In The Empire Of Genghis Khan: Journey Among Nomads, A (Winner

Description:
As a child, award-winning travel writer Stanley Stewart dreamed of crossing Mongolia on horseback. This is the story of how that dream was fulfilled by following in the footsteps of a 13th-century Franciscan friar. Eight centuries ago the Mongols burst forth from Central Asia in a series of spectacular conquests that took them from the Danube to the Yellow Sea. Their empire was seen as the final triumph of the nomadic 'barbarians'. But in time the Mongols sank back into the obscurity from which they had emerged, almost without trace. Remote and outlandish, Outer Mongolia became a metaphor for exile, a lost domain of tents and horsemen, little changed since the days of Genghis Khan. In this remarkable book, Stanley Stewart sets off in the wake of an obscure 13th century Franciscan friar on a pilgimage across the old empire, from Istanbul to the distant homeland of the Mongol Hordes. The heart of his odyssey is a thousand-mile ride on horseback, among nomads for whom travel is a way of life, through a trackless land governed by winds and patterns of migration. On a journey full of bizarre characters and unexpected encounters, he crosses the desert and mountains of Central Asia, battles through the High Altay and the fringes of the Gobi, to the wind-swept grasslands of the steppes and the birthplace of Genghis Khan. Vivid, hilarious, and compelling, this eagerly-awaited book will take its place among travel classics -- a thrilling tale of adventure, a comic masterpiece, an evocative portrait of a medieval land marooned in the modern world.

Review:
'One of the best travel books of the year.' Sunday Times 'Humane and funny!an excellent book with sharp, compassionate observations on the lives of people struggling with the weight of history.' Spectator 'Stewart is a sensitive, observant traveller, and a gifted writer!in this entertaining, colourful and moving book he reveals both the sad absurdity of this beguiling land and the heartbreaking pathos of its modern history.' Sara Wheeler, Literary Review 'A classic travel story, beautifully written!' Wanderlust

Prizes:
Winner of Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award 2001.
Winner of Thomas Cook Travel Book Award 2001.

Author Biography:
Stanley Stewart is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph where his work, taking him to over fifty countries, has won numberous prestigious awards, including, on three occasions, Travel Writer of the Year. He is the author of Old Serpent Nile, an account of his journey to the source of the river, and of Froniers of Heaven, the story of his journey across China from Shanghai to Xinjiang, for which he won the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award. He was born in Ireland, grew up in Canada and lives in London.