The Times on the Top 20 Travel books of the past century

If you’re looking for something travel-related to read, now that the long Autumn evenings are nearly upon us, the Times Online has posted a great list of the top 20 travel books of the past century which has quite a few excellent suggestions.

While the time constraint eliminates some of my favorites, like Marco Polo or Ibn Battutah, who wrote a fascinating account of traveling in India and Africa between 1325-1354, the list is rather nicely geared toward lesser-known travel books. Sure there’s a few stalwarts like Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia and The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux (both amazing books), but there are also quite a few I’d never heard of like Norman Lewis’ 1951 A Dragon Apparent – Travels In Indo-China or Full Tilt: Ireland To India With a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy (1965).

Other names that don’t get much press these days — like Wilfred Thesiger, Peter Fleming or Apsley Cherry-Garrard — make the Times’ list a great jumping off point for your Autumn travel reading list.

While I’m generally not a fan of ranked lists, this one redeems itself with a wealth of links for each entry that lead to the original Times book reviews, as well as excerpts, author interviews and, sadly, an obituary or two.

Also worth checking out are the comments where fellow travelers have posted their own lists and filled out some of the gaps in the Times’ list.

Got your own favorite obscure travel book that the rest of really must read? Be sure to leave a comment.

[via World Hum, photo by blhphotography, Flickr]