Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers – Dea Birkett

Dad and Jean bought me this as a birthday gift when they were visiting last year, and I’ve only just got around to reading it. A tricky format for bedtime reading (large, square, hardback), but I persevered, and the bite size biographies of women travellers from the 17th to 20th centuries were fascinating.

The accounts are grouped in themes – from artists to adventurers – and illustrated with portraits and pictures from the National Portrait Gallery. Interestingly, Dea Birkett not only covers British women’s travels to far flung parts, but also visits to Britain by women from other countries, from Pocahontas to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

Amazon.co.uk link: Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers – Dea Birkett