite a lot after I got into a bit more.
This work contains a lot that explains how places got their names, how and why maps evolved during the age of exploration, and why some adventurers are household names now while others are virtually unheard of. Well worth the read for any history buff, but not really light reading.
This work contains a lot that explains how places got their names, how and why maps evolved during the age of exploration, and why some adventurers are household names now while others are virtually unheard of. Well worth the read for any history buff, but not really light reading.
Patience pays off for the history buff
10 July 2010
Format:Hardcover
This work takes a little patience to fully enjoy. Lyons covers a wide range of what he calls 'Impossible Journeys" to include: remarkable, but generally historical events; legendary events that may have a basis in historical events; myths and legends; and outright made-up voyages and voyagers. There is no apparent order in this collection of essays, and I found that the first one or two were not very engaging, but I enjoyed the collection quite a lot after I got into a bit more.
This work contains a lot that explains how places got their names, how and why maps evolved during the age of exploration, and why some adventurers are household names now while others are virtually unheard of. Well worth the read for any history buff, but not really light reading.
This work contains a lot that explains how places got their names, how and why maps evolved during the age of exploration, and why some adventurers are household names now while others are virtually unheard of. Well worth the read for any history buff, but not really light reading.
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