If you have a book you would like me to add, please send email. If you are the author or publisher, please send a review copy! If you are writing one, I have proofreading experience.
When looking for travel information, search bookstore shelves and "Books In Print", then see if your library has a copy. If they don't, they may have an interlibrary loan service. The Library of Congress is also accessible from the Internet, as are other large library catalogs and online bookstores.
"Americans Traveling Abroad" by Gladson I. Nwanna (1994). It is an impressively thorough 590-page book (22x28cm).
"Around the World on Next-to-Nothing" by Michael Dunn (1983)
"The Art and Adventure of Travelling Cheaply" by Rick Berg.
"Backpacking and Camping in the Developing World" by Scott Graham.
"Been Where, Done What?" by Roland Watson.
"Beyond Budget Travel: World Travel, an Alternate Lifestyle Anyone Can Afford" by Sterling Sloan (1983). A timeless book specifically for RTW travel, based on personal experience and speaking with thousands of other RTW travellers. (ISBN 0-913303-00-3)
"First-Time Around the World" by Doug Lansky (Rough Guides)
"Footloose and Fancy-Free in the Third World: A Backpacker's World Travel Handbook" by Randy R. Johnson. Free book online.
"Fred's Guide To Travel In The Real World" by Fred Moore, published by Chicago Review Press in 1989 (ISBN 1-55652-058-1) "One of the most important things RTW travellers realize too late is that most of the world is the Third (and Fourth) World, and thus that most of an RTW trip will usually be spent there (especially given the greater expense of First-World travel). I have many disagreements with details in this book, but if I could get every one of my clients to read one travel book before they departed, this would be it. Unfortunately, this book is little-known and hard to find, perhaps because it says many things that travellers would rather not (but ought to) think about." <Edward Hasbrouck>
"The Frugal Globetrotter: Your Guide to World Adventure Bargains" by Bruce Northam. Fulcum Publishers.
"The Global Adventurer's Handbook" by John Malarkey. Perpetual Press, PO 45628, Seattle, WA 98145. ISBN 1-881199-40-1 (1995)
"Globetrotter's Bible" by Katie Wood. Harper Collins
"A Globe-Trotter's Guide" by Frederick Fisher. Culture Shock! Sources for Travelling Abroad. (1995)
"How to Go Around the World Overland" by Michael & Theresa Savage (1984).
"How to See the World: The Art of European and World Travel Backpacking" by John Gregory.
"How to Travel Round the World: Your Practical Guide to the Experience of a Lifetime" by Nick Vandome (1995)
"The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World" by Edward Hasbrouck.
"Overland and Beyond - Advice for Overland Travelers" by Theresa and Jonathan Hewat. Based on a three-year RTW trip.
"Overland" by Peter Fraenkel. (1975) ISBN 0-7153-7040-5.
"Overlanding: How to Explore the World on 4 Wheels" by John Steele Gordon (1975). ISBN 0-06-011610-0 and -2.
"Road Junky Travel Handbook"
"The Round the World Air Guide" by Katie Wood & George McDonald, published by Fontana Paperbacks, London, 1988, 988 pp., UKL9.95 The title is deceiving, since there is only a small section on the guide to airfares. It covers the basics of RTW travel, and then the last 700 pages covers fifty popular destinations. Information is outdated.
"The Traveler's Handbook:The Insider's Guide to World Travel" by Amy Sohanpaul (Editor). Over 80 authorities in their field of travel contributed to this award-winning guide. It is 930 pages in a 13x19cm format, with very useful weather guides and charts.
"22 Days or more Around the World: The Itinerary Planner" by Roger Rapoport and Burl Willes. Published by JMP Publications. ISBN 1-56261-119-4. Useful tourist book designed to see the highlights of: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Cairo, Athens, Santorini, Samo, Kusadasi, Ephesus, and Paris.
"Vagabond Globetrotting 3: The Electronic Traveler in the New Millennium " by M. L. Endicott (2004).
"Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel" by Rolf Potts
"The World Awaits: How to Travel Far and Well" by Paul Otteson. John Muir Publications
"World Stompers: A Young Person's Ultra-Budget Guide to Travel"
"Adventures of a Continental Drifter" by Elliot Hester
"Around the World In Eighty Days" by Jules Verne.
"Around the World In Eighty Days" by Michael Palin (1991).
"Around the World In 80 Ways" by Hans Georg Guggenheim (1979). Stories from a tour guide, including a 40-day RTW with 72 retirees.
"Around the World In 79 Days" Cam Lewis and Michael Levit. Delta Expeditions (1996).
"Around the World In 78 Days" by Nicholas Coleridge (1985). Retraces Jules Verne's tale.
"A Boat in our Baggage: Around the World with a Kayak" by Maria Coffey. Maria Coffey and her husband Dag globetrot with a folding kayak.
"Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World" by Mark Twain.
"A Girdle Round the Earth" by D.N. Richardson (1888)
"Music in Every Room: Around the World in a Bad Mood" by John Krich (1988)
"Odd Way Round the World" by Willard Price (1969).
