An Incredible Journey
Regular price
€19.99
In May 1935, 22-year-old Max Reisch and 19-year-old Helmuth Hahmann set out in a small motor car to find a land route from India to China. Their journey across Asia took them from Haifa to Tokyo.
In this lively account, the author regales us with one story after another, struck with wonder or struggling against disaster in countries which deeply concern us today: Iraq with its oilfields, ancient Iran in the throes of modernisation, proud Afghanistan, and British India with its stunning variety of civilisation.
Before the building of the Burma Road, driving from India to southern China meant sinking over the axles in mud on forest tracks and crossing torrents on rickety ferryboats. It also meant encounters with strange and fascinating peoples and places. With war already on the horizon, Reisch and Hahmann completed their round-the-world trip via Japan and the United States, arriving back in Vienna in December 1936.
Originally written by Max Reisch in German, this brand new English translation by Alison Falls captures all the excitement of the journey, and features fascinating historical photos of the journey from the Reisch archives.
Alison Falls grew up in rural Herefordshire where her father was a general practitioner. A keen motorcyclist, he introduced each of his three children to motorcycles as early as possible, thus encouraging a love of independent travel. Alison studied modern languages at Newnham College, Cambridge and subsequently taught French and German. When her brother came across the story of Max Reisch and the journey by light motorcycle to India in 1933, she was able to translate it into English for him, and in the process developed an enthusiasm for all of Reisch’s travel stories. She has translated the books ‘An Incredible Journey’, and ‘India, the Shimmering Dream’, both published by Veloce.