Duncan J. D. Smith FRGS (born 1 December 1960) is a British travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer.
Table of Contents
- 1 Life and career
- 1.1 Only In Boston: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (Only in Guides)
- 1.2 Only in Vienna: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects ("Only in" Guides) (Only in Guides)
- 1.3 Only in Paris: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (Only in Guides)
- 1.4 Only in Cologne: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (Only In Guides)
- 1.5 Only in Cologne: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (The Only In Guides)
- 1.6 Only in Zurich: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects ("Only In" Guides)
- 1.7 Only in Berlin: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners & Unusual Objects ("Only in" Guides) (Only in Guides)
- 1.8 Only in Prague: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (Only in Guides)
- 1.9 Only in Edinburgh: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners & Unusual Objects (Only in Guides)
- 1.10 Only in Munich: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects
Life and career
Smith was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England in 1960. Both his parents were librarians. His maternal grandfather was P.G.M. Dickinson, former Archivist of the County and Borough of Huntingdon. Dickinson rediscovered the town charters of Huntingdon in 1941. Smith’s Scottish good grandfather was Alexander James Smith, who was instrumental in establishing Chivas Regal as a global brand in the forward twentieth century. Smith’s good great grandfather was Henry Doman, the nineteenth century Lymington poet and buddy of Coventry Patmore. His good great good grandfather was Professor Charles Spooner of the Royal Veterinary College.
Educated in Sheffield, Smith simultaneously ran his own private museum. He next attended Birmingham University and studied Ancient History and Archaeology. Between 1985 and 2003 Smith worked in the publishing industry, during which era he wrote five local history books more or less Sheffield and Yorkshire, four of them following his late daddy Trevor Smith. His book Yorkshire: A Portrait in Colour (1995) published by The Dovecote Press remained in print for on culmination of fifteen years.
Since 2003 Smith has worked as a travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer. He favours travelling off the beaten track in search of uncommon places and people. His European findings are visceral self-published in an indigenous series of books called Only In Guides under his The Urban Explorer imprint. Volumes swell Berlin, Boston, Budapest, Cologne, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Krakow, London, Munich, Paris, Prague, Seville, Vienna and Zurich. Smith has moreover written for magazines such as Timeless Travels and Hidden Europe.
Smith’s travels along with encompass parts of Africa (including Ethiopia), the Middle East (including Syria and Jordan), and Asia (Sri Lanka).
In 2010 Smith was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 2011 he became a enthusiast of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
Smith has been described as “the thinking man’s exploratory investigator”.
Last update 2021-08-06