Sadly there is not space to thank everyone who has helped me over the long gestation of this book. But I would especially like to mention Polly Dodson and Andrea Hartill at Routledge for commissioning the book, and Emma Nugent for patiently steering me through the process of getting it to press. John Drakakis has been an exemplary editor, and I’ve benefited enormously from his suggestions and guidance. Jonathan Hope, Claire Jowitt and Betty Hagglund read large portions of the present volume in draft form, and gave much useful advice on both style and content. I’m also very grateful for the assistance given by many generous colleagues at Nottingham Trent University, including Abigail Ward, Dan Cordle, Sharon Ouditt, Anna Ball, Cathy Clay, Siobhan Lynch, Rob Burroughs and especially Tim Youngs. In addition, I wish to thank all the students who have taken the ‘Travel Writing: Texts, Contexts and Theory’ module that Tim and I run at NTU, for their many stimulating questions over the years. Michael and Valma Thompson, and Oscar and Angus Macrae have as always been immensely supportive throughout this project. Finally, I’d like to dedicate this volume to my sister, Ceri Thompson, who is the most travelled member of the family, and by far the best teller of travel tales.