Colin Thubron – författare

A journey along the greatest land route on earth, from the master of travel writing Colin ThubronOn buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey. Covering over 7000 miles in eight months Thubron recounts extraordinary adventures - a near-miss with a drunk-driver, incarceration in a Chinese cell during the SARS epidemic, undergoing root canal treatment without anaesthetic in Iran - in inimitable prose. Shadow of the Silk Road is about Asia today; a magnificent account of an ancient world in modern ferment.'It is hard to think of a better travel book written this century' Times'Thubron is the pre-eminent travel writer of his generation' Sunday Telegraph

'One of the finest books about contemporary Russia' ObserverThis is the account of Thubron's 15,000-mile journey through an astonishing country - one twelfth of the land surface of the whole earth. He journeyed by train, river and truck among the people most damaged by the breakup of the Soviet Union, traveling among Buddhists and animists, radical Christian sects, reactionary Communists and the remnants of a so-call Jewish state; from the site of the last Czar's murder and Rasputin's village, to the ice-bound graves of ancient Sythians, to Baikal, deepest and oldest of the world's lakes.It is the story of a people moving through the ruins of Communism into more private, diverse and often stranger worlds.'If there were a Nobel Prize for travel writing, Thubron should win it' Daily Mail

Discover Colin Thubron's journey through central asia in the wake of the fall of the iron curtain.Thubron travelled throughout Central Asia in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union and documented the widespread social upheaval in a region reeling from political change. Thubron is an inspirational writer, intrepid traveller and insightful observer and his The Lost Heart of Asia is an outstanding guide to the history, people and culture of a vast region resonating with history and politics.'Thubron's journey takes him through a spectacular, talismanic geography of desert and mountain... and he weaves its mysteries with modern images into a dazzling embroidery' The Times

'A magnificent achievement' Nikolai Tolstoy, The TimesAmong the Russians is a marvellous account of a solitary journey by car from St. Petersburg and the Baltic States south to Georgia and Armenia. A gifted writer and intrepid traveller, Thubron grapples with the complexities of Russian identity and relays his extraordinary journey in characteristically lyrical style. This is an enthralling and revealing account of the habits and idiosyncrasies of a fascinating nation along with a sharp and insightful social commentary of Russian life.'Superb... one of the best books on Russia to appear in years' New York Times

A powerful unforgettable journey through China with one of our greatest travel writers.'An achievement of great and lasting brilliance' Patrick Leigh FermorHaving learned Mandarin, and travelling alone by foot, bicycle and train, Colin Thubron set off on a 10,000 mile journey from Beijing to the borders of Burma. He travelled through the wind-swept wastes of the Gobi desert and finished at the far end of the Great Wall.What Thubron reveals is an astonishing diversity, a land whose still unmeasured resources strain to meet an awesome demand, and an ancient people still reeling from the devastation of the Cultural Revolution.

For four months and five hundred miles Colin Thubron walked the mountains of Lebanon, following tracks and rivers. His journey was not only a survey of a remarkable country, but a quest for the gods and divinities who held the secrets of death and rebirth in the land's ancient cults.He visited almost every place of cultural importance, and lived with the people along his way, recording a country of outstanding natural scenery, rich with a unique medley of races and religions.The Hills of Adonis is both a travel book and a personal journal; for the quest is the search for meaning, a reflection on faith and reason and a poem on the joy and complexity of living.

A 50th anniversary edition of Colin Thubron's celebrated first book, a portrait of Syria's capital city, with a new introduction by the author.Described by the author as simply 'a work of love', Mirror to Damascus provides a rich and fascinating history of Damascus from the Amorites of the Bible to the revolution of 1966, and is also a charming and witty personal record of an extraordinary city.In explaining how modern Damascus is rooted in immemorial layers of culture and tradition, Colin Thubron explores the historical, artistic, social and religious inheritance of its people. Along the way, he shares unforgettable stories about the enterprising travellers of bygone days.Mirror to Damascus is a unique portrait of a city now obscured by recent upheavals, by one of the most indefatigable and popular of travel writers.

**TOP TEN BESTSELLER**'I would rather read Colin Thubron than any other travel writer alive' John SimpsonMount Kailas is the most sacred of the world's mountains - holy to one fifth of humanity. Isolated beyond the central Himalayas, its summit has never been scaled, but for centuries the mountain has been ritually circled by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.Colin Thubron joins these pilgrims, after an arduous trek from Nepal, through the high passes of Tibet, to the magical lakes beneath the slopes of Kailas itself. He talks to secluded villagers and to monks in their decaying monasteries; he tells the stories of exiles and of eccentric explorers from the West.Yet he is also walking on a pilgrimage of his own. Having recently witnessed the death of the last of his family, his trek around the great mountain awakes an inner landscape of love and grief, restoring precious fragments of his own past.

