Reiseskildringer

Empires have collided here, cultures have clashed. Buddhist India claimed it from the south, Islam put down roots in its western approaches, Mongols and Manchus rode in from the north, and, from the east, China continues to absorb what it prefers not to call Tibet. Hunters have decimated its wildlife and mountaineers have bagged its peaks.

Today, machinery gouges minerals out of its rock. Roughly the size of Europe, the region is one of the most seismically active on the planet. Summers bring avalanches, rainfall triggers landslides and winters obliterate trails.

Glaciers retreat, rivers change course and whole lakes quietly evaporate. To some, Himalaya is an otherworldly realm, profoundly life-changing, yet forbidding and forbidden. It has mesmerised scholars and mystics, sportsmen and spies, pilgrims and mapmakers who have mingled with the farmers and traders on the Roof of the World.

Himalaya is the story of one of the last great wildernesses and, in particular, of the bizarre discoveries and improbable achievements of its pioneers. Ranging from botany to trade, from the Great Game to todays geopolitics, John Keay draws on a lifetime of exploration and study to enlighten and delight with this lively biography of a region in crisis.

• Forfatter: John Keay
• Publisert: Okt. 2023
• Antall sider: 432
• ISBN: 9781408891162

Forlagets omtale:

the incredible story of the search for one of mao's lost children, set against the extraordinary backdrop of modern china. 'a son is very important in chinese society,' he had said. 'to lose one is careless. The ancestors would be angry.' intrigued by stories of a son given away by mao and his then-wife during the long march, and mystified by the ‘official' explanation of the boy's fate (whereabouts unknown - no further information available), richard loseby sets out alone across china in search of answers. Tracing mao's own revolutionary journey, the author encounters the extraordinary realities of a new revolution, one that is transforming an ancient culture into a modern economic powerhouse. At the heart of the journey is the hunt for an elusive truth about a brutal and traumatic time in the nation's still raw history. Who was that abandoned boy? Might he still be alive? Would he even want to be found? The result is an amazing traveller's tale – revealing, poignant, funny, sad and unexpected at every turn. A boy of china takes the reader on an unforgettable journey that is at once intimate and epic

forfattere: R.Loseby
Publisert år: 2016
Sider nr:303

Ilija trojanow's journey from mumbai to mecca is told in the tradition of the rihla, one of the oldest genres of classical arabic literature and describes the hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy sites of islam. 'from the very first moment they realise that the hajj - the pilgrimage to mecca - is among the duties of each and every muslim, the faithful long to go.' trojanov, with the help of his friends, donned the ihram, the traditional garb of the pilgrim. He joined hundreds of thousands of muslims who each year go on the hajj, the greatest demonstration of the muslim faith.

in three short weeks he experienced a tradition dating back over one thousand years this is his account, personal yet enlightening, for the interested non-muslims who remain barred from the holy sites of islam.

forfattere: I. Trojanow
Publisert måned: Aug
Publisert år: 2017
Utgave: 1.utg
Sider nr: 150