On a sun-drenched Paris morning in 1928, two men set off on the journey of a lifetime. Their mission: to be the first to circumnavigate the globe on a motorcycle. Eight years, six continents, 68 countries, and two German shepherds later, Zoltan Sulkowsky and his friend Gyula Bartha returned to Paris, their dream fulfilled. Sulkowsky kept a journal, thankfully, and this story is finally available in an English translation from Whitehorse Press. First published in his native Hungarian in 1937, Around The World on a Motorcycle 1928 to 1936 is at turns funny, sad, and harrowing — but always entertaining.

Interestingly, American Robert Fulton Jr. made the same trip at the same time. Indeed, both men boasted they were the first to not only complete the feat, but document their travels. Fulton’s equally fantastic tome, One Man Caravan, was also first published in 1937 and is also available from Whitehorse. Who started or finished first is an argument for the historians; what matters is Sulkowsky’s narrative is now available to English-speaking readers. Resisting comparison is difficult at best, but both books are armchair travel at its finest.

Aboard a Harley with a sidecar, Sulkowsky and Bartha traveled through Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, North and South America, and back. They immersed themselves in, and learned about, all the cultures and societies they encountered, and the world they experienced is described here in fascinating detail.

Sulkowsky’s ingenuous description of the world in the 1930s is the great treat of reading his book. He and Bartha were bohemians, each in their early twenties, and they tackled their quest with wide-eyed innocence and wonder. That naiveté comes through clearly in his writing: “Who would have thought … that a spade would prove to be much more necessary than a telescope, or that the revolver and small radio would in no way make up for the lack of pots and pans and a strong axe?” Nowadays, the answer to that question is obvious, but Zoltan Sulkowsky asks it earnestly in the first chapter and sets the tone for a wild, exuberant ride that celebrates a life truly lived. —Jon Langston

HARD DATA

Around The World On A Motorcycle 1928 to 1936, by Zoltan Sulkowsky
$29.95
Whitehorse Press
800/531-1133
www.WhitehorsePress.com