Feeling restless in the world of London's
high-fashion industry, Newby asked an
old friend to accompany him on a mountain-climbing
expedition in the wild and remote Hindu
Kush, in north-eastern Afghanistan. And
so they went - although they did stop
first for four days of climbing lessons
in Wales - becoming the first Englishmen
to visit this spectacular region for
more than half a century. Newby's frank
and funny account of their expedition
to what is still amongst the world's
most isolated areas is one of the classics
of travel writing.
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