NON FICTION WRITING

Thomas Edward Townsend Williams (Tom) was my father, and he was an intelligent, hard-working family man. He had an enquiring mind, an eye for detail and an obvious fascination for ancient history. He didn’t start travelling overseas until much later in life; but in doing so he turned his private travel experiences, opinions and keen observations into meticulously detailed notes and fleshed them out into interesting stories. 

Tom was a career journalist; he took great pride in being an honest, traditional, factual writer and not beholden to the “sensationalist tabloid style” that he truly frowned on. He retired after 52 years and fully indulged in his new-found passion for travelling.

Tom travelled to some rather far flung and exotic locations around the globe to see significant ancient sites that many of us have only ever dreamed of, read about in history books or seen in TV documentaries; Petra in Jordan, Machu Picchu in Peru and Easter Island are only some examples. He often referred to these as his “intrepid adventures.”

I have re-scanned his original photographs for inclusion in this revised collection of travel stories. Additional photos from his travel albums have also been included if they provide an appropriate emphasis or visualisation to accompany his words.

These stories represent a snapshot of time where the global geopolitical environment was less angry and less divided than we find ourselves in today. Western intervention, regional uprisings and conflict have occurred - and continue to rage - in some of those parts of the world.

 When viewed from that perspective, it makes my father’s writing even more poignant and interesting; it gives a fresh appreciation of how good it was to travel with him to see amazing countries and experience their cultures when it was less of a risk to do so.