The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (English) Paperback Book

Description: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart In January 2002, Rory Stewart survived a walk across Afghanistan by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. In this memoir, he writes about heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers as he makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A New York Times BestsellerThis acccount of a 36-day walk across Afghanistan, starting just weeks after the fall of the Taliban, is "stupendous...an instant travel classic" (Entertainment Weekly).In January 2002, Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan, surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion--a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistans first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.Through these encounters--by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny--Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the maps countless places in between. Back Cover "Stupendous . . . an instant travel classic."- Entertainment Weekly Author Biography RORY STEWART is the best-selling author of The Places in Between and The Prince of the Marshes. A former director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy and Ryan Professor of Human Rights at Harvards Kennedy School of Government, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services in Iraq. He is the Conservative member of Parliament for Penrith and The Border, a constituency in Northern Cumbria, where he lives with his wife. Table of Contents Contents Preface Review PRAISE FOR THE PLACES IN BETWEEN "A striding, glorious book . . . Learned but gentle, tough but humane, Stewart . . . writes with a mystics appreciation of the natural world, a novelists sense of character and a comedians sense of timing . . . A flat-out masterpiece . . . The Places in Between is, in very nearly every sense, too good to be true."--The New York Times Book Review "A splendid tale that is by turns wryly humorous, intensely observant, and humanely unsentimental."--Christian Science Monitor "Stupendous . . . an instant travel classic."--Entertainment Weekly "Stewarts 36-day walk across Afghanistan, starting just weeks after the fall of the Taliban, sets a new standard for cool nerve and hot determination . . . His description of the landscapes he traverses makes you feel youre accompanying him through a shifting, sculpted painting . . . Sublimely written."--The Seattle Times "Stunning . . . That he has written a remarkable memoir of his trek might contribute greatly not only to our reading pleasure, but to our understanding of Afghanistan in the 21st century . . . The Places in Between effectively depicts the spectacularly stark landscape, the utter poverty and the devastation of decades of war. But far more interesting are the men . . . Stewart met along the way." --The Plain Dealer -- Review Quote We never really find out why Stewart decided to walk across Afghanistan only a few months after the Taliban were deposed, but what emerges from the last leg of his two-year journey across Asia is a lesson in good travel writing. By turns harrowing and meditative, Stewarts trek through Afghanistan in the footsteps of the 15th-century emperor Babur is edifying at every step, grounded by his knowledge of local history, politics and dialects. His prose is lean and unsentimental: whether pushing through chest-high snow in the mountains of Hazarajat or through villages still under de facto Taliban control, his descriptions offer a cool assessment of a landscape and a people eviscerated by war, forgotten by time and isolated by geography. The well-oiled apparatus of his writing mimics a dispassionate camera shutter in its precision. But if we are to accompany someone on such a highly personal quest, we want to know who that person is. Unfortunately, Stewart shares little emotional background; the writers identity is discerned best by inference. Sometimes we get the sense he cares more for preserving history than for the people who live in it (and for whom historical knowledge would be luxury). But remembering Geraldo Riveras gunslinging escapades, perhaps we could use less sap and more clarity about this troubled and fascinating country.( Excerpt from Book The New Civil Details ISBN0156031566 Author Rory Stewart Short Title PLACES IN BETWEEN Language English ISBN-10 0156031566 ISBN-13 9780156031561 Media Book Format Paperback Illustrations Yes Year 2006 DOI 10.1604/9780156031561 Audience Age 14 Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2006-05-08 NZ Release Date 2006-05-08 US Release Date 2006-05-08 UK Release Date 2006-05-08 Imprint Harper Perennial Pages 336 Publisher Harper Perennial Publication Date 2006-05-08 DEWEY 915.810447 Audience Teenage / Young adult Imprint US Harper Perennial Publisher US HarperCollins We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:43648901;

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