“Hewn with the visceral language and spirit you’d expect from this adventurer.”
Wounded Tigris
A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilization
Description
A fascinating journey down the Tigris River—the lifeblood of human civilization—in search of history and hope.
Starting at the source of this storied river, where ancient Mesopotamians and Assyrian kings had their images carved into stone, explorer Leon McCarron and his small team will journey through the Turkish mountains, across north-east Syria and into the heart of Iraq.
Along the way, they will pass through historic cities like Diyarbakir, Mosul, and Baghdad. We will meet fishermen and farmers, along with artists, activists, and archaeologists, who rely on the flow of the river. Occasionally harassed by militias, often helped by soldiers, McCarron rode his luck in areas still troubled by ISIS and relied on the generosity of a network of strangers as he follows the river to its end in the Persian Gulf.
For readers of Simon Winchester, Erika Fatland, and Kevin Fedarko, Wounded Tigris is the story of what humanity stands to lose with the death of a great river, and what can be done to try to save it.
Pages352
Released2023
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPegasus Books
ISBN9781639365081
SellerSimon & Schuster
About the author(s)
Leon McCarron is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, and explorer from Northern Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Geographical Society of Philadelphia's Explorer of the Year, and is known for long-distance expeditions and immersive multimedia storytelling. In the past decade he has travelled over 50,000km by human power, and is currently based in Iraq.
Reviews
“Real travel writing - hard hitting, with a flowing momentum, hitting a strong modern country…a truly epic journey.”
Sophy Roberts, author of Lost Pianos of Siberia
"A brave adventure grippingly evoked and featuring pertinent historical context. An Iraq-based Northern Irish journalist ventures down the Tigris River through the fraught landscape of Turkey, Kurdistan, Syria, and Iraq. The narrative flows organically, delineating such daily hardships as negotiating with the police, as well as the evening delights of breaking bread with new friends in their homes."
Kirkus Reviews
“Brilliant. Documenting the reality of a war-torn region from a river’s point of view––including many stretches that are no longer navigable because of military ordinances––Wounded Tigris captures the peculiar beauty and enduring importance of one of humanity’s first waterways.”
Foreword Reviews (starred)
“A reminder of what a great civilisation Iraq once was, what has been destroyed, and what humanity loses in the death of a civilisation. And it gave me itchy feet!"
Emma Sky, Founding Director of Yale's International Leadership Center, author of The Unravelling
“Witty and urbane, and modest enough to make his feats seem quite normal.”
The Irish Times on the author
“Unflinching account of a brave and worthwhile journey…a combination of honest writing, diligent research, abundant empathy and an eye for a good story.”
Justin Marozzi, historian and author of Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood
“Reads like a classic piece of travel writing but it is also an urgent warning about the havoc we are wreaking on our environment.”
Daunt Books
“A swashbuckling tale…dodging mines and gun-cradling militia, mccarron returns to tell a tale of a river under assault.”
Financial Times
“A brilliant, beautifully written, mad and mystical journey. Read it.”
Quentin Sommerville, BBC Middle East correspondent
