Magnificent ... this book is unlikely to be surpassed TelegraphThis is the first major history of the Himalaya an epic story of peoples cultures and adventures among the worlds highest mountains.SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 DUFF COOPER PRIZEAn epic story of peoples cultures and adventures among the worlds highest mountains here Jesuit missionaries exchanged technologies with Tibetan Lamas Mongol Khans employed Nepali craftsmen Armenian merchants exchanged musk and gold with Mughals.Featuring scholars and tyrants bandits and CIA agents gobetweens and revolutionaries Himalaya is a panoramic characterdriven history on the grandest but also the most human scale by far the most comprehensive yet written encompassing geology and genetics botany and art and bursting with stories of courage and resourcefulness.Magisterial The TimesHis observations are sharp...his writing glows New York Review of BooksSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE