Writing Down The Nile by Rosemary Mahoney (Little, Brown and Company, Rs 960) Mahoney&rsquos plan is straightforward &mdash &rdquoto buy a small Egyptian rowboat and row myself along the 120-mile stretch of river between the cities of Aswan and Qena&rdquo.
It&rsquos a journey through an ancient civilisation and a slightly edgy and impoverished present, interwoven with older travel accounts.