Global Passages

Fritz Blackwell received his Ph.D. in South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. His recent work focuses on Gandhi and a comparison of civil disobedience movements in India and the United States. He has published Letters from Chittagong (1992) and is currently working on a reference manual for travelers to India. Kathryn Meyer received her Ph.D. in Ancient history at Washington State University. She is the director of the Femina Habilis project--the compilation of a multi-volume biographical encyclopedia of career women in the Roman World from earliest times to 500 CE. She has published an article on the empress Livia. She is also the president of a local historical society and has published articles in local journals on that subject. Mary Watrous-Schlesinger received her Ph.D. in Latin American history at Washington State University. She has published articles on Mexico's financial history and has an article forthcoming on food in Mexico. Her current research is in the history of world trade and the history of food.

I. The Early Modern World, 1500-1800 1. East and Southeast Asia, 1500-1800 A Chinese Official Criticizes Commercial Practices in His Native Land (1580). Chan Han: Essay on Merchants A Spanish Missionary Collects Observations of Chinese Society (1580s). Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza: The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China A Scottish Diplomat Visits China in the Service of Russia (1719-1722). John Bell: A Journey from St. Petersburg to Pekin A British Diplomat Depicts Daily Life in China (1793-1794). George Macartney: An Embassy to China A Japanese Ruler Criticizes European Attitudes (1591). Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Letter to the Viceroy of the Indies A French Employee of the Dutch East India Company Describes Japanese Family Customs (1619-1641). Francois Caron: A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam A German Physician Describes Travelers" Lodgings in Japan (1690-1692). Engelbert Kampfer: History of Japan A Portuguese Friar Describes Religion in Upper Burma (1629-1643). Travels of Fray Sebastien Manrique 2. South and Southwest Asia, 1500-1800 An Italian Scoundrel Brags about His Adventures in Damascus (1503-1508). The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema A Turkish Historian Remembers His Travels in Turkey and Persia (mid-1600s). Evliya Efendi: Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa The Mongol Conqueror of India Describes Hindustan (1526). Babur: Baburnama An Advisor to the Emperor Akbar Describes the Imperial Harem (c. 1600). Abu"l Fazl: The Ain-I Akbari An Italian Adventurer Describes Daily Life in India (1614-1626). Pietro della Valle: The Indian Letters of "Il Fantastico" An Italian Physician Comments on the Manners and Customs of the Hindus (late 1600s). Niccol? Manucci: Mogul India, 1653-1708 An Employee of the Dutch East India Company Reports on Sri Lankan Society (early 1700s). Francois Valentijn"s Description of Ceylon 3. Africa, 1500-1800 A Moor from Granada Recounts His Travels in West and Central Africa (1507). Leo Africanus: The History and Description of Africa A Portuguese Missionary Describes "Strange Customs" in Ethiopia (1590). John dos Santos: Ethiopia Oriental (Eastern Ethiopia) A Portuguese Trader Describes People and Trade of Gambia (c. 1594). Andre Alvares de Almada: Brief Treatise on the Rivers of Guinea A Portuguese Clergyman Describes a Visit to East Africa (1606). Gaspar de Santo Bernadino: Itinerario da India A Portuguese Soldier Describes the Plight of Castaways on the East African Coast (1622). Francis Vaz d"Almada: The Tragic History of Sea, 1529-1622 A French Merchant Observes Life Along the Coast of Guinea (1678-1712). The Writings of Jean Barbot on West Africa A Former African Slave Remembers His Life (late 1700s). