The Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year

The Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year

On 26 February 2020 we announced the winner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year, in association with the Authors’ Club at a packed gathering in the London Transport Museum.

We had an exceptionally strong shortlist - with ten books to choose from - so the judges decided to highlight two other books on the list.

HIGHLY COMMENDED: No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani - a refugee - for his harrowing account of his journey to Australia and subsequent detention on Manus island - he smuggled out his story one text message at a time.  We felt this haunting book was ‘important, provocative and extraordinary’.

 

The RUNNER UP this year is Pravda HA HA by Rory Maclean - This is terrific travel writing, in every sense, with a clever narrative arc. Maclean returns to the countries he visited in Stalin’s Nose thirty years ago. Through anecdotes and great storytelling, he gives a memorable ‘sense’ of a country.

But the winner, we all felt, is a work of genius, fascinating, outstanding, tone-perfect with spectacular scope.  A new form in travel writing - who has ever seen the world like this?

Underland by Robert Macfarlane.