'John Keay is the master storyteller and historian. This grand narrative of Himalaya is as epic
as the mountains and peoples he describes' Dan Snow 'Adds the human element to the hard rock.
And what a rich vein it is' Michael Palin History has not been kind to Himalaya. 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 today's
geopolitics John Keay draws on a lifetime of exploration and study to enlighten and delight
with this lively biography of a region in crisis.
