PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
‘Stephen Alter makes a persuasive case for conserving the wild of the Himalayas, questioning laws framed with no regard for ecology.’- The Hindu
‘Alter’s book, Wild Himalaya, is less personal: The Himalaya are front and centre.’- India Today
‘Stephen Alter’s exhaustive biography of the Himalayas is an exceptional tribute to the world’s mightiest mountains… I would (if I could!) make this book mandatory reading for anyone planning to visit the Himalaya.’–Ranjit Lal, The Indian Express
‘Stephen Alter writes an uplifting story on the mountain lore and natural history of the Himalayas.’- –Open Magazine
‘From petroglyphs to myths, people co climate change-a fitting history of the Himalayas.’–Outlook
‘Stephen Alter’s book reflects not just his encyclopaedic familiarity with the world ‘s highest mountain range bur also passion and empathy for its conservation.’–Business Standard
‘The writer’s personal experience with the mountains and its wildlife, including a tiger and brown bears, makes it an intimate read.’-Tribune India
‘… author Stephen Alter’s writing is as expansive as his personality.’- The Hindu Business Line
‘He (Stephen Alter) has brought to the reader the legendary mountain range complete which its history, geology, science, flora and fauna, folklore and more.’- -Free Pressjournal
About the Book:
The Himalaya span a distance of roughly 2,500 kilometres in length and between 350 and 150 kilometres in breadth, rising to a maximum height of almost 9 kilometres above sea level. In Wild Himalaya, award-winning author Stephen Alter brings alive the greatest mountain range on earth in all its terrifying beauty, grandeur and complexity. Travelling to all the five countries that the Himalayan range traverses-India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Ch ina-Alter braids together on-the-ground reports with a deep understanding and study of the history, science, geology, environment, A ora, fauna, myth, folklore, spirituality, climate and human settlements of the region to provide a nuanced and rich portrait of this legendary mountains. Adding colour to the narrative are riveting tales unearthed by the author of some of the range’s most storied peaks-Everest or Chomolungma, Kanchenjunga, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Nanga Parbat and ochers.
The book is divided into eight sections which delve deep into particular aspects of the Himalaya. ‘Orogenesis’ explores the origin, evolution, geology, geography and other such core aspects of these mountains; ‘The Third Pole’ concerns itself with weather, glaciers, wetlands and rivers; ‘Flora Himalensis’ derails extraordinary Himalayan planes and trees; ‘Winged Migrants’ goes deep into the world of Himalayan birds and insects; in ‘Moun rain Mammals’ we cross high passes and go above the tree line in search of brown bears, blue sheep and snow leopards; ‘Ancestral Journeys’ takes a close look at human settlement in the Himalaya and stories of origin and migration, both ancient and contemporary; ‘At the Edge of Beyond’ recounts epic adventures and great mountaineering feats; and, finally, ‘In a thousand Ages of the Gods’ the author examines the essence of Himalayan art, folklore and mythology as well as enigmatic mysteries such as the existence of the Yeti, along with key questions of conservation.
Although there have been hundreds of books, and some masterpieces, about one or the other aspect of the Himalaya, not one of them has come close to capturing the incredible complexity and majesty of these mountains. Until now. In Wild Himalaya, Stephen Alter, who considers himself an endemic species (having spent most of his life in these mountains), gives us the definitive natural history of the greatest mountain range on earth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STEPHEN ALTER is the author of twenty books of fiction and non-fiction. He was born in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, and much of his writing focuses on the Himalayan region, where he continues to live and work. His honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright award. His recent memoir, Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime, received the Kekoo Naoroji Award for Himalayan Literature in 2015. His most recent work of fiction, In The Jungles of the Night: A Novel About Jim Corbett, was shortlisted for the DSC South Asian Literature Award in 2017. He was writer-in-residence at MIT for ten years, before which he directed the writing programme at the American University in Cairo. He is founding director of the Mussoorie Mountain Festival.