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano A French Ship"s Captain Describes Economic Opportunities and the Slave Trade on the East African Coast (1784-1785). J. Crassons de Medeuil: The French Slave Trade in Kilwa 4. The Americas and Oceania, 1500-1800 A French Friar Describes Life Among the Florida Natives (1575). Andre Thevet: Cosmographie Universelle A Spanish Priest Recreates the History of Meso-American Peoples (mid-1500s). Fray Bernardino de Sahagun: Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain A Spanish Friar Describes the Funeral of an Aztec Warrior (c. 1575). Diego Duran: The History of the Indies of New Spain An English Privateer Recounts His Experiences on the Orinoco River (1595). Sir Walter Raleigh: The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana An English Traveler Discusses Life Among Escaped African Slaves on the Caribbean Coast (1648). Thomas Gage: Travels in the New World A German Mercenary Remembers His Captivity Among Brazilian Cannibals (mid-1500s). Hans Staden: The True History of His Captivity A Spanish Jesuit Describes Life Along the Amazon (1639). Cristoval de Acu?a: A New Discovery of the Great River of the Amazons A Spanish Adventurer Encounters Natives in the South Seas (1595). The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros A Spanish Cleric Relates His Dealings with Tribal Leaders in the New Hebrides (1617-1627). The Journal of Fray Martin de Munilla A Dutch Observer Depicts Native Life in New Guinea (1678). Burgomaster Witsen: Noord en Oost Tartarye 5. Europe, 1500-1800 An Italian Archbishop Prescribes Proper Dress and Table Manners (early 1550s). Giovanni della Casa: Galateo An Italian Clergyman Compares Customs in France and Lower Germany (1517). The Travel Journal of Antonio de Beatis An English Servant Writes about Serbia, Bulgaria, Wallachia, and Moldavia (1589). Journey of Harry Cavendish (by his servant, Fox) An English Protestant Examines Roman Catholicism in Paris (1608). Thomas Coryat: Coryat"s Crudities An English Merchant Describes Turkey (1647). The Travel Diary of Robert Bargrave, Levant Merchant An English Noblewoman Praises Turkish Women and Their Clothing (1717). The Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Two Japanese Views of the Dutch and the Russians. Otsuki Gentaku: Introduction to Dutch Learning (1775) and Hirata Atsutane: Summary of the Ancient Way (1800) II. On the Eve of Modernity, 1800-1918 6. East and Southeast Asia, 1800-1918 An English Botannical Illustrator Describes Indonesian Town Life (1876). Marianne North: Recollections of a Happy Life A Scottish Horticulturist Travels Incognito in China (c. 1850). Robert Fortune: A Journey to the Tea Countries of China An English Tourist Describes Life in Canton (1896). Isabella Bird Bishop: The Golden Chersonese Two Chinese Women Oppose Footbinding (early 1900s). Rules and Regulations on Marriage, Letter from Ch"en Shu-hsien to Ch"en Pan-hsien and Ch"iu Chin: Address to Two Hundred Million Fellow Countrywomen A Cosmopolitan American Journalist Remembers His First Day in Japan (1889). Lafcadio Hearn: Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan An American Reporter Spends 120 Hours in Japan (1890). Nellie Bly"s Book A British Author Describes High Society in Tokyo (c. 1890). Mary Fraser: Letters from Japan A Japanese Novelist Portrays a Son"s Reaction to His Father"s Death and Funeral (1906). Shimazaki Toson: Hakai (The Broken Commandment) 7. South and Southwest Asia, 1800-1918 An American Archaeologist Observes Jews in Jerusalem (1835-1836). John Lloyd Stephens: Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land A Lithuanian Rabbi Examines Jewish Life in India (1824-1832). David d"Beth Hillel: Unknown Jews in Unknown Lands An English Newspaper Editor Describes Crowds in Delhi (1837). Emma Roberts: Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan A Scottish Woman Observes a Wedding Procession in Delhi (1847). Helen Douglas Mackenzie: Life in the Mission, the Camp, and the Zenana; or, Six Years in India An Indian Nobel Laureate Describes a Bengali Village (1891). Rabindranath Tagore: Glimpses of Bengal A Celebrated American Author Describes the Towers of Silence in Bombay (1896). Mark Twain: Following the Equator 8. Africa, 1800-1918 A Scottish Surgeon Describes Life Along the Niger River (1795-1797). Mungo