Can there be any ethnic group more maligned than the Roma in contemporary Europe? Garth Cartwright seeks to dispel distorted, bogus notions of Roma life to reveal the enduring joy, sorrow and pathos at the hear; of Gypsy culture--a vibrant, diverse and evolving culture in which music has always been a crucial driving force. In a style at times reminiscent of Jack Kerouac or Hunter S Thompson, the author wanders through extremes of Balkan post-modernity: he gawks at the 'castle' constructed by Ceca, the widow of fascist warlord Arkan in Serbia; is struck by the optimism and relative freedom of Gypsies in Macedonia; confronts a right-wing, gender-bending Roma pop star called Azis in Bulgaria and winds up with pneumonia in Romania. He notes the failure of Western governments to provide constructive intervention in the horrific ethnic conflicts of the Balkans and explores links between Jewish and Roma communities. Along the way, leading musicians speak of their music and culture with an illuminating openness and honesty. Although Cartwright's account is highly subjective, and readers may tire of the way he ogles women when drunk, the prose is carefully written and keenly observed.

As an example of stolid British tradition, language, and colonial attitudes in a non-British land, this history can scarcely be surpassed. Nonetheless, it is also a vivid and detailed account of the people and geography of what was then called Iraq Kurdistan, where Hamilton (an engineer from New Zealand) spent four years building what is known as the Hamilton Road, from 1928-1932. Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave.

He watched the licentious dances of Papeete, kept two families in the same small town, and knew well the yellow miasma of sweat, incense and filth of the Straits of Malacca. As a naval officer, journalist and novelist he traveled to Asia, the Middle East and the South Seas, and as a thorough Bohemian he lived out the armchair dreams of many a good French bourgeois. Loti was a master of the romantic, rebellious and original, and his life, in a time when few people had been farther than a few miles from home, became legendary. Author Blanch is also a bit of a legend herself; as she prepared this version of her 1983 edition, she was also updating her autobiography to reflect her attaining the age of 100. Distributed by Palgrave.

Following in the footsteps of the great Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, out Australian author Robert Dessaix takes us to Germany, France, and Russia in search of what exactly Turgenev meant by the word at the core of his life and world love. Though his only direct queer reference is a personal aside about a memorable sexual peccadillo in Paris, Dessaix constructs this literary travelogue with observations and anecdotes that will resonate with any curious queer traveler, Like Edmund White's The Flaneur (an homage to loitering through Paris, aimless yet attuned to history and chance adventure), Twilight of Love revels in the thrill of allowing whim and obsession to unseat the rigid travel agent as arbiter of itinerary.

Pilgrims in the Kingdom: Travels in Christian Britain. By Deborah Douglas and David Douglas. Upper Room Books, 256 pp., $17.00 paperback.

FROM COLUMBA at Iona to Evelyn Underhill at Pleshey, British men and women of past generations yearned to know God and follow the way of Jesus. This artistic and wistful volume--which could well serve as a travel guide--takes us on a provocative journey across Britain to learn from such saints.

Deborah and David Douglas bring exceptional gills and backgrounds to their writing: a passion for English literature, experience in spiritual direction, and environmental work in developing countries. Often traveling individually rather than as a pail, these two Americans made multiple journeys to Christian sites across Britain over a period of years and wrote a chapter about each foray. Matching the depth of their insights are outstanding black-and-white images by award-winning photographer Joan Myers.

Sixteen of the chapters introduce the habitat and witness of one or more bygone saints. These include Catholic, Protestant, nonconformist and evangelical luminaries such as St. Cuthbert, Thomas a Becket, Julian of Norwich, George Fox, John Wesley and C. S. Lewis. The reader can make a virtual (or literal) visit to the sites in any order. Despite the book's occasional lapses into romanticism (an occupational hazard for anyone touring holy places in Britain), it is packed with spiritual and historical insights. The authors include good endnotes for each chapter and a helpful appendix with Web site, travel directions, opening hours and other practical information for visiting each holy place.
Having done my own journeying and writing about Christian Britain, I resonate with the spirit and content of this beautiful book. But I was sorry that it includes no glimpse of hope and life in the present-day British church. The Douglases make provocative observations about justice and personal spirituality, but they say little about the vital congregations and communities that do exist in today's Britain and that are essential if contemporary followers of Jesus are to sustain the kind of courageous witness given by the saints of old. In order to avoid spiritual individualism and historical romanticism, readers may want to make the connection with contemporary Christian renewal in Britain for themselves.

The Golf Widow Travels Scotland

Karen Howe

Golf Widow Travels

13123 Palatine Avenue North, Seattle WA 98133

0974382205 $15.95 http://golfwidowtravels.com

The Golf Widow Travels Scotland is a guide to enjoying one’s travel experience in Scotland, especially if one is an avid golfer or in the company of a golfer. From dealing with unwieldy luggage to must-see sites across the whole of Scotland to hours and directions for out-of-the-way places and much more, The Golf Widow Travels Scotland offers a homestyle perspective from a woman with 35 years of solo travel experience. Much more personal than an ordinary travel guide, The Golf Widow Travels Scotland is written with humor, flair, and uncanny insight into how to truly spend quality time in another nation.

Underground London: Travels beneath the City Streets. Stephen Smith. Little, Brown. [pounds sterling]17.99. ix + 390 pages. ISBN 0-316-86134-0. The author of this travel book cum popular history of London looks at the capital and its people from the inside out. His concern is with the unseen world and he begins with an exploration of the sewers. He moves on to tunnels (used and unused), discarded Underground stations, rivers such as the Fleet and Tyburn which have been covered over for years, archaeological sites and underground structures, such as the secret location of the Cabinet War Rooms. One of the most interesting chapters is based on a tour of the Mount Pleasant sorting office and contains a discussion of the underground railway system created by the G.P.O. in the 1860s to carry post round London. Another deals with the Thames Barrier and the unending problem which London’s engineers face when dealing with water. He reminds readers that the Thames was at one stage three times its present width. He points out that ‘in the end, it came down to water, to water and clay. That’s what London was made of’. He uses his journalist’s training to good effect and gives a vibrant account not just of physical structures but of the men who maintain them. (T.P.M.)