The name of Duncan Minshull will probably be familiar to anyone who’s been hanging around the Ramblings for a while; he’s responsible for compiling two wonderful anthologies from Notting Hill Editions which I’ve covered previously, “Beneath my Feet” and “Sauntering“, as well a fascinating book called “The Burning Leg” which I read pre-blog. It still nestles on my shelves, and I really should give it a revisit…

Anyway, Minshull is something of a celebrated anthologist, and his previous two NHE collections gathered together the thoughts of writers on walking, and reflections of authors sauntering through Europe. I’ve always believed there’s a strong correlation between walking and thinking, and therefore writing, so both of these books spoke to me very strongly. The new collection, “Globetrotting: Writers Walk the World” takes things a step further, featuring as it does extracts from the works of authors who’ve criss-crossed the whole planet – and it really does make for a fascinating read!

“Globetrotting” is split into three sections, titled ‘Setting out on Seven Continents’, ‘En Route’ and ‘Final Steps on Seven Continents’. The mention of the number of land masses involved will give you some idea of the range of this book: from the far north to the deep south, the west to the east, the writers featured on this book have tramped over just about every bit of the planet! Not all are remembered as authors; there are explorers, scientists, missionaries, adventurers and those who are just fascinated by other lands and peoples. However, all have left behind some record of their travels and impressions, whether in a book or reports or diaries or letters home; and Minshull does an impressive job marshalling their tales together into a coherent narrative.

The list of authors included is impressive; there are well-known names like Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Anthony Trollope, D.H. Lawrence and Katherine Mansfield, to list just a few. Darwin and Rachel Carson make an appearance; early explorers like Isabella Bird and more modern names such as Colin Thubron; Shackleton and Amundsen also feature. And there are so many names new to me who share their thoughts on the trails they follow through places as far ranging as Rome, Moscow, Japan, Rio de Janeiro, Constantinople, India, Australia, China, North America and South America. That’s just a few locations, so you can see how widely Minshull has thrown his net.

The common thread to all of these varied commentaries is, of course, walking. For much of human history, it’s been shanks’s pony which has moved human beings around the world, and there are very strong arguments that this is still the best way to travel. As well as keeping you fit and active, you can engage with your surroundings on foot in a way that you can’t rushing past in a car, train or plane. Yes, I know we don’t have the time to walk everywhere nowadays, but I believe we should walk as much as we can. I would hate to live in a city which didn’t allow for pedestrians as I know a number of US ones don’t, for example; there’s a lot to be said for small town living!

Did I have favourites? Well, it’s perhaps unfair to pick these out of such a stellar selection; but I particularly enjoyed Isabella Bird’s thoughts on Japan (and am reminded that I have a number of her books unread on the shelves). A section called ‘Forest Walkers in South America’ featured a number of different authors and was fascinating. Colin Thubron’s visit to Lenin’s mausoleum on Red Square was suitably wryly observed. And a particularly poignant piece was the extract from Doris Pilkington Garimara’s “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”, a book I’ve only heard about recently. But really, every entry in this collection is enjoyable, thought-provoking and stimulating; I didn’t want it to end!!

So all in all, “Globetrotting” is another fine anthology from Notting Hill Editions and Duncan Minshull. I love collections like this; as well as being eminently dippable, they also introduce you to such an interesting range of writers, and as with so many books, can have a really bad effect on the TBR. When you take into account the fact that the NHE books are gorgeous little cloth-bound editions, with beautiful quality paper and ribbon bookmarks, they make for a wonderful reading experience both in form and content. I have quite a shelf of them now, and “Globetrotting” is a welcome addition to my collection!