It’s been a good year for travel writing, and anyone looking for likely presents has plenty to choose from.

The best of the crop take a look back at the past, none further than The Man Who Invented History (John Murray £25). Little is known about Herodotus, the 5th-century BC Greek historian, but that doesn’t stop Justin Marozzi from roaming the terrain that the ancient writer mapped out in his Histories.

From Greece to Iraq, Turkey to Egypt, the narrative sizzles with insight, intrigue and improbability - not for nothing was Herodotus called the Father of Lies. It also happens to be a wonderful read.

Alice Albinia won the Royal Society of Literature’s Jerwood prize while still writing her first book, Empires of the Indus (John Murray £20). Now in print, it deserves to be a book of the year.

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The narrative of a journey upriver from the Arabian Sea to the highlands of Tibet, it is peopled by characters from the British Raj, medieval sultans, Alexander the Great and even Herodotus, who marvelled at the river’s great wealth. Writing of the beauties and dangers of places such as northern Pakistan and Afghani-stan, Albinia proves herself brave, intelligent and gifted.

Bravery has always been one of Dervla Murphy’s notable qualities.The Island That Dared (Eland £16.99) shows the indomitable 74-year-old as feisty as ever, seeking out Cuba beyond the tourist resorts and sharing her views on everything from travelling with (grand)children to the legacies of Che and Fidel.

Bravery, and a fair dose of foolishness, also lies at the heart of Bandit Roads (Little, Brown £16.99), Richard Grant’s account of his postdivorce journey through the Sierra Madre in Mexico. Tough and fast-paced, the narrative is lightened by more than a touch of irony from this Thomas Cook travel-book awardwinner. Back to the past, and on the other side of the globe, Edna Fernandes’s The Last Jews of Kerala (Portobello £16.99) considers the imminent demise of this 3,000-year-old community of Indian Ocean Jews and poignantly reveals both their grandeur and pettiness.

After scores of books by British writers, here is one in which the French write about France. French Tales, translated by Helen Constan-tine (Oxford £9.99), is a tight anthology that matches the old (Colette, Zola, Maupassant) to the very new, a story for each of the country’s 22 regions, and each a delight. The Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa wrote Lisbon: What the Tourist Should See(Shears-man £8.95) back in the 1920s, but it has only now been published. Much of this slim guide is straightforward, but occasionally the poet’s eye comes into focus and transforms the view. Perfect for reading alongside a modern guide.

Two series stand out as perfect fillers for the traveller’s stocking: Eland has just published the latest in its Poetry of Placeseries (England, Rome, Dublin; £6.99 each), while Haus has launched its hardback Literary Travellers. If Homer’s Mediterranean (Haus £9.99) is anything to go by, this is a series to collect. Wolfgang Geist-hövel follows Odysseus from Troy to Ithaca, adding his own descriptions to Homer’s timeless narrative.

Finally, two fascinating books too large for the stocking. The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu (Thames & Hudson £24.95) shows that there is more to this dusty outpost than sand and slavery. Most of the treasures are manuscripts, only now being collected and preserved. Meanwhile, if you have space under your Christmas tree and a loved one turned on by maps,Cities of the World (Taschen £120), a 520-page doorstopper packed with 16th-century views of the world’s known cities, will make their Christmas.

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