Bettina Selby, a former schoolteacher and photographer turned freelance writer, writes about traveling by bicycle across many parts of the world. Selby travels alone, braving hostile truck drivers, extremes of weather, and even landslides to reach her destinations. Her humble mode of travel and her interest in the inhabitants of the lands she visits allow Selby intimate and unusual experiences in the Indian Subcontinent, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the British Isles. Selby's books are not just travel guides to remote areas. Living close to nature wherever she travels, Selby often turns a critical eye on how the land and indigenous peoples have been neglected and abused in the name of progress.

Bettina St. Claire was born 25 August 1934 in Southsea, Hampshire, England, to Sydney Thomas St. Claire (an insurance agent) and Emma Cecilia Desmonde. Evacuated to a coal mining village in south Wales during World War II...