Colin Thubron Libros

Al oeste de China, al sur de Rusia, rodeadas por las montañas, la estepa y el desierto, se encuentran las cinco repúblicas centroasiáticas de la antigua Unión Soviética que se independizarían de Moscú a comienzos de los 90: Turkmenistán, Uzbekistán, Tayikistán, Kazajstán y Kirguistán. Es este el momento que Colin Thubron es cogió para visitarlas y conversar con sus habitantes sobre el pasado, el presente y el futuro, sobre la libertad recién hallada y su otra cara, la desesperanza y la nostalgia de certidumbres como las que había ofrecido el pasado soviético. Son muchas las historias y muchos los detalles de esta desconocida región de los Thubron da cuenta al tiempo que conversa o registra conversaciones sobre religiones y lenguas, sobre la madre patria y el poder ruso.

'Thubron on top form. Richly detailed, immaculately written and full of insights and encounters that bring a complex corner of the world to life' Michael Palin A dramatic and ambitious new journey for our greatest travel writer The Amur River is almost unknown. Yet it is the tenth longest river in the world, rising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific. For 1,100 miles it forms the tense border between Russia and China. Haunted by the memory of land-grabs and unequal treaties, this is the most densely fortified frontier on earth. In his eightieth year, Colin Thubron takes a dramatic journey from the Amur's secret source to its giant mouth, covering almost 3,000 miles. Harassed by injury and by arrest from the local police, he makes his way along both the Russian and Chinese shores, starting out by Mongolian horse, then hitchhiking, sailing on poacher's sloops or travelling the Trans-Siberian Express. Having revived his Russian and Mandarin, he talks to everyone he meets, from Chinese traders to Russian fishermen, from monks to indigenous peoples. By the time he reaches the river's desolate end, where Russia's nineteenth-century imperial dream petered out, a whole, pivotal world has come alive. The Amur River is a shining masterpiece by the acknowledged laureate of travel writing, an urgent lesson in history and the culmination of an astonishing career.

Having learned Mandarin, and travelling alone by foot, bicycle and train, Colin Thubron set off on a 10,000 mile journey from Beijing to the borders of Burma.

'In Siberia is travel writing at its very best: luminous, lyrical, erudite and almost painfully sensitive, full of atmosphere and oddities and the breath of landscapes that seem too vast to comprehend. Thurbron stands among the greatest travel writers of this or any age' Stanley Stewart, Literary Review

Set in AD 312, the narrative follows Emperor Constantine as he leads a formidable army across the Alps to reclaim Rome from the tyrant Maxentius. Amidst his military campaign, Constantine grapples with spiritual uncertainties and personal turmoil, particularly regarding his wife's emotional distance. Despite these challenges and ominous signs, he achieves a significant victory at Verona, propelling him forward in his quest for power.

An acclaimed travel writer and novelist, in his eightieth year, takes a dramatic journey on the little-known Far East Asian river that forms the highly contested border between Russia and China, covering almost 3,000 miles

A journey to the heart of and ancient city.An extract from 'The Lost Heart of Asia'.

Among the Russians is a marvellous account of a solitary journey by car from St. Petersburg and the Baltic States south to Georgia and Armenia. A gifted writer and intrepid traveller, Thubron grapples with the complexities of Russian identity and relays his extraordinary journey in characteristically lyrical style.

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHORDescribed by the author as simply 'a work of love', Mirror to Damascus provides a rich and fascinating history of Damascus from the Amorites of the Bible to the revolution of 1966, and is also a charming and witty personal record of an extraordinary city.

Having learned Mandarin, and travelling alone by foot, bicycle and train, Colin Thubron sets off on a 10,000 mile journey from Beijing to Tibet, starting from a tropical paradise near the Burmese border to the windswept wastes of the Gobi desert and the far end of the Great Wall. What Thubron reveals is an astonishing diversity, a land whose still unmeasured resources strain to meet an awesome demand, and an ancient people still reeling from the devastation of the Cultural Revolution.