Description

In his eightieth year, Colin Thubron takes a dramatic and often treacherous journey from the Amur’s secret source to its giant mouth, covering almost 3,000 miles.

‘Thubron on top form. Richly detailed, immaculately written and full of insights and encounters that bring a complex corner of the world to life’ MICHAEL PALIN

Rising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific, the Amur River forms the tense border between Russia and China. This is the most densely fortified frontier on Earth.

Harassed by injury and by arrest from the local police, Thubron makes his way along both the Russian and Chinese shores. By the time he reaches the river’s desolate end, a whole, pivotal world has come alive.

‘A masterpiece’ William Dalrymple

‘Unforgettable’ Antony Beevor

‘An epic journey along a frozen, fraught frontier… Fascinating’ The Times

‘This book is a triumph’ Daily Telegraph

Winner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2022

Publisher Review

A miraculous late-style masterpiece, the equal of any of [Thubron's] earlier works, which will cement his reputation as one of our greatest prose writers in any genre... The Amur River is not just a literary triumph in itself, it is also a demonstration of the continued power of great travel writing -- William Dalrymple * Daily Telegraph * A fascinating read packed with curiosities and incident * The Times * Thubron's journey makes for a gripping read...with fascinating political insight * Sunday Times * Excellent... Thubron's observations are perceptive and lightly delivered * Literary Review * [Thubron] summons both landscape and people with nuanced sensitivity... Here is a writer at the top of his game, one from whom those toiling on the lower slopes have much to learn * Spectator *