Letters of Transit

A beautifully-crafted blend of travel, history, political observation and personal experience, Letters of Transit is the distillation of the colorful journeys Matthew Stevenson has made throughout the world for over twenty years. Stevenson takes the reader with him on a range of fascinating journeys to places such as Serbia, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Korea and America. He describes his crossing of Poland by bicycle, a family holiday to Petra, bullfights in Mexico City, a visit to the battlefield at Guadalcanal, where his father fought, and a trip to Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Written with humor, understanding and insight, Letters of Transit captures the imagination from the very first page.

Matthew Stevenson is a contributing editor to Harper’s and writes for several diverse publications including American Scholar, Vanity Fair and The American Spectator. He is also author of Mentioned in Dispatches. He was born in New York and grew up on Long Island.

Scenes from a Fatherhood * GlobetrottingGuadalcanal * Russian Rublette * Abroad * Going for the Gold * Life with Father * Cleaning up After the Dirty War * A Jour with the Tour * Dealing in Russia * To Baku and Back * Moving to Europe * Letter from Serbia * Gray Footsteps in Northern Ireland * Firewalking in Fiji * The Playing Fields of Terrorism * The Road to Petra * Old South Africa * Traveling the Afghan Archipelago * The Night Train to Prague * South Korean Crossroads * Hello Again to All That * The State of America’s Newspapers * The Capital of Underdevelopment * America Unplugged * Peleliu * American Notes

“Matthew Stevenson is a fine essayist and his writing is a joy to read.” —  Lewis H. Lapham, Harper’s
“Matthew Stevenson is a world explorer of the highest order. An expert in history, politics and literature, he makes for a judicious and perceptive guide.” —  Maine Times
“Matthew Stevenson is humane, percipient, witty and well-informed about a bewildering number of subjects. He also writes like a dream.” — Simon Hoggart, Guardian“Concise, insightful portraits of many political hot spots.” — Publishers Weekly“I would rather wander the world with Matthew Stevenson than with anyone else I know: the breadth of his interests, his knowledge of history and the sheer quality of his mind make him the ideal traveling companion. This collection of essays is a worthy substitute for the man himself: if you cannot go with him, take his Letters of Transit, and they will see you through.” — Simon Winchester
“Matthew Stevenson is an uncommonly fine essayist – fluent, stylish, enormously well informed and curious about the world we live in, and a very considerable all rounder. But what puts him head and shoulders above the other gifted writers today is his massive and transparent integrity. Read him and be thankful for his quizzical gaze, his marvelous balance, and his tremendous feeling for all humanity.” — Geoffrey Moorhouse
“A stunning book, the best travel writing I have seen in years.” Robert Watson
“Matthew Stevenson is a writer with a splendidly oblique angle on life; whether he is writing about travel, family or himself, he is able to make me smile and often laugh out loud. His prose unfailingly gives me pleasure.” — Joseph Epstein
“Thoughtful, literate, and occasionally humorous. His knowledge of world events, often viewed from an economic perspective, is impressive.” Library Journal
“Concise, insightful portraits of many political hot spots.” — Publishers Weekly