Wounded Tigris- Wounded Tigris

Leon Mccarron

• 06 april 2023
• 9781405557924

Samenvatting:

'Leon makes the perfect companion for the dusty road' Benedict Allen


'A marvellous adventure and an impressive feat of endurance. This is also a journey that explores the people and landscapes of a misunderstood part of the world with great insight and enthusiasm' Ranulph Fiennes on The Land Beyond


'McCarron is great company, amusing and wise beyond his years (yet still retaining the wide-eyed nature of youth)' 220 Triathlon Magazine Website

'The book is easy to read, fast-paced, funny and introspective' Adventure Travel Magazine on The Road Headed West

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2024

'As epic as it is engaging' Tom Holland

'Jaunty, highly informative and ultimately sobering' New York Review of Books

'A fine book... Leon McCarron's tough journey paints a rich and enthralling portrait' Sir Michael Palin

The river Tigris is in danger. It has been the lifeblood of ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq, but geopolitics and climate change have left the birthplace of civilisation at risk of becoming uninhabitable. In 2021, adventurer Leon McCarron travelled by boat along the full length of the river, in search of hope.

From the source, where Assyrian kings had their images carved into stone, McCarron and his small team journeyed through the Turkish mountains, across north-east Syria and into the heart of Iraq. Passing by historic cities like Diyarbakir, Mosul and Baghdad, McCarron kept the company of fishermen and farmers, but also artists, activists and archaeologists who rely on the flow of the river. Occasionally harassed by militias, often helped by soldiers, McCarron rode his luck in areas still troubled by ISIS and relied on the generosity of a network of strangers to reach the Persian Gulf.

Wounded Tigris is the story of what humanity stands to lose with the death of a great river, and what can be done to try to save it.