High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland
Tom Parfitt
Jul 2023 · Headline · Narrated by Tom Parfitt
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8 hr 59 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
'Outstanding' TIMES
'Gripping' ECONOMIST
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Emotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia's North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today.
Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. This is a stunning story of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.
'Gripping' ECONOMIST
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Emotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia's North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today.
Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. This is a stunning story of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.
About the author
Tom Parfitt grew up in Norfolk and studied politics and Russian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London. He worked for twenty years as a correspondent in Moscow for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Times. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
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