In his early works Eric Newby shows the spirit of adventure and endurance—spiced by more than a pinch of foolhardiness—that is requisite for a great explorer. He was born after most of the blank spaces on the maps had been filled in, however, and consequently he became a traveler and travel writer. After books about his sea voyage to Australia and his travels in Afghanistan and India, he focused on the British Isles and the Mediterranean, but he also made a trip through the Soviet Union on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and he has traveled and written on other areas in the Eastern Hemisphere. His books convey his knowledge with informality and wit. Usually a companion—in his later travels his wife, Wanda—provides a realistic, sometimes caustic foil when Newby's persona fails to describe adequately the discomforts and inconveniences of their adventures. Newby's books are often...