Park: Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa A French Slaving Captain Describes the East Coast of Africa (1804). P. Dallons: Manuscript from the Mauritius Archives A French Sailor Depicts Live Along the Gambia and Senegal Rivers (1816). G. Mollien: Travels in Africa An English Missionary Describes Life Along the Zambezi River (1840-1856). David Livingstone: Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa A British Observer Investigates a Muslim Town in Dahomey (1845-1846). John Duncan: Travels in Western Africa in 1845 and 1846 A Methodist Missionary Recounts Her Observations on the Kroo Coast of West Africa (1890s). Agnes McAllister: A Lone Woman in Africa An Indian Icon Remembers His Experiences in South Africa (1893). Mohandas K. Gandhi: An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth 9. The Americas and Oceania, 1800-1918 An American Explorer Recounts His Exchanges with Native Americans at the Continental Divide (1805). Meriwether Lewis: The Journals of Lewis and Clark An American Author Visits Hawaii (1866). Mark Twain: Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands An American Businessman Describes Life in Buenos Aires (1911). James Bryce: South America: Observations and Impressions A German Scholar Describes the People of Peru (1838-1842). J.J. von Tschudi: Travels in Peru During the Years 1838-1842 An American Archeologist Examines Mayan Society (mid-1800s). John L. Stephens: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan An English Author Comments on Floridians in Cuba (1856). Edward B. Tylor: Anahuac: Or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern An American Muckraking Socialist Comments on Mexico During the Revolution (1910). John Kenneth Turner: Barbarous Mexico A Russian Naval Officer Observes Life in San Francisco (1860-1861). Pavel N. Golovin: Civil and Savage Encounters A Japanese Student Experiences Life in Boston (1872). Inoue Ryokichi: A Japanese Student"s Views of the United States An English Educator Discusses Society in the United States (1834). Harriet Martineau: Society in America 10. Europe, 1800-1918 A Mexican Friar Describes Life in Paris (1801). Fray Servando Teresa de Mier: Memoirs Two Japanese Views of Europeans. Rai San"yo: Dutch Ship (1818) and Aizawa Seishisai: Shinron (New Theses) (1825) An American Novelist Analyzes the German Character (1839-1840). Catharine Maria Sedgwick: Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home A Chinese Ambassador Describes the British Upper Classes (1876-1877). Liu Hsi-hung: Journal of a Voyage to England An American Novelist Describes Poverty in London"s East End (1902). Jack London: The People of the Abyss An English Newspaper Correspondent Reports on the Balkans (1906). Harry De Windt: Through Savage Europe An American Author Describes Life in Berlin (1911). Theodore Dreiser: A Traveler at Forty An Englishman Describes Turkish Family Life (1911). Sir Edwin Pears: Turkey and Its People III. Toward the Contemporary World, 1918 to the Present 11. East and Southeast Asia, 1918 to the Present An African Student Discusses Life in China (1960-1962). Emmanuel John Hevi: An African Student in China A Swedish Travel Writer and Scholar Describes Wedding Customs in a Chinese Village (1962). Jan Myrdal: Report from a Chinese Village A Chinese Novelist Remembers the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Anchee Min: Red Azalea A Cretan Novelist Considers the Meaning of a Japanese Garden (1935). Nikos Kazantzakis: Japan, China An American Author Examines the Lives of Geishas in Postwar Japan (1946-1948). Margery Finn Brown: Over a Bamboo Fence A Vietnamese Antiwar Activist Returns to Ho Chi Minh City (c. 1975). Nguyen Long: After Saigon Fell: Daily Life under the Vietnamese Communists An American Anthropologist Observes the Life of a Thai Sex Worker (1988-1990). Cleo Odzer: Patpong Sisters: An American Woman"s View of the Bangkok Sex World 12. South and Southwest Asia, 1918 to the Present A French Travel Writer Observes Israeli Jews in Jerusalem (1967). Colette Modiano: Turkish Coffee and the Fertile Crescent An American