Among the Mountains

Wilfred Thesiger, arguably last century''s greatest explorer, recalls his travels among the mountain ranges of Asia. Although he originally wanted it to be a book of photographs, his diaries contained enough information to accompany the pictures with a full narrative. He is not driven by the desire to conquer an unclimbed mountain, he is not a trained mountaineer, he loves mountains as they are. With great respect and awe he travels extensively at intervals, over the years, among mountains and mountain people in remote areas of the Middle East and Asia; particularly in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Karakorams, the Hindu Kush and Ladakh, visiting Chitral and wild, untravelled Nuristan. Spanning a period of over 30 years (1951-1983) this book draws on Thesiger''s original diaries of his various journeys and his vivid memories of them, and includes some 80 or so previously unpublished photographs of the stunning mountain scenery he saw and the people he encountered. ''I have always been attracted by mountains...'' Wilfred Thesiger, 1987