Caught between hostile nations, warring factions, and competing ideologies, at the time Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot and following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mogul Emperor, Babur the Great, Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme, hostile conditions. Only with the help of an unexpected companion and the generosity of the people he met on the way did he survive to report back with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war.
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I'm not good at explaining why I walked across Afghanistan.
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(Picador, 18 September 2009, e-book, 397 pages, borrowed from AmazonKindle via PrimeReading)
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I enjoyed The Places In Between, part memoir and part travelogue. I know very little about Afghanistan, just gleamed from the news particularly the Taliban and have only read a couple of books set there. It was nice to read about a place unfamiliar and a culture vastly different from my own. I liked the cultural and historical details woven though the author's story and the sketches of various people he encounters. Highly recommended.