The Places in Between

Name: The Places in Between
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Rory Stewart
ISBN: 9781436101042

Author: Rory Stewart

Narrator: Rory Stewart

Unabridged: 8 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 12/07/2006

Categories: Nonfiction, Travel, Middle East, History, Asian & Pacific Islander History, Middle Eastern History, Modern History, Essays & Travelogues

Synopsis

In January 2002, Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers" floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following. Through these encounters-by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny- Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.

About Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart has written for the New York Times Magazine, Granta, and the London Review of Books, and is the author of The Places in Between. A former fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government for services in Iraq. He lives in Scotland.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sean on September 11, 2007

In theory, it is easy to hate an Eton educated upper class Scotsman who decides it’d be a lark to walk across Afghanistan six months after the fall of the Taliban. The idea reminds me of the stupidity and adventurism I encountered when I went to Palestine with ISM. People vacationing in other people......more

Goodreads review by Carmen on November 30, 2008

It is what it is: a guy walks across Afghanistan. What do you think happens? A) he encounters very poor and poorly educated tribal/feudal lords B) he encounters hostile, backward, cruel teens and militia and former soldiers C) he walks 25 miles a day with not much to describe: rural Afghanistan is ru......more

Goodreads review by da on November 19, 2017

I am in total awe of this author -- whew! -- to say the least. This is his account of his walk across the length of Afghanistan in 2002, right after 9/11. Need I say more? He's not a perfect writer, not a perfect audio narrator; facts which make his tale all the more compelling.......more

Goodreads review by H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov on September 01, 2021

It was a good time to revisit this book, given what direction current events have taken. A careful reading of Stewart would lead one to expect something of what we are now seeing. Even if you aren't into the daily news feed, I think that you might enjoy his detailed observance of geography and cultu......more

Goodreads review by Will on August 17, 2010

Stewart is an upper class Brit who sustains the English tradition of adventurism. He has worked in Iraq (and done other things I cannot recall here) and in this book he tells of his walk across Afghanistan. It was an interesting tale, one in which he offers a picture of what life is like for many of......more