Book description
A rich blend of history and spirituality, adventure and politics, laced
with the thread of black comedy familiar to readers of William
Dalrymple's previous work.
In AD 587, two monks, John Moschos and Sophronius the Sophist, embarked
on an extraordinary journey across the Byzantine world, from the shores
of the Bosphorus to the sand dunes of Egypt. Their aim: to collect the
wisdom of the sages and mystics of the Byzantine East before their
fragile world shattered under the eruption of Islam. Almost 1500 years
later, using the writings of John Moschos as his guide, William
Dalrymple set off to retrace their footsteps.
Taking in a civil war in Turkey, the ruins of Beirut, the tensions of
the West Bank and a fundamentalist uprising in Egypt, William
Dalrymple's account is a stirring elegy to the dying civilisation of
Eastern Christianity. 'Compulsively readable.' John Julius Norwich, Observer
'Everything a really good travel book should be: witty, learned and
also very funny.' Eric Newby
'Any travel writer who is so good at his job as to be brilliant,
applauded, loved and needed has to have an unusual list of qualities,
and William Dalrymple has them all in aces. Dalrymple's ear for
conversation is as good as Alan Bennett's. The best and most unexpected
book I have read since I forget when.' Peter Levi
'A rich stew of history and travel narrative spiced with anecdote,
opinion and bon mots…The future of travel literature lies in the hands
of gifted authors like Dalrymple who shine their torches into the
shadowy hinterland of the human story - the most foreign territory of
all.' Independent
'Dalrymple stands out as one of our most talented travel writers.
Energetic, thoughtful, curious and courageous.' Sunday Times
'William Dalrymple has effortlessly assumed the mantle of Robert Byron
and Patrick Leigh Fermor.' Guardian
'A splendid, effective and impressive book.' Financial Times William
Dalrymple's first book, 'In Xanadu', won the Yorkshire Post Best First
Work Award. His second, 'City of Djinns', won the Thomas Cook Travel
Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award.
His third, 'From the Holy Mountain', was awarded the Scottish Arts
Council Autumn Book Award and shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and
the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. He has also published a collection of
his pieces about India, 'The Age of Kali', and three history books:
'White Mughals', which won the Wolfson Prize, 'The Last Mughal', which
won the Duff Cooper Prize, and 'Nine Lives', which won the Asia House
Literary Award.
