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A unique celebration of Penguin Books' early 'Travel & Adventure' series, published between 1936 and 1959, when Britain still had an empire and the world clung on to its last few unexplored corners. In line with Penguin's original policy of colour-coding these pocket-sized sixpenny works of literature according to genre, 'Travel & Adventure' titles were cerise, that is cherry pink. The classic tripartite cover design was the work of office junior Edward Young.
Several Penguin cerise authors are now household names (Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, D. H. Lawrence, and Henry Miller); others are today regarded as vintage travel writers (Freya Stark, Norman Douglas, Peter Fleming, and Gerald Durrell); there are others still who have slipped unfairly into obscurity (Rosita Forbes, K. C. Gandar Dower, Jan and Cora Gordon, Gino Watkins, and F. Kingdon Ward: see the 'Forgotten Travellers' page).
Whatever their eventual fate, all their exploits remain noteworthy, from brave polar explorers and intrepid female travellers, to PoW escapees and south sea island pleasure seekers. Their books still retain a wonderful sense of adventure, offering a glimpse of the past as vivid as that found in any history or geography book. Each too has played a part, however large or small, in the historical development of one of Britain's greatest publishing houses.
All of Penguin's 96 cerise 'Travel & Adventure' titles are listed here, together with their Penguin 'Main Series' number, author(s), publication date (in brackets, if published previously), and subject matter. An Amazon link is given for affordable modern editions of those titles still in print. Thereafter follows a synopsis of each book, with biographical details, reviews and occasional extracts, as well as details of any special Penguin editions.
DUNCAN J. D. SMITH - 'Urban Explorer', travel writer, historian, and photographer
download cerise checklist  | cerise series essay by Martin Yates (Penguin Collectors Society) 
cerise diversions essay by Nicky Gardner (hidden europe)
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