Winner of the RSL Ondaatje Prize Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award ''A striding, glorious book . . . A flat-out masterpiece'' The New York Times Book Review Caught between hostile nations, warring factions and competing ideologies, Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot and following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mughal emperor Babur the Great, Rory Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme, hostile conditions. Only with the help of an unexpected companion, and the generosity of the people he met on the way, did he survive to report back on his journey with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war. ''This evocative book feels like a long-lost relic of the great age of exploration'' The Guardian

Autorentext
Rory Stewart was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Malaysia. After a brief period in the British army, he joined the Foreign Office, serving in the Embassy in Indonesia and as British Representative in Montenegro, Yugoslavia. In 2002 he completed a 6,000 mile walk from Turkey to Bangladesh. His account of crossing Afghanistan on foot shortly after the US invasion, The Places In Between, was published in 2004, drew widespread acclaim, and was shortlisted for that year's Guardian First Book Award. He was awarded an OBE in 2004 for his work in Iraq. From 2006 to 2008 he lived in Kabul, where he was the Chief Executive of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation; in 2009 he was appointed to a professorial chair at Harvard University as the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights; and in 2010 he was elected as Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border.

Klappentext

'Tragic, touching and terrifying' - The Telegraph

'A flat-out masterpiece' - The New York Times Book Review

Embark on a death-defying journey through war-torn Afghanistan in this moving travelogue from Rory Stewart, bestselling author of Politics on the Edge and co-host of the hit podcast The Rest Is Politics.

Caught between hostile nations, warring factions and competing ideologies, Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot and following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mughal emperor Babur the Great, Rory Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme, hostile conditions.

Only with the help of an unexpected companion, and the generosity of the people he met on the way, did he survive to report back on his journey with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war.

Winner of the RSL Ondaatje Prize
Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award

**'This evocative book feels like a long-lost relic of the great age of exploration' - The Guardian

'An astonishing achievement' - Colin Thubron, author of Shadow of the Silk Road**

Zusammenfassung
The compelling story of a death-defying walk across war-torn Afghanistan from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister, bestselling author and the co-presenter of hit podcast The Rest is Politics.