"Pole to Pole" by Michael Palin (1993).
"Round-the-World Flights" by Carrol Glines (1990). Pilots who circled the earth by aircraft.
"Size of the World: A Global Odyssey Around the World Without Leaving the Ground" by Jeff Greenwald (1995). A nine-month journey in 1994. The goal of the trip, taken the year of his 40th birthday was, "To go from Oakland, California to Oakland, California without leaving the ground". Published by Globe Pequot Press, and Ballantine.
"Take Me With You: A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home" by Brad Newsham
"Travel Journeys: A Trip Around the World" by Janet Anderson
"A Vagabond World" by Thomas Bachand (2001)
"Who Needs a Road: The Story of the Longest and Last Motor Journey Around the World" by Harold Stephens & Albert Podell
"Wondrous Journey: The World is Waiting for You" by Dean Jacobs (2004)
"A World Of Villages. A Six-Year Journey Through Africa and Asia" by Brian M. Schwartz. New York Crown Publishers 1986. 499 p.
"World Walk" by Steven Newman (1989). Four-year journey, alone on foot.
"You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World" by Gayle Forman.
"Fielding's DangerFinder" by Robert Young Pelton
He tells the truth about places that hardly anybody tells the truth about, or even knows much about. He makes his own conclusions, trying to remove the perceptions, barriers, and myths that keep people from truly understanding how the world works."The Gaia Atlas of Planet Management" edited by Norman Meyers
"Takes a sort of picture-book approach. It's got an environmentalist bias, and is very graphically-oriented, presenting lots of maps and charts in interesting ways. My main complaint about the book is that they don't provide references for their data." <Brian Lucas>"Globetrotter Dogma: 100 Canons for Escaping the Rat Race and Exploring the World" by Bruce Northam. Enlightening recommendations for making the most of seeing the world.
"State of the World" by Worldwatch Institute edited by Lester Brown
"A little bit alarmist in its approach, and academic in its presentation. They footnote their publications extensively, which I appreciate because so many alarmists can't seem to get their facts straight." <Brian Lucas>"Third World Guide", published by Instituto del Tercer Mundo in Montevideo, Uruguay, with world distribution by Garamond Press, Toronto, Canada, +1-416-516-2709, including shipping: US distribution by the Rosen Publishing Group, 29 E. 21st St., New York, NY 10010, 1-800-237-9932. Published every two years in hard copy and CD-ROM, updated weekly on the Internet.
"An encyclopedia/almanac produced by a worldwide consortium of Third World journalists. The first place I look for information about a country I am not familiar with, either as a travel destination or a place in the news. An incomparable resource." <Edward Hasbrouck>"An interesting book because it is a sort of gazetteer of countries, but written very much from a Third World point of view -- the organization that produced it is based in Uruguay. The first part of the book is an overview of some major world issues, but most is a country-by-country historical survey of the world, about two pages per country. The interesting thing about it is that the point of view it adopts feels slightly different most Western books of a similar nature. Think of how a person from the Third World would view colonization, imperialism, evolution of government systems, and so on." <Brian Lucas>
"World Politics: Trends & Transformation" by Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Eugene R Wittkopf.
"It is a good introductory college text that I suggest for before hitting the road. It will give you a bit of perspective about the world before you get out there, and help you better understand what you are seeing." <Marc>"World Resources"
"An annual publication which concentrates each year on different issues. The 1996-97 edition, is subtitled The Urban Environment and is a joint publication of The World Resources Insititute, The United Nations Environment Programme, The United Nations Development Programme, and The World Bank. The first half discusses urban issues worldwide (environment, health, natural resources, transportation, etc.) and the second half consists of data tables. If you're reading for an overview of issues, you may not want to buy the book unless you need the data tables, but the discussion of issues is certainly worth a read." <Brian Lucas>Related sites I highly recommend are:
OneWorld - archives of 'real' news on destinations
Institute for Global Communications (IGC)
Amnesty International
Third World Traveler
Voyages of Discovery
Art of Travel - Guidebook Reviews
DK and Eyewitness Travel Guides
Fodor's
Footprint Travel Guides
Frommer's
Insight Guides
Moon Travel Handbooks
Let's Go
Lonely Planet
Rough Guide
Trailblazer: Route Guides for the Adventurous Traveller
Ulysses GuidesI am often asked about the availability of guidebooks on the road. You should have no problems finding LP and a few other guides in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Islamabad, and Delhi. The rest of the time, you will have to have to trade with others going in the opposite direction, or have them mailed to you, or even ship them to yourself by cheap surface book rate, time permitting to save carrying them around.
Abe Books
Alibris Bookstore
Amazon.com Books
Barnes & Noble
TomFolio
BookFinder: Search for Out-of-Print and Used Books
Powell's Bookstore: Used, New, and Out-of-Print Books
Evelyn C. Leeper's Bookstore Lists
National Geographic Travel
Outpost
Outside
Travel Outward
Travel Mag: The Independent Travel Magazine