Footprint Wales (Footprint Wales Handbook)

Wales is the latest addition to Footprint's celtic nations. The capital, Cardiff, is undergoing a renaissance and has become a great shopping city with loads of lively bars and restaurants together with the best stadium in the country. But Wales has much more to offer: a fabulous coastline espcially around Pembrokshire; splendid mountains with Snowdonia dominating the north; huge castles reminding the visitor of Wales' turbulant past. Then there are the towns, Victorian Tenby, Britains smallest city at St David's; the Wells towns, spas in Central Wales; and the Italinate Portmeirion. Add to this great wildlife, rugby, music eisteddfods and the Welsh cultural tradition and you have one of the most visited areas of Britain.

"Footprint can be depended on for accurate travel information and for imparting a deep sense of respect for the lands and people they cover." World News"

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The Writer's Handbook Guide to Travel Writing

From newspaper features to armchair travellers' memoirs, this highly informative guide offers all the essential information needed by any budding travel writer looking to break into this increasingly popular genre. Featuring interviews with leading representatives of the trade and an evaluation of the market, this book additionally provides invaluable advice on contracts and agents, as well as up-to-date listings.

Barry Turner has edited The Writer's Handbook for over 17 years. He is also a journalist and has previously worked in publishing as an editor and marketing director. He lives in north London.

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The SAS+ Security Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Yourself

The new and fully updated and expanded edition of the bestselling security classic. Written by renowned ex-SAS security expert Andrew Kain, this handbook provides the most reliable, authoritative and respected security information on the market. Don’t leave home without it on your smartphone, laptop or ereader! Andrew Kain served in the SAS for 11 years, leaving in 1990 to set up AKE Group, a world leader in the field of risk mitigation. In this fully updated edition he shares his much sought-after security experience, knowledge and techniques – preparing you for anything, anywhere in the world. In the SAS+ SECURITY HANDBOOK the insight and expertise that has made the SAS respected throughout the world has now been applied to every aspect of personal security: SECURITY IN THE HOME SECURITY IN THE STREET SECURITY IN THE CAR SECURITY ABROAD GAP YEAR TRAVEL TERRORISM BUSINESS SECURITY WORKING IN HOSTILE REGIONS Whatever your security concerns, the SAS+ SECURITY HANDBOOK will ensure you get the basics right. Featuring valuable case studies and security scenarios, it teaches practical lessons that will reduce your chances of becoming a victim, to help you reassert control over your life. “Don’t wait to be a victim of crime. Do yourself a favour – read this book.” Andy McNab

Andrew Kain joined 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment – 2 Para – in 1973. Five years later, he passed SAS Selection, going on to spend the next eleven years as a Special Forces soldier. He saw active service in theatres as diverse as the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Middle East; he was an instructor on the SAS counter-terrorist team and also worked with other government and law-enforcement agencies, developing specialist techniques still in use today. After leaving the Special Air Service, Andrew worked as a security consultant and later founded AKE Ltd in 1991, providing security services and advice based on SAS methods to clients ranging from small NGOs to industrial giants. In 1993 he designed and delivered the world’s first Safety in Hostile Regions course for journalists operating in war zones. The SHR course celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013 and has grown to become the benchmark for training that has now become mandatory for the industry. In 1996, the SHR (Surviving Hostile Regions) course proved its worth when video footage in Zaire captured a correspondent from TV4 Sweden saving his colleague’s life under gunfire. In 1998, Andrew was able to demonstrate to specialists within the insurance industry that training could diminish the risk to people operating in high-risk environments and war zones. In the same year, he began working with insurers from the floor of Lloyd’s delivering political risk intelligence. He also designed and delivered the first safety course for journalists operating in war zones delivered on behalf of BBC World Service and The Freedom Forum to Albanian journalists in Tirana just prior to the Kosovo war, and trained Radio B292’s Serbian journalists in Montenegro under the noses of Milosovic’s Serbian military. In the immediate aftermath of the NATO Kosovo campaign, Andrew and AKE took the lead – and were successful – in tracking down and safely returning two engineers who had gone missing. From 9/11 and its aftermath, which saw Andrew and AKE supporting CNN in Tora Bora, Afghanistan in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, right up until today, he has demonstrated that the basic principles set out in this handbook, developed with their foundations in the SAS, do work and can save lives.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
The best, most practical guide to personal safety on the market
By Eamonn Gearon
The SAS Security Handbook by Andrew Kain is the best guide to personal safety on the market.

