Eastward Bound looks at travel and travelers in the medieval period. An international range of distinguished contributors offer discussions on a wide range of themes, from the experiences of Crusaders on campaign, to the lives of pilgrims, missionaries and traders in the Middle East. It examines their modes of travel, equipment and methods of navigation, and considers their expectations and experiences en route. The contributions also look at the variety of motives--public and private--behind the decision to travel eastwards. Other essays discuss the attitudes of Middle-Eastern rulers to their visitors. In so doing they provide a valuable perspective and insight into the behavior of the Europeans and non-Europeans alike.

In August 1928, Annie and Henry Kenoyer decided it was in the best interest of their family to move to Maine from their home in Iowa with their ten children, ages one to seventeen. They were a migrant family, having already moved twenty-six times throughout South Dakota and Iowa, but this 1400-mile trip, in two1920s vehicles, would prove a challenge to them all . . . not the least of their concerns were food (or lack of it) and places to camp for the night, out in the open, vulnerable to all weather conditions. This is a true story told from the perspective of eight-year-old Ruth Elizabeth Kenoyer, the seventh of the ten Kenoyer children.