Travel writing has long been treated as the history of men moving through the world while women remained at home. 

The Virago Book of Women Travellers quietly dismantles that assumption. Spanning more than four centuries, this anthology gathers letters, journals and memoirs from women who travelled for reasons as varied as scientific inquiry, colonial administration, journalism, pilgrimage, exploration, exile and simple curiosity. The result is less a history of destinations than of perspective: how the world appears when recorded by writers who often occupied an ambiguous place within the societies they encountered.

The collection ranges from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Isabella Bird to Alexandra David-Néel, Freya Stark, Vita Sackville-West, Martha Gellhorn and Jan Morris, among many others. Editor Mary Morris allows each voice to remain distinct, revealing the diversity of women's experiences across continents and centuries. The anthology is an ideal entry point into travel literature, while also serving as an alternative literary history in which observation, cultural encounter and self-discovery take precedence over conquest.

Later hardback edition, published by Virago Press, 2020. Very good condition. Light shelf wear to the wraps with minor handling wear. Binding remains tight and the pages are clean throughout.