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High Caucasus

The gripping and beautiful memoir of travelling along Russia's wildest frontier

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High Caucasus

By: Tom Parfitt
Narrated by: Tom Parfitt
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'Outstanding' TIMES

'Gripping' ECONOMIST

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR

Emotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia's North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today.

Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. This is a stunning story of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.©2023 Tom Parfitt 21st Century Art & Literature Journalists, Editors & Publishers Modern Russia Travel Writing & Commentary Haunted Inspiring
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Critic reviews

Tom Parfitt has written an extraordinary book, a thrilling, profound masterpiece. His curiosity, courage and empathy shine from every page. I was gripped, from start to finish (Nicholas Crane, author of Clear Waters Rising)
A thrilling and beautiful book. Tom Parfitt's extreme walk along Europe's wildest frontier - through the mosaic of restive statelets on the southern edge of Russia - is epic in itself, but it offers too a drill-down into the deepest layers of human experience - collective memory and individual survival, the legacy of horror and the joy of healing (Philip Marsden, author of The Summer Isles, The Spirit Wrestlers and The Crossing Place)
Superb. Tom Parfitt is one of our great travel writers: curious, indomitable and brave. His account of his journey on foot across the North Caucasus is a masterpiece of observation and lyrical prose. (Luke Harding, author of Invasion)
With this book, Tom Parfitt has re-invented travel writing for the 21st century. He's an adventurer with a heart; a journalist who saw too much death, but who - instead of running to the next crisis - confronted the horror and crafted a testament for its victims (Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland)
A remarkable story of intense experience, thoughtfulness and feeling (Tristan Gooley, author The Natural Navigator)
In these tender pages Tom Parfitt finds in the meadows of the North Caucasus and even in Russia itself a dignity that transcends circumstance. This is a travel book for our time, one that seeks fragments of hope among shards of war. Thoughtful, uplifting and hugely enjoyable. (Sara Wheeler, author of Terra Incognita)
Tom Parfitt is the best kind of journalist - brave, empathetic and insightful, and with a beautiful writing style (Shaun Walker, Guardian correspondent; author of The Long Hangover)
Evocative, intimate and insightful, this is an extraordinary look at life as a foreign correspondent as told from the messy inside. Tom Parfitt is brilliant at zooming in and out of the bigger picture, revealing the sweep of history as it's being written whilst also capturing every detail and feeling up close and personal. This beautifully written account of his relationship with the Caucasus in the aftermath of Beslan offers essential context for anyone trying to understand what is happening in Ukraine and Russia and what might happen next. Most of all, High Caucasus is a reminder of how deeply these not-so-far-away conflicts affect us all (Viv Groskop, author of The Anna Karenina Fix)
The finest contemporary interpretation yet written of the landscape and people of the North Caucasus. Sharply observed and quietly devastating, High Caucasus reveals how a highland region scarred by war, despotism, and empire has also produced cultures and communities of awesome, resilient beauty (Charles King, author of The Ghost of Freedom)
All stars
Most relevant
Interesting to hear such a personal account from an area that one knows nothing about but hears of regulalry

Incredibly interesting

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I loved this book. I learnt so much about the region and its people and history. The story of the journey is told with a real empathy and modesty while keeping a sense of humour. I'm very grateful to the author for firstly completing the trek and for writing it up now.

It absolutely stands comparison with Eric Newby and Patrick Leigh Fermor.

In the tradition of Newby and Leigh Furmor

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I found the reading speed generally too fast, but much slower in places. It made it quite hard to take in what was being said.

Reading speed varies hugely

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It’s quite a long book. The author reads it ‘at pace’ as a politition would say. Regret not having a map to follow the journey though

His ability to belong in two cultures

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I kept going with this book for a while because I was enjoying the content, but I was finally forced to give up because the audio quality was so bad. Initially it ran too fast, so I slowed it down, but then I discovered that this exposed the very poor editing. Buy the book, it’s great, but don’t waste time on this audio version.

Very Poor Technical Quality

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