Richard Halliburton’s Second Book of Marvels - The Orient

Book excerpt: Boys and girls all over the world know the name of Richard Halliburton. They have heard grown-ups talk about The Royal Road to Romance, The Glorious Adventure, New Worlds to Conquer, The Flying Carpet and Seven League Boots. These books have broken records in the field of travel and adventure. They are bestsellers year in and year out. Now Mr. Halliburton has written a book just for his younger friends (but just to try and keep father and mother or uncle and aunt away from it!) and in it he has kept a promise he made to himself when he studied geography in school. In those days his eager wish was to travel, to see the places he had read about. He swore that when he became a man he would see that his sons not only studied their geography but lived it too. Now he has been to the four corners of the world and beheld the wonders of nature and man. But he is a bachelor, and has no sons of his own. So he has adopted all boys and girls and here he takes them with him on a personally conducted tour to live geography with him—the most thrilled geography anyone could imagine. Following on from his Book of Marvels: The Occident, this present volume provides another exciting tour for school students—introducing the people, religions, architecture, customs, and scenery from Greece to Mt. Fuji in Japan, multi-cultural regions then called “The Orient,” complete with maps of his travel routes. No dramatic incident, no fascinating legend relating to his marvels has been omitted. Richard Halliburton has spared himself no trouble, no expense to make this book complete and beautiful. The illustrations are many and inspiring. Out of his first-hand knowledge of the notable scenes and works of our world, he has chosen those that have most appealed to his own imagination, and with his story-telling gift, simple, direct, enthusiastic, he makes them live to the imagination of all boys and girls. For he has the heart of a boy and he speaks to the heart of youth.