The lunatic express takes us into the heart of the world, to some of its most teeming cities and remotest places. Reproduced with courtesy of tayiana chao the term lunatic express was coined by charles miller in his 1971 book the lunatic express. The lunatic express is the story of traveling with seatmates and deckmates who have left home without american express cards on conveyances that dont take visa, and seldom take you anywhere youd want to go. The lunatic express by carl hoffman overdrive rakuten. The lunatic express by charles miller nook book ebook. The magnificent saga of the railways journey into africa hardcover june 1, 2017 by charles miller author. Anyone who has ever griped about freeway traffic or being elbowed on the subway should spend some time with the journalist carl hoffmans. Carl hoffman hoffman takes readers around the globe the way most people experience it and provides an upcloseandpersonal view of its most teeming cities and remotest places. So off he went, spending six months circumnavigating the globe on the worlds. The lunatic express book by charles miller 2 available. Contemporary tabloid reports also referred to the lunatic line, while africans called it the iron snake.
The uganda railway, was a metregauge railway system and former british stateowned railway company. Above all, it is the story of the white intruders whose combination of avarice, honour and tenacious courage made them a breed apart. But railways open countries up in a way planes and buses cant. The lunatic express download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The magnificent saga of the railways journey into africa. The lean description, the weave of old and new perspective, the personalities, the realpeople wisdom, and that the danger is as real as we dont want to think it is.
Now, more than 3 decades since its conception, no other term could best describe the uganda railway and the adversities that befell its construction. It is 3am in nairobis central railway station and the staff on the night train to mombasa are. The line linked the interiors of uganda and kenya with the indian ocean port of mombasa in kenya. The term lunatic express was coined by charles miller in his 1971 book the lunatic express. The lunatic express is the story of traveling with seatmates and deckmates who have left home without american express cards on. The lunatic express has 2 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Hoffman opened my eyes to the offthegrid traveler, clearly most of the. The lunatic express explores the constructing of this nice railway in an earlier africa of slave and ivory empires, of tribal monarchs and the huge lands that they dominated. This book explores the building of this great railway in an earlier africa of slave and. The lunatic express a photo essay on the uganda railway. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the lunatic express. It would be more accurate to describe this book as a history of east africa tanganyika, kenya, uganda, and zanzibar from the first arrival of this is one of the most unfortunately titled books i have ever read. The lunatic express takes us into the heart of the world, to some its most teeming cities and remotest places. Find the lunatic express by miller, charles at biblio.
Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. First read this book in the 70s and was thrilled to get the chance to reread it. Hoffman opened my eyes to the offthegrid traveler, clearly most of the world, and made me cry. Much of the history in the lunatic express covers the contributions of the whitemen from europe, and hardly discusses indians, whose adventureous, and commerical successes, eradicated the whitemens burden in this part of the world. A tale of cannibals, colonialism and michael rockefellers tragic quest for primitive art, his third book. The lunatic express is refreshing, liberating, and a paean to true travel. No one pretends anymore that it is fun, or even pleasant, to fly on any airline in the u. He traveled around the world searching out the most primitive, risky, and. Lima to the amazon on crowded night buses where the road is a washedout track. I curled up reading a book, quietly swearing every time we stopped. The term lunatic express came much later, coined by charles miller in his 1971 book the lunatic express.
The lunatic express by carl hoffman book trailer youtube. The lunatic express by miller, charles used books and. Above all, its the story of the white intruders whose mixture of avarice, honour and tenacious braveness made them a breed aside. The lunatic express by charles miller ebooks for download.
Carl hoffman is a contributing editor at national geographic traveler and the author of savage harvest. The lunatic express takes us into the heart of the world, to some of its most. In the title of this book, i am transported almost four decades to my political science classes. The lunatic express by charles miller overdrive rakuten. The lunatic express is the saga of the turbulent international. I bought this book after reading a tourist guide to kenya which described the railway from mombasa to nairobi as the lunatic line. I felt this designation was harsh and could be well away from the truth and after finding the link to charles millers book, the lunatic express i bought and read it. The lunatic express ebook written by charles miller. The lunatic express an entertainment in imperialism book. Above all, it is the story of the white intruders whose combination of avarice, honour and tenacious courage made them a. Lunatic express the uganda railway faced a great deal of criticism in parliament, with many parliamentarians decrying it as exorbitantly expensive.
How the train was often held up with elephants and rhinos on the line. Whilst the concept of costbenefit analysis did not exist in public spending in the victorian era, the huge capital sums of the project nevertheless made many sceptical of the value of the investment. It was the first time the word lunatic was used to describe the railwaya word that would frequently be associated with the line. Hoffman opened my eyes to the offthegrid traveler, clearly most of the world. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Discovering the world via its most dangerous buses, boats, trains and planes, was named one of the. Buy the lunatic express revised by charles miller isbn.
Carl hoffmans clever, funny, fearsome book does both. The lunatic express discovering the world via its most dangerous buses, boats, trains, and planes book. The main title, lunatic express, had led me to believe that this book offers the history of the uganda railway, the main part of which was constructed in the 1890s and early 1900s. The lunatic express and over one million other books are available for amazon kindle.
In his book, the lunatic express, charles miller paints a picture of prerailway mombasa as a scene of medieval depravity, drawing a line in time when european modernity burst into east africa by describing the day in december 1895 that one of the major personalities of the book, george whitehouse, disembarked in the coastal town. Whenever he picked up the newspaper, carl hoffman noticed those short news bulletins, which seemed about as far from the idea of tourism, travel as the pursuit of pleasure, as. From the moment i arrived in kenya, i wanted to travel on the lunatic express, as the nairobi to mombasa railway is known. The lunatic express explores the building of this great railway in an earlier africa of slave and ivory empires, of tribal monarchs and the vast lands that they ruled. The lunatic express book saint paul public library. The lunatic express ebook by charles miller rakuten kobo. The lunatic express is the story of traveling with seatmates and deckmates who have left home without american express cards on conveyances. After a series of mergers and splits, the line is now in the hands of the kenya railways corporation and the uganda railways corporation. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers.
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