Hilary Bradt

When Hilary Bradt and her then husband George set out on their travels in South America in 1973, little could they have realised that the journey which they were embarking on would lead to the creation of what has become one of the most esteemed and specialised travel publishing companies in the world.

Hilary and George wrote their first guide on a river barge floating down a tributary of the Amazon. In the 30-plus years since then, over 130 further titles have been added to the stable, many of them written in the early years by Hilary and George themselves. The company has grown slowly but consistently – its sustainable philosophy has extended beyond travel and is at the heart of its own development – which means that each title has been hand picked for adding something new and worthwhile to the ever-increasing range of guides now available in bookshops around the world, and only authors who have a genuine passion for, and knowledge of, the places which they write about have been invited to contribute to the list.

Today Bradt has a reputation for being a pioneer in tackling ‘unusual’ destinations, for championing the causes of sustainable travel (we call it ‘Travelling Positively’), and for the high quality of its writing. Our books are as much travelogues as travel guides, infused as they are with the personal voice and accounts of each author, and we value in-depth knowledge, real insight, a personal touch and, perhaps above all else, a sense of the quirky, unique and the faintly ridiculous. We recognise that travellers’ interests are too varied to shoehorn a manuscript into a publisher’s template, and that’s why each one of our books is different, drawing out the aspects and features of a destination which make it special, and allowing authors to indulge their individual passions.

In 1997 Bradt received the Sunday Times Small Publisher of the Year Award. We’re also proud of our record of six Best Guidebook awards from the British Guild of Travel Writers, while in the USA two of our authors have received the prestigious Lowell Thomas award.

In 2008 we won the Wanderlust Gold Award for Best Guidebook Series and Hilary Bradt was awarded an MBE.