Excerpt from the book: “Camel Trophy was neither a race nor a rally, but a combination of adventure, expedition, competition and a unique display of personal courage, resilience and driving ability.” Read ‘Camel Trophy’ 12 Honorable Mentions: Overland Books Elegant, wry, indomitable, self-deprecating – a splendid, sparkling addition to expeditions and to travel writing. The Last Overland is an epic overland journey, epitomising the spirit of the great modern adventure. The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America, from Key West to the Arctic Ocean by Philip Caputo

Not content to just pay homage to a legendary journey, Alex Bescoby must drive the very Land Rover, complete with GIN and TONIC Jerry cans, that made the trip in 1955. Spoiler alert: nothing goes to plan. The Last Overland is steered by an indomitable spirit through time, friendships, obsession, doubt and perpetual motion. A book not only for adventurous hearts who want to seize life, but for those who want to interrogate what it is to be human. Excerpt from the book:“I’ll never forget that Monday when I put the barrel of a gun to my head and fired until I was out of bullets, without stopping to think of what I was doing so I wouldn’t have a chance to change my mind. It was my resignation to a future which I already knew, a farewell to a secure job, an adieu to a brilliant career in advertising, the microcosm where I had lived for the last twelve long years. It was ten minutes after ten in the morning and my last words were, more or less ‘keep the corpse, I’m leaving.’ My body collapsed and I walked out the door.” Whether read physically on paper or through digital means like Kindle, books about overland travel are well worth your time. From true classics to the latest releases, our best overland book list has it all.In awe of the unstoppable Tim, and haunted by his own grandfather's decline, Alex and his team soon finds themselves battling rough roads, breakdowns and Oxford's constant leaky roof to discover a world changed for the better - and worse - since the first expedition. He references the Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman miniseries "the long way around", and indeed this hits many of the same feelings. If you've seen that and thought "ok, a couple rich white guys drove a long way, shrug" then you won't like this book. But if that series interested you and you'd like a more grassroots version (no film crew here), then spend a dollar and a couple hours reading the second half of this book. The First Overland was an amazing journey, underlining the fact that adventure is always out there for anybody who seeks it. This epic recreation of that trip shows us that whether you’re the first or the thousandth, the view from the mountaintop is just as incredible. I know that Alex’s Last Overland expedition will inspire other intrepid explorers to ensure that this is definitely not the last – there is always more to see and explore

One of the most legendary and epic overland stories of all time is the 1955 Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition. The trip took 7 months and traveled over 12,000 miles, from London to Singapore in two 1956 Land Rover Series 1 Station Wagons. A journey that I don’t think could be made again today’. It was this comment by Sir David Attenborough on the fiftieth anniversary of the iconic First Overland expedition that became an irresistible challenge for filmmaker and adventurer Alex Bescoby.Whether you’re looking for inspiration or a blueprint on how to make life on the road happen, you’ll find what you’re looking for in our list of best overland books. The book – named by Waterstones as one of the ‘Best Travel Books of 2022’, and shortlisted for the 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards - ties in with the major four-part Last Overland TV series, which premiered in the UK on Channel 4’s on-demand service All 4 on 29 September 2022. Excerpt from the book:“When we formed our expedition and set out in 1965 to drive around the world, we had two goals. First, we wanted to drive in a west-to-east direction wherever there was land on which to drive. Pablo Rey’s writing somehow manages to intimately connect the reader to these faraway and unfamiliar places with their diverse landscapes and cultures. If you love adventure, travel, and delving into the human spirit found in distant cultures, “The Book of Independence” is a must-read.

Bescoby weaves travel, adventure, history and the contemporary together like no one else." - Dan Snow July 2023 – Overland, United Nigeria, Azman, record the highest number of flight delays in Q1 2023 – Read more One thing to always remember about overland travel is that it doesn’t require a big 4×4 or even a motorcycle. Bicycles are a great way to see the world, at a pace that truly lets you immerse yourself in the culture. Jul 2013 – Aviation Round Table says only 44 domestic aircraft fully insured – Read more Alternative airlines With George so bewitched by his own illusion, might it risk confusing everybody – not just the enemy?This book has everything you need in a read. Humour, entertainment, love, a dash of tension and, best of all, plenty of inspiration. BooksTeaAvocado

And, second, by selecting a route that was closer to the Equator (where the Earth bulges) than the routes taken by the handful of expeditions that had previously driven around the Earth, we sought to set a record, an unbeatable record, for the longest such journey ever made. In quest of those goals, we crossed five continents, traversed six of the world’s most inhospitable deserts, and drove from the lowest place on Earth, at the Dead Sea, to within sight of the world’s highest, in Nepal. Excerpt from the book:“Time to stop beating around the bush and pretending that there’s anything other on your mind than a chunky fourbie. Sure, it’s a lifestyle phenomenon with an image of aspiring adventurousness and the desire to (literally) stand above the crowd, but you’re not aspiring, you’re actually taking your four-wheeler right to the places that feature so commonly in the ads.” Read ‘Overlanders’ Handbook’ ‘The Book of Independence: Around the World in 10 Years’ by Pablo Rey There will no doubt be a Volume 3 from Grec, as he’s currently on a massive Australian overland adventure in a custom-built Jeep Gladiator. Read ‘The Road Chose Me Volume 2’ ‘Travel the Planet Overland’ by Graeme and Luisa Bell Alex Bescoby weaves travel, adventure, history and the contemporary together like no one else. His great gift is to take us on a journey through past and present.' Dan SnowI like this kind of thing! Like, "guy goes on long somewhat foolish adventure and writes an amateur self published book about it."