Product Description

Alone - though he was just married - and on foot, Nicholas Crane embarked on an extraordinary adventure: a seventeen-month journey along the chain of mountains which stretches across Europe from Cape Finisterre to Istanbul. His aim was to explore Europe's last mountain wilderness and to meet the people who live on the periphery of the modern world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44741 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 374 pages

About the Author
Nick Crane lives in London NW1. He is the author of several travel books and has been published in the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Times and the Guardian.

Customer Reviews

cracking holiday read!
I read this in 2004 while in Italy on holiday, Crane seems at first to be an unlikely adventurer, but he really does have an adventure in this book, walking across the roof of Europe and crossing inumerable borders. He captures the beauty of the vast mountain ranges and leaves you envious of his journey. I felt i was with him on his trek and though this was a difficult walk his enthusiasm and knowledge shine through.Crane takes you to mountain villages, sleeps under his umbrella beneath the stars takes shelter with hill sheperds from snowstorms, he does it all and this book for me was an absolute cracking read over the summer.

Fabulous journey rivetingly retold
Clear Waters rising is one of the best books I've ever read. Being an armchair keen walker myself, and a lover of beautifully written prose, this book really took me to that other world of crystal clear mountain vistas one day, terrifying storms the next, and simple, happy peasant communities that still exist a universe away from most of us. From my cosy warm London bed, this was the perfect prelude to peaceful sleep, reminding me that the daily troubles and frustrations of life are all consequences of this artificial modern lifestyle we lead, and Man is truly himself when at one with nature. It took me several months to read because I wanted to savour short passages rather than read it quickly and prematurely end the lovely experience.
What 'made' this book for me was the exquisite writing - the author himself said that he had set out to make every sentence special, and this really shines through in the prose. I highly recommend it to lift the spirit in every way.

screamingly funny, clearly and intelligently written
Nicholas Crane has produced a work of art with a book that is screamingly funny, erudite, full of adventure, full of surprises, and just plain breathtaking in its endeavour. I also like that his prose assumes the intelligence of his audience. Whereas the travel writing of Paul Thereoux always seems haunted by a dark side, Crane's writing shines with an unspoken optomism for the human condition (even when there isn't much to be positive about). His writing leaves one with a warm feeling in the heart, and a sense of expansion in the spirit, ready to meet one's next encounter in the world with a twinkling eye.