The World, the World Book

One of the reviews on the cover of Norman Lewis's second volume of memoirs, by Noel Malcolm, says 'One of the greatest - and most unegotistical - travel writers of our age'. I can only agree. Everything I've read by this wonderful writer has conveyed to me a soul of great compassion, reason and humility. Would love to have met him.

Having witnessed, in a small way, the effect of mass tourism on Spain (my aunt owned a camp-site in a small fishing village on the Costa Dorada where we used to spend childhood holidays), I found Chapter Fourteen particularly poignant. Here's a small excerpt: 'In 1950, with the war at an end, Spain was a country drained of resources of every kind. To some extent its culture had been preserved by poverty and isolation, but this, too, began to lose its uniqueness as the great flood of foreigners poured in, exhibiting life-styles so different from those of the Spanish themselves. Most foreigners remained untouched by their brief contact with the Spanish way of life, but the delicate and subtle culture of the host country suffered increasing damage by its exposure to alien customs.'

He goes on to write in a similar vein about the effects on Thailand.

Well worth reading.