The master of literary reportage reflects on the West's encounters with the non-European.

Introduction by Neal Ascherson

In our globalised but increasingly polarised age, Kapuscinski shows how the Other remains one of the most compelling ideas of our times.

In this reflection on a lifetime of travel, the renown travel writer takes a fresh look at the Western idea of the Other: the non-European or non-American. Looking at this concept through the lens of his own encounters in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Kapuscinski traces how the West has understood the Other from classical times to colonialism, from the Age of Enlightenment to the postmodern global village.

"' He has given the truest, least partial, most comprehensive and vivid account of what life is like on our planet . . .A great imaginative writer, he goes way beyond the material he is processing." - Guardian

"The 20th century's most telling spokesman for the millions of ordinary people who are trapped in the vagaries of authoritarian regimes" - Independent

"Kapuscinski saw more, and more clearly, if not always perfectly, than nearly any writer one can think to name. Few have written more beautifully of unspeakable things. Few have had his courage, almost none his talent. His books changed the way many of us think about nonfiction" - New York Times Book Review

"In this short, simple, extraordinarily intelligent book, Kapuscinksi explores what it is to be European, to be non-European, to be colonised, to be the coloniser, to have or to impose an identity." - Observer

"Intelligently written." - Guardian

"A powerful, quasi-religious, meditation on the power of humbling oneself in the face of the unknown." - Independent