One of the nicest things about this book is its down-to-earth, human voice. Andrew Kain is a great guide, and this book benefits enormously from the fact that his advice is based on hard-won, first-hand experience. Both as a former member of the SAS, and as the founder of the highly regarded, Hereford-based (home of the SAS, in the UK) security firm AKE, this is a man knows what he is talking about. Just ask any one of the hundreds of journalists and other professionals who are alive today because of his advice.

In the interests of full disclosure, years ago, when I was a free-lance journalist, I was lucky enough to take an AKE training course in Surviving Hostile Environments. The practical, easy to remembered lessons I learnt in that course have helped me on many occasions over the years. I’m pleased to see that those lessons have made an easy journey to the pages of this book.

Instead of bunch of “war stories,” Andrew Kain provides a wealth of practical advice, which is written in such a way that it really can help anyone who reads it.

This book is just as useful for housewives and househusbands, as it is for students of all ages, and office-bound professionals, in the city or travelling abroad.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
The most practical and intelligent security guide out there
By Mike Hanna
Andrew Kain is the real thing. He basically invented a model of security training for journalists and others operating in hostile environments. I have worked with him and his team in the field and have witnessed how the skill sets of highly trained soldiers can be focussed on civilian needs, and that is what he does in this book. It is comprehensive, intelligent and should be on the bookshelf of every family. Its more than just a "how-to" though- it's also a fascinating insight into the special forces community and people like Andrew Kain who were and remain part of it.

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Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook: Worldwide Route & Planning Guide (Trailblazer)

'...the definitive guide to how, where, why and what to do on a cycle expedition...' Adventure Travel Magazine (UK)

Every cyclist dreams of making the Big Trip, the Grand Cycle Tour abroad. Whether that's a two-week trip or a year-long journey, the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is the comprehensive manual that will make that dream a reality. Riding across Asia, cycling in Africa or pedaling from Patagonia to Alaska, whether you're planning your own Big Trip or just enjoy reading about other people's adventures, the Handbook is guaranteed to illuminate, entertain and above all, inspire.
This fully revised 3rd edition includes:

❏ PART 1 – Practical information

• How to prepare for a long-distance trip
• What to look for in a new bike with reviews of some of the world's best touring- and trekking-bikes
• Adapting a standard bike for the Big Ride
• Choosing components, equipment for the road and reviews of camping gear
• Health precautions, inoculations, visas, money and safety

❏ PART 2 – Worldwide route outlines
Across Europe, Asia, Australasia, North and South America and Africa; recommended routes within countries and overland. Everything from popular routes eg India's Leh-Manali Highway to lesser-known cycle-touring areas such as Mongolia.

❏ PART 3 – Tales from the Saddle
Ten first-hand accounts of spoke-bending biking adventures worldwide.

Introduction
Why are so many people going bike touring these days? A minority pastime during the heyday of the car, cycling has once again become a popular choice for travelling―especially for long overseas trips.

The first cycle-touring craze began in the 1870s. Then, as now, the bicycle offered a revolutionary way of touring: you go exactly where you want, when you want, and all under your own steam. This was before the age of the car and walking or riding a horse were the only other options until the bicycle. In 1885 the Rover Safety Bicycle came along, and for all the innovation since then, most modern touring bicycles would be recognizable to a Victorian, as would their derailleur gears.

Bike touring is undergoing a boom at the moment but it is really one of many periodic rediscoveries. Bicycle design, components and gear are evolving to suit the changing needs and tastes of people. It's a combination of experimentation and using tried and tested designs, such as the 'diamond' frame of the Rover Safety Bicycle. The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is all about looking at what people are choosing and using: what kind of bikes, what gear and what destinations are being chosen by today's bike tourers.

