Full Tilt

Shortly after her tenth birthday, inspired by an atlas she was given, Dervla Murphy decided to cycle to India. Almost twenty years later, she set out to achieve her ambition, pedalling her trusty bicycle, Roz.

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Dervla Murphy's epic journey began during the coldest winter in living memory, and took her through Europe, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, over the Himalayas to Pakistan and into India. A woman travelling alone in these countries was the unusual focus of interest and, even when the weather improved, there were difficulties and dangers enough to satisfy the most dedicated traveller. But although, in a world of vanishing tracks and political chaos, the solitary cyclist was grateful for the revolver in her saddle bag, her journey was enriched by acts of unexpected kindness. Full Tilt was Dervla Murphy's first journey and first book, starting a long and celebrated life of travel writing in the most remote and wildest parts of the world. So for someone who has read one of her books and enjoyed it, or for anyone who would like to get to know the work of one of our greatest and most intrepid travel writers, this is the book to take you back to where it all started.