Press Release
New English Language Edition Available At Last! AROUND THE WORLD ON A MOTORCYCLE, 1928 TO 1936
By Zoltan Sulkowky
Center Conway, NH, September 2008-Many U.S. riders have heard of Zoltan Sulkowsky's early trip around the world on a motorcycle, but few have been able to read his account of it in its original Hungarian. Now, Whitehorse Press is pleased to announce the translation and publication of the first English language edition of Around the World on a Motorcycle 1928 to 1936, the story of Sulkowsky's epic trip complete with maps and the original photographs. Like Robert Fulton, whose circumnavigation of the globe is recounted in his 1937 book One Man Caravan, Sulkowsky thought his was the first around-the-world journey on a motorcycle. Both men traveled at roughly the same time but didn't know of each other's ride; who was first and who was the most adventuresome is now moot. Each tells of a unique and daring trip that defied its times; each is a skilled storyteller and writer able to present a fascinating story that is eminently readable and highly memorable.
Sulkowsky's trip, on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with sidecar, started in Paris in 1928 and continued for almost eight years through 68 countries on six continents. He and his friend Gyula Bartha (accompanied at different points by two loyal German Shepherd dogs), traveled through Europe, Africa, the Mideast, India, Australia, southeast Asia, China, Japan, North and South America, and back to Europe. They earned enough money to keep traveling by selling photographs and accounts of their experiences, and giving lectures in the many cities they visited along the way.
This is a clear-eyed view of the world in the 1930s - a world where the colonizing influence of Europe had affected much of Africa and Asia. They experienced the riches of sultans, witnessed primitive cultures and extreme poverty in remote villages, traveled through wilderness with the ever-present danger of wild animals and bands of outlaws, and traversed roads of all descriptions. They dealt with mud, sand, unbearable heat, bitter cold, and rivers where the motorcycle had to be taken apart to cross in a small boat. They forged roads where no roads had existed and brought a whiff of exhaust-scented civilization to people who had never before seen a motor vehicle.
Sulkowsky's intelligent and engaging book offers a unique worldview between the World Wars, flavored by a sampling of the great diversity of cultures and the wide variety of human life that exists on this planet. This is riveting armchair travel at its best, finally available to all adventure readers who have ever dreamed of some day riding the world themselves.
Hardcover, 6 x 9 inches, 413 pages, b&w illus, $29.95. Copies are available at your local bookstore, dealer, or directly from the publisher, Whitehorse Press, 107 East Conway Road, Center Conway, NH 03813-4012. Telephone toll-free 800-531-1133 or visit their web site at www.whitehorsepress.com.