Travels in a Dervish Cloak

A Spectator, Daily Mail, Evening Standard and New Statesman Book of the YearShortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the YearCritically lauded with fans including the iconic Dervla Murphy and William Dalrymple, Travels in a Dervish Cloak is considered a modern classic of the genreTravels in a Dervish Cloak is an analytical and ultimately affectionate look at a fascinating country by a writer who has had rare access to itIsambard Wilkinson was born in 1971. As a young boy in Ireland, he listened to family stories of adventurous botanists and artists, sailors and soldiers who travelled through China and Africa, India and Albania. It fired an urge to roam. Expelled from school at 15, after university he was refused entry into the Royal Marines and instead worked for Country Life magazine before leaving to travel throughout Pakistan, an ambition curtailed by kidney failure. After a stretch on dialysis and his first kidney transplant, he became a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph in Spain, and then in Pakistan, where he completed his travels, the subject of this book. Following a second transplant, he now works for AFP in Hong Kong.In the best tradition of travel writing which combines both swagger and soul, a foreign correspondent takes a journey to the heart of Pakistan Enchanted by his Anglo-Indian grandmother's stories about the subcontinent and his own youthful travels in the region, Isambard Wilkinson takes up his post as a British newspaper's correspondent in Pakistan, when the country is in the epicentre of 'the war on terror.' Guided by his grandmother's great Pakistan friend, Wilkinson quickly abandons the journalistic pack, and, casting aside concerns for his fragile health, sets off on a quest to discover what of Pakistan's old traditions have been destroyed and what survives. His encounters with Sufi mystics, Omnipotent tribal chieftains, spies and rebellious domestic staff, unveil an often wild, contradictory and enchanting land in the throes of an identity crisis. His lyrical, incisive, moving and often hilarious accounts of his years spent exploring a misunderstood country has been hailed as a modern classic of the genre.In the best tradition of travel writing which combines both swagger and soul, a foreign correspondent takes a journey to the heart of PakistanA brilliant debut by a major new talentTravels in a Dervish Cloak is a masterpieceAn affectionate, funny, satisfying book about Pakistan in extremisA must-read for anyone wanting to understand PakistanConjures up the best of Thubron and Dalrymple while being informed by a distinctive voice, a deep knowledge of Pakistan's tragic history and an unusual commitment to that countryEnchanting and exuberant, witty, poignant and deeply evocativeVivid and irreverent, hilarious and moving, foolish and wise