'Outstanding' TIMES

'Gripping' ECONOMIST

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR

Emotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia's North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today.

Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. This is a stunning story of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.

"A work of extraordinary imaginative empathy and power. Parfitt has an enviable combination of language and journalistic skills, together with an open heart and a willingness to talk to everyone along the way, from shepherds and village headmen to teachers and policemen. He is a story-extracting machine" - The Spectator

"An extraordinary 1,000-mile trek across the mountainous southern Russian republics of the Caucasus uncovering a brutal history that resonates today" - Observer

"Beautiful and memorable ... an outstanding book that should be read by anyone with an interest in the world that extends beyond the noise of Twitter" - Times

"A poignant, beautiful and sometimes unbearably sad first-person journey through an epic landscape... As Russia inflicts daily death and destruction on Ukraine, Parfitt's exploration of how to live with a history of violence and loss is achingly topical." - The Moscow Times

"A redemptive memoir-cum-travel book that explores personal and national memories in a region blighted by trauma" - The Financial Times

"A meditative journey through historical memory, landscape and culture" - Guardian

"High Caucasus is full of "magical moments" - and sheds light on a long "misunderstood" region" - The Week

"A gripping, moving travelogue [and] a meditation on the role of memory in a fascinating place with a tumultuous, tragic past" - The Economist

"It's a wonderful blend of travel, nature, politics and history - I learned so much from it about that part of the world" - The Bookseller