There are many reasons for taking a bike on your next long trip. My own guess as to why bike touring is back in fashion is that many travellers get burned out by backpacking, which really amounts to travelling by bus and train for most of the time. Buses are certainly fast but they go from one noisy town to another, leaving little possibility of exploring the spaces in between, the places where the bus doesn't stop.

Others use bikes to go even further off the beaten track: they want to go where buses don't go at all and perhaps where other vehicles cannot get to either. Paul Woloshansky built his own racks to carry extra gear after being told all too often: 'There's a prettier way to go but there's nothing out there at all.' Other adventurers, such as Sweden's Janne Corax (see p122), have said the same thing: there were times when there was no other way of getting to where they wanted to go. You couldn't get there on foot and you couldn't get there in a truck. It was possible only on a bicycle.

Half the adventure, though, is in the riding itself. Being out in the fresh air and seeing much more than is possible from a bus or train window is always a good feeling, whether you are wandering around France or riding across India. A lot of today's cycle tourists are interested in the riding but not that interested in bikes. It's a means of transport and a way to carry bags comfortably, while sitting down and enjoying the view. Not everyone is drawn to the high passes of the Andes or the Himalaya but they are all enjoying that same sense of freedom and all that comes with it―unexpected discoveries, off-route detours or an impromptu day off when you find a great place to stay. Trips like these are not as arduous as some expeditions but they are every bit as satisfying―and they are still adventures, for they allow for spontaneity. And if you are carrying a tent and camping gear, you're prepared for just about any eventuality because you've always got a place to spend the night.

This book looks at the possibilities out there, the different styles of travelling and the basic gear and know-how that you need. We also look at some of the more exciting cycling destinations around the world, complete with suggestions as to which routes to take and what you need to plan a trip in that region. The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook does not set out to tell you exactly where to go: it's your adventure, after all. But it's good to have a general idea of a destination and what you're likely to find when you're there and this is what this book aims to do.

In the final part of this book we include stories from all around the world, not just about the biking but also about the adventures cyclists had on their journeys. It's the old idea that a bike ride isn't just about the riding but also about the places you were able to get to and the people you got to meet―and all because you decided to travel by bicycle.

Review for previous edition: 'the definitive guide to how, where, why and what to do on a cycle expedition...' Adventure Travel Magazine.

Neil & Harriet Pike have cycled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America.

They began their travels by buying bikes in Istanbul, Turkey, and cycling home to Oxford. An 18-month bike tour through the Andes followed, igniting a passion for cycling high roads which led to a traverse of the Himalaya and other parts of Asia.

They blog at pikesonbikes.com and run the website andesbybike.com. They are the authors of another Trailblazer title: Peru's Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash – The Hiking & Biking Guide.

When not travelling they live in Bristol, England.

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Not only for beginners, but will take cyclist to the next level...
By Jeffrey Fritts
In my journey from competitive cyclist to a more sensible approach and use for the bicycle, at least for me, I have researched and read many treatises about the enjoyable past time of touring by bicycle. The third edition of Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook has been a Goldilocks experience for me. The guide not only provides easy soft beginning information for the novice, but also ascends to the mountain pass level of story about the real world hard experiences of many different travelers and adventurers. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of touring cyclist many I have already read and enjoyed. If I were to only suggest one guide for a touring cyclist the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook would be it.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Henry Jackson
The book for adventures by bike.

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Traveler's Handbook, 8th: The Insider's Guide to World Travel

Today's most authoritative guide on how to travel anywhere, anyhow. This guide contains expert advice from the world's most experienced travelers, personal reflections from globe-trotting celebrities, survival tips and health facts, profiles of every country as well as a comprehensive contacts directory. Whether you're a backpacker or a business traveler, an adventurer or a beginner, you'll find this book essential and inspiring.