Cyprus, spring 1972. Tensions are rising between the Greek South and the Turkish North. Within two years, the country will become divided.It is at this distinctive time in history British travel writer Colin Thubron embarks on a 600 mile trek across the country. Moving from Greek villages to Turkish towns, the author of Shadow of the Silk Road and Night of Fire provides a profound look into the people of Cyprus – from Orthodox monks to wedding parties to peasant families – against the landscape of a beautiful Mediterranean island on the eve of chaos and tragedy. A remarkable quest rich in literature, classics and architecture, Journey Into Cyprus ingeniously intertwines the history and politics of Cyprus and its mythical past with the tumultuous present – from the master of travel books and writing, Colin Thubron. ‘An accomplished linguist and historian, his passionate concern for antiquity in all its aspects - mythological, architectural, conceptual - lends weight and warmth to every chapter’ Financial Times

In his eightieth year, Colin Thubron takes a dramatic and often treacherous journey from the Amur's secret source to its giant mouth, covering almost 3,000 miles.'Thubron on top form. Richly detailed, immaculately written and full of insights and encounters that bring a complex corner of the world to life' MICHAEL PALINRising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific, the Amur River forms the tense border between Russia and China. This is the most densely fortified frontier on Earth.Harassed by injury and by arrest from the local police, Thubron makes his way along both the Russian and Chinese shores. By the time he reaches the river's desolate end, a whole, pivotal world has come alive.'A masterpiece' William Dalrymple'Unforgettable' Antony Beevor'An epic journey along a frozen, fraught frontier... Fascinating' The Times'This book is a triumph' Daily TelegraphWinner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2022

A short novel with a wide canvas: a long-simmering love triangle, set in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, from the Booker-longlisted novelist and travel writer.‘She was standing at the boat’s prow. He thought: this is how I will remember her, looking into the wind, serene. This will outlast whatever is to come.’Kathleen lies awake in the operating theatre as she undergoes brain surgery, her husband Robert watching. Soon afterwards, the couple leave for an ill-advised holiday in Egypt, together with the third person in their marriage, Robert’s brother Alan. Each of them is aware that the tumour in Kathleen’s brain may be fatal.For Kathleen, an actor, the trauma of her operation brings a haunting sense of the frailty of her identity. Her descent along the ancient Egyptian tomb corridors – symbols of the passage beyond death – evokes a fevered elation.Ashraf, their Egyptian guide, is compulsively drawn to her, even as he is caught up in the conflicted politics of his country. As each character struggles with the weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future, the mounting tension resolves in delusion – and a shattering betrayal.In taut, shimmering prose, Colin Thubron shifts among the perspectives of the four protagonists in a narrative of mesmerising scope and power.Praise for Colin Thubron:‘One of our greatest prose writers in any genre’ William Dalyrymple, Daily Telegraph‘From the very first sentence you know that you are in the hands of a great master’ Anthony Beevor‘[Thubron] summons both landscape and people with nuanced sensitivity... Here is a writer at the top of his game’ Spectator‘[An] irresistible narrative gift’ Ursula Le Guin, Guardian‘No writer has more successfully combined the disciplines of travel writing and fiction than Colin Thubron … A master craftsman’ Melissa Katsoulis, The Times

Colin Thurbon’s beautiful prose unfolds along the Silk Road, unearthing a richly layered past on his most ambitious journey.On buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey. A magnificent account of an ancient world in modern ferment, Thubron covers over 7000 miles in eight months enduring a near-miss with a drunk-driver, incarceration in a Chinese cell, and undergoing root canal treatment without anaesthetic, along the way.VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mind

"Tributes are tricky things. Too fawningly sentimental, they render the subject fantastical; too rigorously factual, they read like an obituary. This celebration of Jan Morris avoids the dilemma beautifully by inviting 21 equally felicitous writers to comment on a life packed with interest and a talent too large to be confined to a mere 120 pages... Essays from Alan Whicker, Simon Winchester, Peregrine Worsthorne and others brim with admiration and insight, but what stands out on the page at every turn are examples from Morris's unsurpassable work." Stephen Pritchard, The Observer: Paperback of the Week."Friends and colleagues write affectionately about a great Welsh writer who inhabits that delectable border between journalism and literature." Iain Finlayson, The TimesJan Morris is one of the world's leading writers. In this tribute to her on her eightieth birthday, a number of well-known people from the world of travel writing, journalism, broadcasting and publishing celebrate the writer, as well as the person, in specially written essays. Through anecdotes and personal memories, they illuminate with warm affection her work and influence, her personality and her extraordinary life. Insights are also provided through the eyes of a painter, photographer, historian, and mountaineer.A thoughtful introduction by Paul Theroux accompanies essays by George Band, Arturo Di Stefano, David Fieldhouse, Don George, David Holden, David Hurn, Pico Iyer, Julian Loose, Robert McCrum, Geoffrey Moorhouse, Patrick Nairne, Jim Perrin, Hilary Rubinstein, Ned Thomas, Colin Thubron, Erica Wagner, Alan Whicker, Simon Winchester and Peregrine Worsthorne.