A sweeping, richly detailed history that tells the fascinating story of how paper—the simple Chinese invention of two thousand years ago—wrapped itself around our world, humankind’s most momentous ideas imprinted on its surface. The emergence of paper in the imperial court of Han China brought about a revolution in the transmission of knowledge and ideas, allowing religions, philosophies and propaganda to spread with ever greater ease. The first writing surface sufficiently cheap, portable and printable for books, pamphlets and journals to be mass-produced and distributed widely, paper opened the way for an unprecedented, ongoing dialogue between individuals and between communities across continents, oceans and time. The Paper Trail explores how the new substance was used to solidify social and political systems that influenced China even into our own time. We see how paper made possible the spread of the then new religions of Buddhism and Manichaeism into Japan, Korea and Vietnam . . . how it enabled theologians, scientists and artists to build the vast and signally intellectual empire of the Abbasid Caliphate and embed the Koran in popular culture . . . how paper was carried along the Silk Road by merchants and missionaries, finally reaching Europe in the late thirteenth century . . . and how, once established in Europe, along with the printing press, paper played an essential role in the three great foundations of Western modernity: the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. Here is a dramatic, comprehensively researched, vividly written story populated by holy men and scholars, warriors and poets, rulers and ordinary men and women—an essential story brilliantly told in this luminous work of history.

The 100 Mile Wilderness, located in the immense forest of northern Maine, is the most remote section of the Appalachian Trail. With a German shepherd dog named Matika for company and a heavy backpack tugging at his shoulders, McLaughlin accepts the challenge, reveling in all the hardship that the North Woods has to offer. He reflects upon the evolution of the trail system, as well as the history of the region, while traversing mountain ranges, fording rivers and slogging through bogs. He contemplates his own inclination towards wildness while pressing southward, encountering scores of hardy AT thru-hikers on their final push to Mount Katahdin. The trail twists and turns. The journey holds many surprises. And the beautiful mystery of the natural world prevails.

An account of the author's 2016 thru-hike of the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail.

A modern, feminist take on the classic choose-your-own-journey book, inspiring readers to embrace the fact that there is no singular right path—just your own! So many women enter their adult lives believing that they should know where they are going and how to get there. This can make life decisions feel intimidating and overwhelming. While some choices that lie ahead are fairly predictable, such as those surrounding career, partnership, and motherhood, the effects of these choices can lead to more complicated and unexpected turns that are seldom discussed. Rather than suggesting a rule book, Rebekah Bastian, vice president at Zillow and recognized thought leader, inspires you to Blaze Your Own Trail. “I have the benefit of being a living example of crooked paths, magnificent screw-ups, and shocking successes,” she writes. Through storylines and supportive data that explore workplace sexism, career changes, marriage, child-rearing, existential crises, and everything in between, you will learn to embrace and feel less alone in your own nonlinear journey. Even better, you can turn back decisions and make different ones. Blaze Your Own Trail includes nineteen possible outcomes and many routes to get there. You will find that you have the strength to make it through any of them.

Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature It was 1993, Suzanne Roberts had just finished college, and when her friend suggested they hike California’s John Muir Trail, the adventure sounded like the perfect distraction from a difficult home life and thoughts about the future. But she never imagined that the twenty-eight-day hike would change her life. Part memoir, part nature writing, part travelogue, Almost Somewhere is Roberts’s account of that hike. John Muir wrote of the Sierra Nevada as a “vast range of light,” and that was exactly what Roberts was looking for. But traveling with two girlfriends, one experienced and unflappable and the other inexperienced and bulimic, she quickly discovered that she needed a new frame of reference. Her story of a month in the backcountry—confronting bears, snowy passes, broken equipment, injuries, and strange men—is as much about finding a woman’s way into outdoor experience as it is about the natural world Roberts so eloquently describes. Candid and funny, and finally, wise, Almost Somewhere not only tells the whimsical coming-of-age story of a young woman ill-prepared for a month in the mountains but also reflects a distinctly feminine view of nature. This new edition includes an afterword by the author looking back on the ways both she and the John Muir Trail have changed over the past thirty years, as well as book club and classroom discussion questions and photographs from the trip.

"Why are you hiking the John Muir Trail solo?""You've never backpacked before, how are you going to hike the entire John Muir Trail?"These were the two most common questions that Christy was asked by her coworkers in Corporate America. They were legitimate questions. Christy couldn't put into words the reason she needed to hike more than 220 miles in the California High Sierra Mountains, but her gut told her that she needed to. After spending six months preparing by hiking, reading books, and watching documentaries, Christy began hiking the world-famous trail on August 31, 2016, southbound. Throughout her journey, Christy encountered dry creek beds, making a wrong turn, a hail storm, freezing temperatures, trail friends, incredible views, and experiences that would change her life. Hiking over ten mountain passes gave Christy a lot of time to think about her nine-year marriage that was falling apart, gave her time to make new friends, and gave her the strength she needed off the trail. This is one woman's account of the three weeks she spent on the iconic trail.

Originally published in 2010 with the subtitle Epic adventures on the Appalachian Trail.