Laurence Mackinreviews Colonel SunBy Robert Markham and the Rough Guide to Greece
Colonel Sun By Robert Markham Titan Books, £12.99
Long before Sebastian Faulks got on the Bond-wagon, Kingsley Amis, under the pseudonym Robert Markham, took a stab at bringing Ian Fleming's iconic spy to life in Colonel Sun. The book is a thrilling extrapolation of the elements and set-pieces that Fleming typically bolstered his novels with. But what place has this in a travel-book column? Fleming's books have a minute level of detail, and no matter where our intrepid hero finds himself it seems he has a travelling pack of cultural references to draw on. Amis undertook several trips to Greece to perfect his Grecian brush strokes, and the result is appetising prose, from the pleasing aromas and sensations of ouzo and the local food and the descriptions of diving off boats to swim in the azure seas that surround the archipelago to the ancient harbours and crumbling majesty of the Acropolis. And what other travel book has gun battles, chase scenes, beautiful women and violent drama?
Greece Rough Guide, £15.99
Probably the toughest thing about travelling to Greece is picking which parts to go to, and this guide covers all the bases in a hefty tome. This guide breaks the country up into 12 regions, with a solid context section towards the end giving a concise whistle-stop tour of Greek history and culture. The variety of attractions in Greece is enough to make your head spin and the book does a strong job of presenting the most appealing landmarks. Information on sailing is scarce, however, and a section on chartering a ship would have been a useful addition. This is a minor grumble, though, in what is a comprehensive and exciting guide to the Greek mainland and its islands.