After four years' studying for a dubious degree all Tim English wanted to be was a 'man with a van'. Fortunately, just as the thrill of shifting Granny's aspidistra and trying not to chip the family china began to dwindle, he fell into another job behind a slightly larger wheel. Dumping the Transit for a truck, he swapped the streets of London for the backroads of Africa and South America.

From the Touareg settlements of the Sahara, through the Pygmy camps of the Congo, to the Indian villages of the Andes, Tim and his various truckloads of travellers cruise the razor-edge of tourism. Blossoming romances and simmering tensions shadow their progress, but as they navigate their way through some of the world's more intractable conflicts, Tim ponders how the injustice and determination they witness might just change the groups' lives forever.

A stirring reminder for those who have been there, a taster for those who are thinking of following them, Overlanding balances high drama with low humour in prose that is sometimes shocking, always touching. The story of the ultimate road trip, the pages are packed with as much excitement, adventure and disaster as the journeys themselves.