Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Seeking out Mitt's Mexican roots in "a place famous for producing true hombres, a rural frontier where thousands of Mormons still live, and where settling differences at the point of a gun has been a tragically resilient tradition"
"It’s an economics lesson in the form of a parable, a traveller’s tale about the strange connection between master and servant in this de facto tourist colony. So let’s begin, in fairy-tale fashion, in a tower atop a castle"
Social history of the cruise ship industry, from the 1960s to the wreck of the Costa Concordia. Ships as "giant floating theatrical bubbles" in which ordinary people could behave for a while as though they were upper class
Notes from Haiti. "Zombies are afraid of salt. They are unsociable, and keep their heads hung low. A zombie can be purchased for 15,000 Haitian gourdes ($370). In addition to housekeeping, they can behave as tutors for children"
Writer goes in search of Mexican border town's sporting past. Finds Hall of Fame in chaotic, crumbling state. But this is the town where Seabiscuit ran and prize money could exceed that of the Kentucky Derby
Gorgeous book review. Graham's grandfather was Duke of Montrose; Rimsky-Korsakov taught his grandmother to rollerskate. He drove to Mexico in a vintage Rolls-Royce, hacked through jungle, became world authority on Mayan culture
Anecdote-rich despatch from Havana shows how Cuba is changing. Masses of mobile phones now but price of texting means people send each other "missed calls" instead. Still only 2% of Cubans online. Information is shared by USB stick
The headline speaks for itself. There are some extraordinarily striking, and well-composed, images among these 100 photographs taken out of airplane windows all over the world
Stunning audio slideshow of entries for Travel Photographer of the Year. Competition promoted by Royal Geographical Society, some of whose best archive images are interspersed among this year's entrants. Seven minutes well spent
Professor at University of London says that ‘Latin America’ is a term that only dates from the 1830s. He chooses five books that illuminate the cultural and political history of that region
