An increasingly popular genre - addressing issues of empire, colonialism, post-colonialism, globalization, gender and politics - travel writing offers the reader a movement between the familiar and the unknown.

In this volume, Carl Thompson:

• introduces the genre, outlining competing definitions and key debates
• provides a broad historical survey from the medieval period to the present day
• explores the autobiographical dimensions of the form
• looks at both men and women's travel writing, surveying a range of canonical and more...