Research on pilgrimage has traditionally fallen across a series of academic disciplines - anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, history and theology. To date, relatively little work has been devoted to the issue of pilgrimage as writing and specifically as a form of travel-writing. The aim of the interdisciplinary essays gathered here is to examine the relations of Christian pilgrimage to the numerous narratives, which it generates and upon which it depends. Authors reveal not only the tensions between oral and written accounts but also the frequent ambiguities of journeys - the possibilities of shifts between secular and sacred forms and accounts of travel. Above all, the papers reveal the self-generating and multiple-authored characteristics of pilgrimage narrative: stories of past pilgrimage experience generate future stories and even future journeys. Simon Coleman moved to Sussex University in 2004, having spent 11 years at Durham University as Lecturer and then Reader in Anthropology, and Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health. John Elsner is Senior Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People and a C. S. Lewis Noteworthy book: A rich history of the pilgrim experience, as recorded in real diaries Nearly four hundred years after the pilgrims left England in search of a better life, their stories still resonate with Americans today. In this account, the pilgrims’ own writings of their adventures and hardships are brought to life for young readers. This touching account shows the pilgrims’ voyage on the Mayflower, their first meeting with the native people, and the hardships of hunger, illness, and death that they faced during their first winter. Finally, after more than a year in the New World, they celebrate the harvest and truly give thanks.

Marie Maccagno is passionate about walking, the great outdoors, and chocolate. In the spring of 2009, she made a commitment to walk 800 kilometers through Spain in the hopes she could eat all the chocolate she could find. What she didn’t expect to find was herself. A walk that long gives a person a lot of time to think. Marie’s mind dished out big lessons around forgiving her mother, entertaining the idea of possibly leaving her husband, and honoring herself as a parent. One step at a time is how Marie completed the Camino de Santiago and learned to love herself after all the years of inner self-hate. ******** "I can choose my own path: that’s what Marie’s journey has taught me. Her words will transport you to a place where you know you can choose too -- and that’s a rare gift. When you read her book, you will be so glad you walked this path with her!" Michele Gunderson, Ph.D., Best-selling author and Breakthrough Story Expert "Marie’s book took me on a journey of her very personal quest - and I recognized myself in her story: difficult family relationships, questions about marriage, and not liking who I am. I am very grateful she did all the walking for me, and chose to share her wisdom in this powerful creative memoir!" Yvonne Basten, Executive Managing Director Calgary, eWomenNetwork Inc

Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing provides an interdisciplinary approach to the topic. It reveals many aspects of the practice of pilgrimage, from its nationalistic facets to its effect on economic development; from the impact of the internet to questions of globalization; from pilgrimage as protest to pilgrimage as creative expression in such media as film, art and literature. Perhaps best understood as a form of heritage tourism or tourism with a conscience, pilgrimage (as with touristic travel) contains a measure of transformation that is often deep and enduring, making it a fascinating area of study. Reviewing social justice in the context of pilgrimage and featuring a diverse collection of interdisciplinary voices from across the globe, this book is a rich collection of papers for researchers of pilgrimage and religious and heritage tourism.

"This book offers a new theoretical framework for exploring contemporary pilgrimage, exploring examples ranging from the Hajj to the Camino, and arguing that pilgrimage activity should be understood not solely as going to, staying at, and leaving a sacred place, but also as occurring in apparently mundane or domestic times, places, and practices"--

In a seedy hotel near Ground Zero, a woman lies face down in a pool of acid, features melted of her face, teeth missing, fingerprints gone. The room has been sprayed down with DNA-eradicating antiseptic spray. Pilgrim, the code name for a legendary, world-class segret agent, quickly realizes that all of the murderer's techniques were pulled directly from his own book, a cult classic of forensic science written under a pen name.

Mobility and travel have always been key characteristics of human societies, having various cultural, social and religious aims and purposes. Travels shaped religions and societies and were a way for people to understand themselves, this world and the transcendent. This book analyses travelling in its social context in ancient and medieval societies. Why did people travel, how did they travel and what kind of communal networks and negotiations were inherent in their travels? Travel was not only the privilege of the wealthy or the male, but people from all social groups, genders and physical abilities travelled. Their reasons to travel varied from profane to sacred, but often these two were intermingled in the reasons for travelling. The chapters cover a long chronology from Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages, offering the reader insights into the developments and continuities of travel and pilgrimage as a phenomenon of vital importance.