A marvelous little book rounded wholeheartedly up to 5 stars for the sheer bravado of the enterprise (two 22-year olds from St Louis cycling halfway across the world in a time of great tumult) and the wit and intelligence with which it was written. Deserves to be a classic of late-19th century trave

Across Asia on a Bicycle is a travelogue of an epic journey at a time (1890) when bicycles were largely unknown in an Asia nearly unchanged by contact with the outside world. The book is as interesting for its description of the peoples encountered as it is for the places visited. It is easy reading

I came to this work after reading "The Lost Cyclist," which detailed the efforts of William Lewis Sachtleben's efforts to discover what happened to fellow round-the-world-by-bicycle rider Frank Lenz. Sachtleben and his college classmate Thomas Allen completed a three-year round-the-world-by-bicycle

This book reads like a fake. I am fully convinced that the writers combined an atlas with a stack of National Geographics to come up with a bland and fully expected narrative.

What leads me to suspect that this work is a phooey? First, we learn almost nothing about the bikers themselves. These people

A brilliant book. It is a travelogue but they were traveling across the Middle East and through China in the 1890s by bicycle. They did have some amazing experiences and meet some great people. The writing is a little dull, but gets better throughout the book.
The photos are extraordinary, even by m

Two young men set out in 1890 to bike across Asia. They encounter difficult weather and road conditions, curious people, language barriers, unusual customs, setbacks with illness, equipment breakdowns, and acquiring necessary documents. The bicycle was previously unseen in many of the areas and curi