There are so many travel choices it's frightening, or it would be if not for Miranda Haines's Traveler's Handbook, which helps with issues like when to travel, where to travel, which festivals to aim for or avoid, what guides to buy, and what kind of focus you want in your trip: independence, adventure, romance, luxury, work, or eco-travel. The Handbook explores each option, describing the ups and downs of traveling alone, as well as the practicalities to consider for pregnant, elderly, and diabetic travel, honeymoon, gay, and vegetarian travel, and female, student, and business travel.

There are chapters on all the concerns of flying (how to choose an airline, getting a good deal, traveler's protection), overlanding (motorbikes to trucks to buying and selling a car abroad), train travel, river travel, hitchhiking, foot, and microlight travel, cargo ship, horse, and camel travel. There are chapters on visas and money, health and luggage, communication, computers, and theft, as well as surviving a hijack, a kidnap, and a civil war. No travel stone is left unturned. And as if this weren't enough, there follows a directory of all the countries in the world, with info on population, capital, currency, government, religion, safety, and best times to visit for each. This plus world weather charts, rainy season guides, sea temperatures and city altitudes make this an incredibly thorough and useful book.

Travel is the unknown, and the unknown promotes anxiety. It's reassuring to read these careful, perceptive words penned by someone who's given some thought to all the angles.

Today's most authoritative guide on how to travel anywhere, anyhow. This guide contains expert advice from the world's most experienced travelers, personal reflections from globe-trotting celebrities, survival tips and health facts, profiles of every country as well as a comprehensive contacts directory. Whether you're a backpacker or a business traveler, an adventurer or a beginner, you'll find this book essential and inspiring. (5 x 7 1/4, 960 pages, charts)

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent resource and inspiration
By Todd Adams
This book is everything it's cracked up to be. One thing anyone considering buying this should note, though is that it's a UK based publication. In discussions about visas and work permits, it assumes EU citizenship. A lot of the advice wouldn't pertain to a U.S. citizen. Most of the directory information only lists U.K. based organizations.
That said, this is a great resource and very inspirational. It's made me think about going to places that I would have never even considered before. That's mostly because it combines engaging narratives by obviously well-travelled writers along with nuts and bolts practical information on the "how to" planning stages, and insightful advice.
It prepares you for the cultural differences you're likely to encounter, and prompts you to think about contingencies due to weather, medical, or political trouble. There are warnings about the hazards and adversity of some travel without trying to scare you away from it. The book manages to be a general purpose travel guide without being generic. It would be an equally good read for adventure travellers as it would for cruise ship enthusiasts.
The reference section alone is well worth the price, giving you fascinating and comprehensive information about every country on the planet. This book approaches you like a good friend who happens to be an experienced travel agent, hoping to help you plan a trip of a lifetime. It is remarkably well written and organized. I can't imagine planning a trip overseas without it.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful.
This book is THE hitchiker's guide to the planet Earth.
By Adam Rifkin
What an indispensable guide for the world traveler. This book is cover-to-cover bits in a single volume, weighing the same as a water bottle. This book is literally the planet earth's version of the famed "hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy", with short, informed essays on everything from choosing guides to all forms of travel to finding great rates to finding places to stay to equipping for a trip to what to do when things go wrong (topics for that one include: theft, trouble with the law, surviving a hijack, surviving a kidnap, surviving in jungle/desert/cold, and my favorite: surviving a civil war). Plus it's got 300 pages of directory, like an all-bits almanac....

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Don't travel the world without it!
By Sheri Lee Stritof
This is a great book. It is little in size, but huge in content. The editors have covered just about every aspect of world travel. If you want to know about riding a camel, how to survive being kidnapped, or how to avoid hassles in a certain country, this book will have the answer for you. It also includes a lot of emergency contacts, practical global travel tips, and useful website addresses.

