The Land Beyond
A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East
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Narrated by:
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Leon McCarron
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By:
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Leon McCarron
About this listen
There are many reasons why it might seem unwise to walk, mostly alone, through the Middle East. That, in part, is exactly why Leon McCarron did it.
From Jerusalem, McCarron followed a series of wild hiking trails that trace ancient trading and pilgrimage routes and traverse some of the most contested landscapes in the world. In the West Bank, he met families struggling to lead normal lives amidst political turmoil and had a surreal encounter with the world's oldest and smallest religious sect. In Jordan, he visited the ruins of Hellenic citadels and trekked through the legendary Wadi Rum. His journey culminated in the vast deserts of the Sinai, home to Bedouin tribes and haunted by the ghosts of Biblical history.
The Land Beyond is a journey through time, from the quagmire of current geopolitics to the original ideals of the faithful, through the layers of history, culture and religion that have shaped the Holy Land. But at its heart, it is the story of people, not politics and of the connections that can bridge seemingly insurmountable barriers.
©2020 Leon McCarron (P)2020 Leon McCarronListeners also enjoyed...
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Beautiful book, listen NOW! And get outside!
- By Rosalind Burns on 02-16-20
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Turn Right at Machu Picchu
- Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
- By: Mark Adams
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Writer for the New York Times and GQ, Mark Adams is also the acclaimed author of Mr. America. In this fascinating travelogue, Adams follows in the controversial footsteps of Hiram Bingham III, who’s been both lionized and vilified for his discovery of the famed Lost City in 1911—but which reputation is justified?
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Spellbounding, exceptional vocals
- By KLewis on 09-19-15
By: Mark Adams
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The Man Who Walked Through Time
- The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon
- By: Colin Fletcher
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1963 Colin Fletcher became the first man to walk the length of Grand canyon, below the Rim. It began with a dream, when he and a friend detoured from a cross-country trip to take a hurried look at the great natural wonder. Standing on the Rim, surrounded by the profound and almost mystical silence, Fletcher knew that something had happened to the way he looked at things. He also knew that the Canyon, with its depths and distances, cliffs, buttes, and hanging terraces, beckoned to him, calling him on a journey that would challenge both his body and his mind.
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Eloquent
- By Bill J on 07-20-20
By: Colin Fletcher
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Kingdom by the Sea
- A Journey Around the Coast of Britian
- By: Paul Theroux
- Narrated by: Ron Keith
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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American-born Paul Theroux had lived in England for 11 years when he realized he'd explored dozens of exotic locations without discovering anything about his adopted home. So, with a knapsack on his back, he set out to explore by walking and by short train trips. The result is a witty, observant and often acerbic look at an ever eccentric assortments of Brits in all shapes and sizes.
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Casting creates utter confusion
- By Susan on 09-01-09
By: Paul Theroux
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The Fracture Zone
- A Return to the Balkans
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist and author Simon Winchester takes readers on a personal tour of the Balkans. Combining history and interviews with the people who live there, Winchester offers a fascinating glimpse into the complex issues at work in this chaotic region. Unrest in the Balkans has gone on for centuries. A seasoned reporter, Winchester visited the region twenty years ago. When Kosovo reached crisis level in 1997, Winchester thought a return visit to the beleaguered area would help to make sense out of the awful violence.
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Loved this-Great combo:Story and History Explained
- By Jeremy on 07-10-14
By: Simon Winchester
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Lost on Planet China
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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When the travel bug bit, J. Maarten Troost took on the world's most populous and intriguing nation. As Troost relates his gonzo adventure - dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in Tibet, deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as cattle penis with garlic), and visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead) - he reveals a vast, complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think.
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I love Troost but...
- By Abigail on 02-25-09
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Walking the Kiso Road
- A Modern-Day Exploration of Old Japan
- By: William Scott Wilson
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Take a trip to old Japan with William Scott Wilson as he travels the ancient Kiso Road, a legendary route that remains much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. The Kisoji, which runs through the Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps, has been in use since at least 701 CE. In the 17th century, it was the route that the daimyo (warlords) used for their biennial trips - along with their samurai and porters - to the new capital of Edo (now Tokyo).
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Definitely recommended
- By John S. on 06-28-16
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Canoeing The Congo
- First Source to Sea Descent of the Congo River
- By: Phil Harwood
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Canoeing the Congo narrates the journey of Phil Harwood, who undertook an epic five-month solo attempt to canoe the Congo River in war-torn Central Africa. It was a historic 'first descent' from the true source in the highlands of Zambia. Just short of 3,000 miles long, the Congo River is the eighth longest in the world and the deepest river in the world, with a flow rate second only to the Amazon. Along the way, Phil encountered numerous waterfalls, huge rapids, man-eating crocodiles, hippos, aggressive snakes...
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Adventure travel is human harassment
- By Kevin McCoffee on 10-26-13
By: Phil Harwood
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To Shake the Sleeping Self
- A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret
- By: Jedidiah Jenkins
- Narrated by: Jedidiah Jenkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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On the eve of turning 30, terrified of being funneled into a life he didn’t choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent 16 months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections drew hundreds of thousands of followers, all gathered around the question: What makes a life worth living? In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Jed narrates his adventure - the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world - as well as the internal journey that started it all.
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Different that I expected
- By Sabrina on 02-21-20
By: Jedidiah Jenkins
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Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- By: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
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The hypocrisy and boasting ego. Blood boiling.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-30-21
By: Rick Ridgeway
What listeners say about The Land Beyond
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael Boren
- 12-18-20
Well done
I loved the perspective, I felt like it was unbiased and that the author was truly trying to understand the people around his walk. I also love it when the author narrates a book. Well done Leon!
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- Misfit
- 03-18-21
Enjoyable tour through the West Bank and Jordan
I always prefer books narrated by the author, especially when the book is a first-person account like this one. Leon McCarron does a good job with his performance - his Irish accent is light and understandable, his voice is melodic rather than monotone and his vocal inflections and emphasis add to, rather than distract from the narrative. It probably won't put you to sleep if you're sitting up, but you could listen to this book and drift off to sleep if you wanted to. I generally don't care about prononciations of words, but if that sort of thing bothers you, there were a few foreign words whose prononciations were decidedly anglicized.
He doesn't take himself too seriously, and it's a pretty lighthearted listen even though there are some heavy topics discussed.
I was a bit disappointed upon finishing the audiobook to learn that this audiobook was abridged - If I had known that then I may have just bought the print copy instead.
McCarron in some places gives good historical background on the places he visits, other times I felt I wanted more context than was provided.
The biggest flaw with this book the author himself notes twice and makes a half-hearted attempt to rectify at the end: the book is subtitled 'A Journey to the Heart of the Middle East' and the author uses the term 'Holy Land' a number of times in the book, yet he hardly spends any time at all in Israel or talking to Israelis - but spends the majority of time with Bedouin and Palestinian Arabs, and in the West Bank, Jordan (and a short stop in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt).
The last 45 minutes (the Epilogue basically) he spends some time in Israel and talks to some Israelis, but the final interview felt like it was cut off rather abruptly, and felt rather forced - like the author didn't really want to be there and was just trying to appear to be doing his due diligence.
Overall, the author does provide a *somewhat* balanced view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict - while it isn't outright anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian propaganda, the author's pro-Palestinian biases are made pretty clear.
(Full disclosure: I'm Jewish and recently moved to Israel).
All that being said, the point of the book was not supposed to be about politics, but about travel and walking, which I understand and taken in that way it was a good book.
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