Educator Visits an Iraqi Harem (1956). Elizabeth Warnock Fernea: Guests of the Sheik A Swiss Travel Writer and Photographer Encounters Afghan Officials (1935). Ella Maillart: The Cruel Way An American Writer and Foreign Correspondent Travels to Peshawar (1990s). Anthony Weller: Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road An American Wife and Mother Describes Events in Chittagong (1953-1954). Ellura Winters: Letters from Chittagong A Hindi Poet Portrays the Married Life of an Oppressed Woman in India (1935). Mahadevi Varma: Sketches from My Past: Encounters with India"s Oppressed An English Poet Describes a Train Ride in India (1941). Lewis Thompson: Unpublished Manuscript A Prominent Indian Novelist Attends the Wedding of Her Cousin, Indira Nehru Gandhi (1942). Nayantara Sahgal: Prison and Chocolate Cake A Correspondent for the BBC Observes an Indian Religious Festival (1989). Mark Tully: No Full Stops in India 13. Africa, 1918 to the Present A British Biologist Visits a Kikuyu Market (1929). Julian Huxley: Africa View A Black Labor Leader Recounts His Life Under Apartheid (1925-1926). Naboth Mokgatle: The Autobiography of an Unknown South African An English Novelist Discusses Race Relations in Morocco (1939). George Orwell: "Essay on Marrakech" An American College Student Observes Women of the San (1955). Elizabeth Marshall Thomas: The Shy People of the Kalahari A Nigerian Novelist Portrays the Oppression of Women (1966). Flora Nwapa: Efuru Two Travel Writers Look at Family Size, Prostitution, and Trains in Cameroon. Dervla Murphy: Cameroon with Egbert, 1987 and Peter Biddlecombe: French Lessons in Africa, 1993 A Global Traveler Contrasts Religion and Political Struggle in Ethiopia (1950) Pico Iyer: Tropical Classical 14. Americas and Oceania, 1918 to the Present A Mexican Muralist Portrays Life in New York City (1927-1928). Jose Clemente Orozco: The Artist in New York A Chinese Doctor Observes Life in the United States (1924,1938-1939). Buwei Yang Chao: Autobiography of a Chinese Woman A Lithuanian Jewish Activist Comments on Jewish Life in New York City (mid-twentieth Century). The Autobiography of Nahum Goldmann: Sixty Years of Jewish Life A Thai Educator Describes Cultural Values in the United States (1990s). Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel: The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural Value An American Black Experiences Living Conditions in Cuba (1964-1967). John Clytus: Black Man in Red Cuba An American Explorer Describes a Mexican Village (late 1920s). Phillips Russell: Red Tiger: Adventures in Yucatan and Mexico An American Gourmet Offers Advice About Food in South America (c. 1950). Charles H. Baker, Jr.: The South American Gentleman"s Companion: Or, Up & Down the Andes with Knife, Fork & Spoon An American Writer Describes Life on Tonga (1920s). Seth K. Humphrey: Loafing Through the Pacific 15. Europe, 1918 to the Present Two Views of Collective Agriculture in the Soviet Union. An American Engineer in Stalin"s Russia: The Memoirs of Zara Witkin (1932) and W.L. White: Report on the Russians (1944) A Japanese Woman Ponders Spanish Attitudes Toward Revolution and Bullfights (1931). Haruko Ichikawa: Japanese Lady in Europe An American Reporter Talks to People in Berlin about the Nazis (1934). Philip Gibbs: European Journey A Russian-Born Foreign Correspondent Reports on the Experiences of Schoolchildren during the Siege of Leningrad (1943). Alexander Werth: Russia at War An American Soldier Writes Home from Europe During World War II (1945). Morris Deutch: "Letter to Margie" An American Reporter Inspects Conditions in Germany in the Summer of 1945. Prelude to Leadership: The European Diary of John F. Kennedy An Italian Correspondent Looks at Sexual Freedom in Sweden (1969). Guido Piovene: In Search of Europe: Portraits of the Non-Communist West An Indian Civil Servant Observes the Use of Machines in Liverpool (1982). B.N. Misra: Inside United Kingdom and Europe A German Essayist Describes Warsaw (1986). Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Europe, Europe Web Resources List of Sources