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Handbook of Nature-Study

A matchless handbook for decades, this classic work has been the natural history bible for countless teachers and others who seek information about their environment. Written originally for those elementary school teachers who knew little of common plants and animals, and even less about the earth beneath their feet and the skies overhead, this book is for the most part as valid and helpful today as it was when first written in 1911-and revised in the spirit of its authors by a group of naturalists in 1939. After all, dandelions, toads, robins, and constellations have changed little since then! And modern society's concern with the quality of life and the impact of people on soil, water, and wildlife makes this book even more relevant. Nature-study, as used in this handbook, encompasses all living things except humans, as well as all nonliving things such as rocks and minerals, the heavens, and weather. Of the living things described, most are common in the northeastern states, and many, such as the dandelion, milkweed, and mullein, and the house mouse, muskrat, and red fox, are so widespread that people living outside the United States will recognize them easily. Anna Botsford Comstock very appropriately took the view that we should know first and best the things closest to us. Only then, when we have an intimate knowledge of our neighbors, should we, journey farther afield to learn about more distant things. Teachers and children will find the material in this book invaluable in that regard. Details of the most common, but in some ways the most interesting, things are brought out, first by careful, nontechnical descriptions of the things themselves and later by thoughtful questions and study units. Because the most common things are treated in greatest detail, materials for study are easy to find. Whether the reader lives in the inner city or in the rural outback, the handbook is a treasure trove of information.

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183 of 184 people found the following review helpful.
GREAT BOOK!!!!
By A Customer
This is a wonderful book for studying ANY aspect of nature (except ocean life.) Thoroughly discusses all details of any living thing that you could dream of...want to know where a cricket's ears are located? How to tell if you have a male/female? What should you feed your cricket? Ever wondered why a lightning bug "lights up"? How can you tell if you have a male or female? Covers birds, fish, reptiles, wild animals, farm animals, pets, trees, flowers, rocks, weather, stars, etc, ETC!!! Many labled diagrams. A GREAT book, and written to fit in wonderfully with a Charlotte Mason philosophy. Geared towards elementary grades and complete with lessons, questions, projects, etc. Over 800 pages of easily understood information. As the original was published in 1911, be aware that the photos are not in color, nor as clear as modern nature guides, but the book MORE than makes up for this in so many ways! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

70 of 72 people found the following review helpful.
Nurture Your Love of Nature
By Mary Esterhammer-Fic
I have a fairly decent natural science home library, and this book is probably the jewel in the crown. It's packed with information, and even though some data has been updated by recent discoveries (the book was first issued nearly a century ago) much of it is still relevent.

The author has a contagious awe for the world around us, from caddis fly larvae to little brown bats (which she recommends keeping for a while in order to observe closely). She wrote this when our society was less urbanized and more hands-on, so a lot of her audience (teachers and their young students) had only to march out into a nearby field to collect specimens. Today, we're more used to sanitized, distilled, controllable nature--and nothing that can't be washed away with antibacterial soap--that we forget how compelling these little anthill or treetop dramas are.

Comstock brings us into that wild world, and we don't have to go far to find it, after all. Her anecdotes about her personal experiences and her study questions that end each section keep this book from becoming just another field guide. Even if you don't have young kids with whom to share these adventures, it's great to have this resource at hand.

And if you do have young kids, it's fun to go mucking around in a ditch right after a storm, looking for tadpoles. Don't be obsessive about diseases (we all eat a pound of dirt before we die...or so they say) and don't forget to bring this book.

95 of 101 people found the following review helpful.
One Star for the Kindle Edition
By Anon in Texas
My boys love this book, so I decided to try to get it for my Kindle because the larger font size makes it much easier for me to read. So I downloaded a sample, and found that they didn't even bother with a linked TOC in this HUGE book, the formatting is atrocious, and the pictures weren't included.

Keep in mind that this book is in the public domain. Ambleside Online provides links to download the book for free, and an internet search would surely provide the same. The ONLY reason to purchase this book rather than just downloading it would be to have a linked TOC, proper formatting, and the pictures.

Basically, Amazon took two minutes worth of time to download the free online text, then decided to sell it for a ridiculous price (considering what it lacks). Save your money and just download the text for free.

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