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  • A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

  • By: Eric Newby
  • Narrated by: James Bryce
  • Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

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A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

By: Eric Newby
Narrated by: James Bryce
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Publisher's summary

A classic of travel writing, ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ is Eric Newby’s iconic account of his journey through one of the most remote and beautiful wildernesses on earth.

It was 1956, and Eric Newby was earning an improbable living in the chaotic family business of London haute couture. Pining for adventure, Newby sent his friend Hugh Carless the now-famous cable – CAN YOU TRAVEL NURISTAN JUNE? – setting in motion a legendary journey from Mayfair to Afghanistan, and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, north-east of Kabul. Inexperienced and ill prepared (their preparations involved nothing more than some tips from a Welsh waitress), the amateurish rogues embark on a month of adventure and hardship in one of the most beautiful wildernesses on earth – a journey that adventurers with more experience and sense may never have undertaken. With good humour, sharp wit and keen observation, the charming narrative style of ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ would soon crystallise Newby's reputation as one of the greatest travel writers of all time.

One of the greatest travel classics from one of Britain's best-loved travel writers, this edition includes new photographs, an epilogue from Newby's travelling companion, Hugh Carless, and a prologue from one of Newby's greatest proponents, Evelyn Waugh.

©1958 Eric Newby (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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Critic reviews

'The master storyteller. He transformed travel writing' Independent

'One of the most enjoyable reads of the last century' Herald Tribune

'The most successful travel writer of his generation. It's impossible to read this book without laughing aloud' Observer

'Endlessly entertaining and self-deprecating' Daily Mail

'Full of serendipity and surprise' The Economist

'A total success' New Yorker

'Notable addition to the literature of unorthodox travel … tough, extrovert, humorous and immensely literate' Times Literary Supplement

'”A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” established him as a traveler who not only journeyed fruitfully but had the ability to bring his readers with him' William Trevor, Guardian

'I still think the last few sentences of “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” the funniest ending to any book I have read' Geoffrey Moorhouse, The Times

'The book that made [Newby's] reputation … typically ironic in its understatement' Observer

'Newby is easily the best of the bunch' Sunday Times

'All the lyricism, and spirit of adventure and discovery [in] Newby's work' The Times

'As good as its hype' Wanderlust

What listeners say about A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

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Travel classic

I was delighted to find A Short Walk now on Audible, though I have read it in print many, many times. Newby’s careful attention to culture and landscape, his wry self-knowledge, and his historical place at the end of the great age of Himalayan exploration make the book extraordinary. It was satisfying to hear the reflections of Hugh Carliss, in the epilogue written for this edition.

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Interesting Adventure of Mounteering

Overall, an interesting read, but one really needs to have printed a copy of the map (readily available on the internet with a Google search) so as to better follow and appreciate the amazing story of two truly novice climbers who survived ther "first-time" mountaineering expedition and were the first to traverse areas in Afghanistan, etc.

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