Top 10 journeys across the Mediterranean and Caspian seas

James Marriott and Mika Minio-Paluello are the authors of The Oil Road – Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London.

For the Guardian they named a top ten list of literary journeys that follow "crude oil from deep beneath the Caspian Sea as it is pumped through the Caucasus Mountains, over the Anatolian Plateau, across the Mediterranean and Adriatic to Trieste, and onwards over the Austrian Alps to Bavaria," including:

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris

In her best book – according to author herself – Morris explores the port town's role in centuries of trade and movement across the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Having first visited at the tail-end of the second world war as a British cavalry officer, Morris developed a close relationship with the Adriatic, with a further three books on Venice – both as a city and as a naval empire.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue