In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains coverded in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night het slept on villagers’ floors, shared their meals, and listened to theit stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion - a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan’s first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.
Through these en ounters - by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny - Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map’s countles places in between.
Through these en ounters - by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny - Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map’s countles places in between.
