"We found in the course of our journey the conveniences of having disencumbered ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could spare; for it is not to be imagined without experience, how in climbing crags, and treading bogs, and winding through narrow and obstructed passages, a little bulk will hinder, and a little weight will burthen;...

Rory MacLean's ' The Oatmeal Ark ' is part travel memoir, part historical fiction. Or maybe it's part history book, and part travel fiction. It's hard to pin this book down: it blurs the line between fact and fiction, past and present. The book follows the fictional Beagan Gillean as he travels the world in...