Misadventures in a White Desert
Patrick Woodhead
£7.99, Sceptre
On first appearances, Woodhead doesn't seem to stand a chance of becoming the elite polar explorer he wants to be. Trapped in a wardrobe at his parent's house while rummaging for equipment, he has to wait to be let out again: his intrepid expedition to the South Pole doesn't look hopeful.
But his naivete makes this book - his story as a member of the youngest and fastest team to ever reach the South Pole - all the more endearing and human. He and his three companions are not part of a multinational-backed operation with teams of back-up staff in the wings - they are in their mid-twenties, and they're just feeling their way. Before they can even get out on to the ice, they need to convince someone to give them £180,000.
What follows is a boys' own tale of crevasses, ice floes, frostbite and friendship as the four explorers pit themselves against the ice in what turns out to be a funny and gripping account of their record-breaking adventure. CW
Andalus
Jason Webster
£12.99, Doubleday
Andalus is the mesmerising tale of Jason Webster's exploration of the Moorish legacy in Spain and an excellent follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut Duende, which explores Flamenco.
He sets out on a journey round his adopted homeland with the purpose of identifying North African and Arab influences, but a dramatic meeting with Moroccan immigrant Zine links a moving personal narrative to his historical commentary. Webster rejoices in cultural nuances and semantic similarities between Arabic and Spanish, such as the derivation of 'Hola' from the word 'Allah'. And while Webster traces the cultural matrimony between East and West, especially significant in respect to today's political climate, Zine is more interested in romantic liaisons with Spanish women. GB
The Sky is Falling on Our Heads
Rob Penn
£14.99, Sceptre
Bearded, kilted and regularly inebriated, the tough Celts who populate the rainier regions of the British Isles make the English look like a bunch of upstart, mongrel lightweights. And they seem to be doing it on purpose. In this travelogue-come-cultural-survey-come-almighty piss-up, Rob Penn sets out to brave the Anglophobia and become the most Celtic of things: a wandering poet. Assuming a bardic pseudonym, Ned Cleug, and using his Manx roots as cover, he travels the Celtic fringe, from the Scottish Highlands to Brittany, via the Isle of Man, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall, summoning up the bottle (in both senses) to perform live.
At times we may wonder, as does his long-suffering and heavily pregnant wife Vicky, what 'one more heavy drinking session with a bunch of bearded dwarves can possibly reveal to you'. But Penn has done his research and, behind the laddish wit and self-mockery some interesting observations on what it means to be a Celt gradually emerge. WH
Indian Summer
Will Randall
£7.99, Abacus
This is the funny and charming true-life tale of how teacher Will Randall's life is transformed by six months in India. On a disastrous excursion with his inner-London school class to an art gallery, Randall meets an elderly German lady who turns out to be a former teacher. She offers him the deal of carrying her bags in return for paying him to accompany her to India. It's a bit of serendipity that leads to him teaching English in a Punjab slum school, directing the school play, saving the school from bailiffs and acting as the romantic hero in a Bollywood film. The style is light and avoids the tedious introspection of many travelogues. Nor does Randall succumb to the temptation to exaggerate in Bill Bryson fashion. Instead, it's his evocation of the glorious, multi-coloured chaos of India that widens the eyes, and his good nature towards all things and all men that leaves the heart warmer. TT
