Product Description

A humorous overview of Eric Newby's travels from Mayfair to the mountains of the Hindu Kush, north-east of Kabul, offering insight into the numerous eccentric characters and adventures he met along the way, and descriptions of the spectacular wilderness of Afghanistan. Last published in 1981.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52438 in Books
• Published on: 1981-12-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Observer
'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush , the 1958 book that made his reputation, is typically ironic in its understatement.'

Sunday Times
'Newby is easily the best of the bunch and was the subject of the first programme.'

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

Customer Reviews

Excellent book for those with any interest in the outdoors
This book describes an incredible story about a climbing trip to the remote Hindu Kush. Their preparation for the climb consisted of a weekend under the instruction of a pub waitress in North Wales. Along the way (driving by clapped out car from London to Afghanistan) they have numerous adventures including being arrested for running over and killing a nomadic herdsman. They had actually stopped to help him!

Most people will go through life never experiencing an adventure of this magnitude but for Eric Newby this is just one of several. Newby's other books include "Love and War in the Appennines" and "The Last Grain Race" both of which I thought were excellent.

Newby's best travel book
It has to be said that "Short Walk..." is the best of Newby's travel books. I certainly think it should go down as a classic. Newby's books always have a very readable and charming style. You can't help but enjoy his books, especially this one.

"Short Walk..." is enjoyable because it's very down-to-earth. They go and climb this mountain in the middle of nowhere just because it's there. They don't do it for fame or fortune, the two of them just simply have a yearning for adventure. This whole amateurishness of the escapade makes it a delight to read... I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Travels and travails in the remote Country of Light
Eric Newby's account of his trip to the Hindu Kush is a book both daunting and delightful. He makes light of the incompetence and ignorance of both himself and his companion in the realm of climbing and exploring. Yet what they achieve is nothing short of remarkable, given their level of amateurishness. Perhaps a more experienced team would have sensibly given up in the face of hunger, illness and cold. Messrs. Newby and Carless soldier on and the account, understandably slightly incoherent, is both funny, self-deprecating and very, very readable. Their account of a chance meeting with the famous explorer Wilfred Thesiger is recounted, far less humorously, by the great man in one of his recent books.