Victoria Wood was named after Queen Victoria, so who better to take us on a journey through the British Empire?

The story of the Empire is a key part of the story of Queen Victoria’s...

In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club with an ambitious plan: to circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg 115...

Acclaimed actor and writer Michael Palin reads his own account of his third and most ambitious world adventure.

Following the hugely popular and successful ‘Around the World in 80...

Anna Del Conte brought Italian cooking to Britain at a time when the nearest most of us came to pasta was a tinned spaghetti hoop. Sharply observant, evocative, full of tastes and talk of food,...

An Unexpected Romance

When Fernando spots Marlena in a Venice café, he believes he’s found the one. Marlena is less sure. A divorced American chef and food writer, she thought she...

Chris Stewart's 'Driving Over Lemons' told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras - an oddball region of Spain, south of Granada.

Three years on, 'A Parrot in...

In his seventh voyage of discovery, Michael Palin reads his own account of a journey into a new Europe.Michael Palin’s ‘New Europe’ starts with a simple idea: that only a couple of hours...

A collection of original travel stories told by some of the world's best novelists, including Isabel Allende, Peter Matthiessen, Alexander McCall Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Téa Obreht and DBC Pierre.

Eighteen years ago, Joe Bennett left England for a holiday. Now he’s come back. But how is the England of his memory different from the England of the motorway? Identikit high streets, New...

In Corfu, Mother is given a calamitous birthday party which starts with the hi-jacking of the icebox and ends with the entire gathering marooned on a remote and deserted beach.At a dinner party...

An exclusive unabridged audio edition of Peter Mayle’s hugely popular book about the places, people and food of Provence.

'Provence A-Z' is a treasure trove of fascinating facts and...

Bob Geldof first visited Africa in 1984. The following year, Live Aid inspired a generation to raise millions for the starving in Africa. Over twenty years on, passion undiminished, Geldof returns...

Two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves and hot Etruscan springs. On a forgotten patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio collide, Marlena de Blasi settles with her Venetian husband,...

Aged 17, Chris Stewart retired as the drummer of 'Genesis' and launched a career as a sheep-shearer and travel writer.

He has no regrets about this. Had he become a big-time rock star...

Having seen Europe with a rucksack on his back and a youthful spring in his step twenty years earlier, Bill Bryson decides to make a sentimental journey back to that familiar territory - to savour...