"A Tramp Abroad" is an 1880 travel book by Mark Twain that chronicles his travels in central and southern Europe. The fourth of six such travel books written by Twain, it follows Twain and his close friend Joseph Twichel as they attempt to walk across the continent. A classic work of travel literature not to be missed by fans and collectors of Twain seminal work. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835—1910), more commonly known under the pen name Mark Twain,...

C. F. McGlashan was the newspaper editor and publisher of the local daily in Truckee, California, the closest town to the Donner Pass. Over the course of an eighteen-month period, McGlashan interviewed the survivors of the Donner Party, gathered artifacts, and amassed an enormous amount of secondary information. He published his findings as serialized articles in his paper, which were later published in book form. Detailed and engaging, History of...

Will the War's End Bring the Highwood Family Together Again? When a disastrous decision by the new wagon master forces Jesselynn Highwood and her companions to separate from the wagon train, she races back to Fort Laramie to find a guide to take them to Oregon. But the guide has a far different plan, and following her heart, Jesselyn agrees to join him, her rag-tag band in tow. The ensuing journey is fraught with hardship and danger. Is hope for the...

Based on true events, this compelling survival story by award-winning novelist Jane Kirkpatrick is full of grit and endurance. Beset by storms, bad timing, and desperate decisions, 8 women, 17 children, and one man must outlast winter in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1844. 1844. The Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought...

Paul Theroux, the author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. He hops aboard as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From the barren deserts of Xinjiang to the ice forests...

In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over theSierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter.