Simon Calder

A comprehensive guide to understanding Cuba's social, political and economic situation.

The first ever puzzle book from Flightradar24 At any one time there are nearly 20,000 flights in the sky, and more than 75 million flights a year – and, since 2006, the website Flightradar24 has kept its beady eye on them all. For the first time ever, the live flight tracker will open its cabin doors onto a wonderful world of flight data and navigational insight, challenging readers to become the pilot in this brilliant new puzzle book. From some of the world’s longest, shortest and weirdest flights, to questions on many of the aeronautical world’s most enduring mysteries, You’re the Captain! is packed full of incredible puzzles that will confound even the most experienced traveller. Complete with colour maps, it asks readers to plot their own routes to destinations, navigate tricky time zones, deal with bad weather and help air traffic control find missing planes – all backed by Flightradar24’s extraordinary cache of data, flight paths and statistics. So hit the flight deck, buckle up and challenge yourself to become the captain in this one-of-a-kind puzzle book!

Every Saturday in The Independent’s award-winning Traveller section, our “48 hours” stories explore new and exciting city-break itineraries. Now, 25 years after the series was first launched, we’ve produced this special, designed to help you get the most from a visit to a selection of 20 key North American cities. Among them, you can choose from New York’s dizzying nightlife, the rollercoaster thrills of Orlando, the Hollywood glitter of Los Angeles or Vancouver’s great outdoors. We’ve also included a range of accommodation options to suit your budget.

Following the tremendous success of the earlier editions of No Frills, leading TV presenter and top travel journalist Simon Calder now gives the low down on how these cheap ticket airlines have spread all round the world, enabling the eager traveller to plan economical and exciting long haul trips as well as taking advantage of the ever growing routes and destinations across Europe.Not a day goes by without there being a headline (or a TV programme!) about one or other of the highly successful low cost airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair.They have truly revolutionised air travel from the UK and No Frills is the highly entertaining story of how it all came about, and in particular, of the swashbuckling personalities of the entrepreneurs like Stelios Haji-Iannou and Michael O'Leary whose drive and inspiration made it all possible.

High in the Pyrenees, a full day's hike from any trappings of civilisation, is no place for a human to be - unless you are searching for the time of your life.This is the roof of a mountain range that stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean coasts, and provides some of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscape to be found in Europe. It is also the place for hikers to get soaked, roasted or scared out of their wits - not by the endangered brown bear, but by rights-of-way such as the precipitous Chemin de la Mature, hacked out of a cliff by 18th century convicts and is still used in the 21st century to punish anyone fearful of heights, such as TV presenter Simon Calder. Luckily, his friend and walking companion Mick Webb has a complementary range of phobias, such as being confined with 54 fellow hikers, and their socks, in a refuge two miles above sea level.Together, they step out to conquer the roof of the Pyenees, following the time honoured tradition of walking the GR10. the preferred route of the, at times eccentric, French Ramblers' Federation. Testing a hiker's emotional resilience as keenly as his walking boots, the GR10 is not for the faint-hearted. Weaving an occasionally treacherous, always exhilarating trajectory through a landscape of strong traditions and strange animals, Calder and Webb narrate an eventful and humerous travelogue. With their backpacks, boots and baguettes, they explore the region: meeting the people, savouring the views and the wines - and aguing about how best to cope with the constant surprises and challenges of magnificent mountains. They also very quickly learn that la loi de l'emmerdement maximum means 'sod's law' in French.

An exploration of Havana's history and its paradoxes: a city where architectural treasures survive among the crumbling tenements; where a vibrant street life takes place amidst shortages; and where revolutionary politics, "machismo" and a thriving black market co-exist.