"The Glorious Adventure" is an exhilarating travel memoir written by Richard Halliburton. Published in 1927, the book chronicles Halliburton's remarkable journey around the world, filled with thrilling escapades and captivating encounters.

In "The Glorious Adventure," Halliburton takes readers on a whirlwind tour, exploring diverse landscapes, cultures, and historical landmarks. From climbing the Matterhorn and swimming across the Panama Canal to visiting ancient ruins in Greece and Egypt, Halliburton's adventures are both daring and awe-inspiring.

Through his vivid and evocative storytelling, Halliburton captures the essence of each destination, describing the sights, sounds, and sensations that he experiences along the way. He delves into the historical significance of the places he visits, bringing to life the stories of the people and civilizations that have shaped the world.

"The Glorious Adventure" is not just a travelogue but also an introspective reflection on the transformative power of travel. Halliburton shares his personal insights, emotions, and philosophical musings as he immerses himself in different cultures and landscapes. He ponders the meaning of life, the pursuit of adventure, and the enduring spirit of exploration.

Halliburton's writing style is engaging and poetic, infused with a sense of wonder and curiosity. His enthusiasm for travel is infectious, inspiring readers to embark on their own quests for adventure and discovery.

"The Glorious Adventure" is a captivating blend of adventure, history, and personal reflection. It transports readers to exotic locales and invites them to embark on a journey of self-discovery and exploration. It is a testament to the power of travel to broaden horizons, ignite passions, and transform lives. ( )

Richard Halliburton, one of the great adventurers of the early 20th century, is almost forgotten today, but at one time he was as famous as Amelia Earhart. He too disappeared at sea, in his case while attempting in 1939 to cross the Pacific in a Chinese junk, but his disappearance was overshadowed by Earhart's just two years previously and the onset of World War II.

His first book, The Royal Road to Romance, which I discovered in the public library as a teenager, was already thirty years old at the time, but something contagious in his enthusiasm for travel and the lure of storied places sucked me in completely, and he became my instant hero and is the source of my lifelong wanderlust. I read many of his books in my teenage years, but one I kept putting off — The Glorious Adventure — which retraces the steps of Odysseus on his way to and from the Trojan Wars. Because I had not read Homer, my young mind thought it wouldn't be so interesting, but I was wrong. The Glorious Adventure does not require any familiarity at all with either The Iliad or The Odyssey to enjoy traveling along with Halliburton. He explains everything in the most charming way.

It matters not that this book was written almost ninety years ago. The places have not been obliterated by the passage of years, and there is a kind of romance associated with reliving Halliburton's adventures during the Roaring Twenties and comparing them with the way we travel today.

The biggest difference is in the time devoted to travel. No if-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium here. Halliburton arrived in Greece in May or June — it is not entirely clear which — where he climbed both Mt. Olympus and Mt. Parnassus as a kind of appetizer, and traveled the route of the original Marathon at the time of the Peloponnesian Wars, followed by a leisurely month in Athens while he worked up to his visit to Troy. He stopped on the isle of Skyros on the way, where Odysseus had been dispatched to collect Achilles, and also where, incidentally, the poet Rupert Brooke is buried. Brooke was Halliburton's own personal hero. He died shockingly of blood poisoning on his way to Gallipoli, and his shipmates buried him on a high meadow overlooking the sea. It would have been unthinkable to pass up a pilgrimage to Brooke's grave.

Next he headed toward Troy which lies just south of the Hellespont, but first Halliburton, following in the footsteps of Leander and Lord Byron, swam the Hellespont. Finally, he got to Troy after which he returned to Athens to regroup.

Embarking on a steamer for Tunis to visit the land of the lotus eaters, followed by the east and north coasts of Sicily to visit the cave of the Cyclops — which was still there — and eventually Aeolus, the modern volcanic isle of Stromboli, then up and down the coast of Italy, back down through the straits of Messina, which Halliburton attempted to swim between Scylla and Charybdis, he ended up at a real garden spot — Taormina — on the strait and the eastern coast of Sicily where he spent several weeks recovering from the swim, but taking the opportunity to climb Mt. Etna. By then it was November, and the mountain was covered with snow. Eventually he made his way to Ithaca, the ultimate destination of Odysseus, sometime before Christmas.

Today it would be prohibitively expensive to spend the better part of a year retracing Halliburton's journey, never mind Odysseus'!

What a pleasure it was to read The Glorious Adventure even at this late date. Halliburton's breezy style, deeply personal descriptions of his relationship with the places visited, and his escapades with various traveling companions elevate this book above the average travel piece and fill one with that sense of nostalgia for the way traveling used to be. ( )

Richard Halliburton is certainly one of the most interesting "travel writers" I've had the pleasure of reading. He spent the 1920's abroad on romantic adventures and "The Glorious Adventure" is no exception. After sitting board in his living room, he decided to embark on a chapter by chapter journey following Homer's "The Odyssey." His adventures are certainly the madcap variety -- filled with crazy ideas helped along with a bit of alcohol. He never takes himself too seriously and his writing style is terrific -- he injects enough humor to keep the story light and interesting. Really wonderful reading -- especially in the first few chapters, where his adventures are particularly hilarious. A wonderful book! ( )