Book Smugglers of Timbuktu by Charlie English
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The city of Timbuktu with its ancient history has long captivated people. Just the very name conjures up images of an oasis in the desert, a city full of exotic people and a place where the mysteries of the East meet the gateway to the dark continent of Africa. It is a place that drew travellers in the Eighteenth century seeking the legendary place where even the slaves wore gold, but the desire to reach there was not always met with success, history shows us that the roads there were littered with failed expeditions as they succumbed to the hostile landscape, disease and attack.

There is another side to Timbuktu, it has always been a world centre in the Islamic world for learning from as far back as the 13th Century. As they became a centre where knowledge was pooled. This has left a lasting legacy of thousands and thousands of documents, books and manuscripts in public and personal libraries throughout the city on subjects as diverse as astronomy, religion, law and history as well as cultural subjects like poetry. These vast libraries came under threat from destruction in 2012 as al-Qaeda–linked jihadists poured across Mali wreaking havoc and destruction as they went. After destroying several mausoleums the librarians and archivists of the city were forced to consider the fate of their precious papers. So began the race to either hide the manuscripts or in the case of large collections, to move them to another city where they would be safe.

At times this reads like a thriller, as he tells the stories of how the manuscripts were moved from Timbuktu to a place of safety in Bamako using secure networks of couriers. Much of it was carried out in secret as the least amount of people that knew about it, the safer the operation. Charlie English recounts the stories he’d been told, before travelling to the city to see for himself the lockers and their precious cargoes. Whilst I think that it was important to set the context, for me it felt like there was too much emphasis on the past events. I didn’t like the switching around of the old and the new, I would have preferred the current day and historical events to be in separate sections. With its history, contemporary world issues and focus on ancient books, it is a difficult book to pigeonhole. It is a fascinating and very readable account of a small but significant part of world history.

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Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds by Bill Bailey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Most people know Bill Bailey for his amazing performances where he expertly mixes comedy and music with a large dollop of zaniness, or his appearances on various panel games. What most people don’t know is that he loves all things about the natural world and is a massive fan of birds in particular. For this book, he has taken 51 of his favourite birds, from the generally unloved pigeons and herring gulls to the tiny wrens, deadly peregrines and the cheeky corvid family. Each of the mini-chapters on birds has facts and details of where to find them or in the case of the bittern, where you can go and look and generally fail to see them.

There is not a vast amount of prose in the book, but what there is, is written with Bailey’s impish humour, amusing anecdotes and razor sharp wit. The design of the book makes it feel that you are reading a notebook full of jottings and his own charming sketches. Not necessarily a book for experts, but perfect for someone who is teetering on the edge of discovering the delights of the natural world.

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The Road Headed West: America Coast to Coast: A Cycling Odyssey by Leon McCarron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For some people, the offer of a job with a regular salary is just what they are looking for. For Leon McCarron though the thought of being stuck behind a desk with no chance of adventure or seeing the world, filled him with dread. As he was in New York, he came up with the idea of cycling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, not for any reason, just for the hell of doing it. Loading up his bike and trailer with much, much more than he needed, he embarks on his 6000 mile journey. A week or so later he was still cycling in New York state, as he hadn’t realised just how vast it was.

Slowly but surely he was building his fitness up but getting around 80 miles a day under his belt. He meets other cyclists as he wends his way across the States, sharing the journey and beginning what were to become lasting friendships. A brief detour into Canada to see Niagara Fall was soured when he returned into America and was detained by a very officious immigration official. They did allow him back after a chastisement about documentation. As he drops into the Midwest he passes mile after mile of cornfields on the almost dead straight roads, the highlight of the day being the zigzags when they correct the roads for the curvature of the earth. All across America so far, he had been given a warm welcome and helped by strangers in all manner of ways. This was to change when he accepted hospitality from a guy in a bar and headed back to his ranch. His mate was there and wasn’t best pleased to see Leon, and after one heart stopping moment he has to escape really quickly. Of all the places to die in the world, he didn’t want it to be Iowa!

Hoping to eek out his journey on a budget of $5 a day, he is fuelled by peanut butter and an absence of common sense. It is an easy and relative unchallenging read, with a certain charm to it. What is does show is that you do not need loads of planning or training to achieve a goal, sometimes you just need to climb on the bike and pedal. This one is a worthy addition to the fold of cycling adventure books.

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Beyond the Fell Wall by Richard Skelton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The musician, Richard Skelton has lived high in the hills of Cumbria for a number of years. A lot of his time is spent composing music, but when he isn’t, he heads out on foot to explore the fields, walk the footpaths and immerse himself in the landscape of the high fell. From those explorations comes this book. It takes in the vastness of geological time, the detail he studies the living plants that a wall gives life to, the apparitions of the past glimpsed in the present and the reassurance that a dry stone wall brings as an edge to a wilder place..

The wall sings, not just the songs of the living, but the unheard melodies of the dead

Skelton is deeply connected with the land around him, and this is what makes this quite a special book. He draws on poetry, prose and quotes to paint a vivid picture of the place that he loves. He is not afraid to use the space of the page to create artwork from words using the names of fields or the delights that you can find in the language of the land. This is the first of his that I have read, though I have a copy of Landings by him after being recommended it by another reader, which is going to be bumped up the to read list.

Enter into the landscape. Repeatedly. And in so doing it enters into you

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Land Rover: The Story of the Car that Conquered the World by Ben Fogle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Production started in 1948 and ran for 67 years; over 2 million were produced and around three-quarters of those are still going. They are not particularly quick, have the aerodynamics of a garden shed, frequently leak, you cannot always hear the radio or the passengers and if you can fit in one, you will probably be quite uncomfortable. It makes you wonder who would buy a Land Rover, but this is a vehicle that people love with a passion. No make that an obsession.

Fogle is a fan too, having owned several, but he wants to see what others find so appealing about this eccentric British truck. His journey will take him across Britain, meeting with those who own one, two or in some cases many Land Rovers. He cruises the streets of Belfast in the armoured Defenders, talk with those who have crossed continents in them, partake in a coffee served by a barista from the back of a conversion. He takes his own Series 1 onto the beach where Wills sketched the initial design out in the sand and drives an eye-wateringly expensive Kahn around Islay. There is even a trip to see the one that has become a piece of art.

I have always loved Land Rovers, in fact, it was the first thing that I ever drove. The passion that people have for these agricultural vehicles is quite something, in some cases, it has become a generational thing with grandfathers, fathers and daughters all owning one. Prose can occasional be a bit laboured, but there is enough in here for someone with a general interest, but if you are looking for more detail on the vast history, or know these cars inside out then this may not be the books for you. 2.5 stars.

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