作者本身是记者，在报道俄罗斯在2004年恐怖分子事件后甩不掉创伤。为了治愈自己，他决定走遍高加索山脉。高加索山脉是很少人旅游过，甚至听说过，的地方，而这本书是作者回忆自己步行走遍1000英里的故事。《高加索山脉》是一本令人惊叹的回忆录，讲述了通过与历史、人物和地方的联系来面对创伤的故事。

作者Tom的故事在2004年9月1日开始。一群车臣的恐怖分子挟持了一所正在庆祝开学第一天的学校。他们挟持了共1000人，总共跟警方对抗了3天，最后在学校里引爆了两个炸弹。俄罗斯警方破门而入，最后有334名人质（超过一半是孩子）死亡。新闻记者Tom在报道这个事件后得到创伤后应激障碍，情绪上非常不稳定，不知道如何走出来。于是，他转向自己一生的爱好：爬山以及接近大自然。他相信大自然能够有治愈人类，而他一直都很喜欢高加索山脉，同时也对住在山脉里的居民感到好奇。

就这样，Tom开启了他的1000英里之旅，从Sochi开始走，一路走过Derbent以及Caspian。一路上，他遇到了当地的民族：the Abkhazians, the Karachays, the Balkars, the Ingush, 以及已经近乎消失的 Circassians。他走遍森林、高山草原以及欧洲最高的山顶Elbrus。他穿过许多政治以及部落的界限，不论如何都一直往前走。

关于作者：

Tom is 49 years old and the Times’ correspondent in Moscow. He moved to Moscow as a young man, having learnt fluent Russian at university, and quickly became a correspondent for the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Times. He is now based in the UK. He has funding to do a three-year PhD at Bath Spa University for his second book, SNOW FOREST, about the boreal forests of the north, drawing in part on the writings of a Russian naturalist and explorer. 

好评：

‘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 Crossing Place

‘An astonishing feat of walking and writing. In his journey across the North Caucasus, Tom Parfitt takes us step by step through the most remote mountainous landscape of Europe. He loves the mountains and knows the history, but there is much more here than that: it’s a very personal story of the trauma the wars of this region have inflicted on its people -- and on Parfitt himself. A completely original book.’

Thomas de Waal, author of The Caucasus

‘A captivating book: richly evocative, magnanimous, and timely. Parfitt leads us across a wondrous landscape matched by the grand humanity of its inhabitants. As the solitary English walker contemplates the violent cycles of oppression and rebellion in the history of the diverse peoples of the Caucasus, their traditional hospitality never fails. His many encounters along the way -- edgy, comical, and sorrowful by turns -- come together as an unforgettable portrait of cultural vitality and endurance.’

Rachel Polonsky, author of Molotov’s Magic Lantern

‘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 of 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, 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

‘A keenly felt response to a harrowing experience, Tom Parfitt's High Caucasus is a life-affirming, uplifting book. A skilful blend of memoir, history and travelogue which brings this fascinating region vividly to life, it is also a testament to the recuperative power of walking.’

Merlin Coverley, author of The Art of Wandering

‘A vivid and insightful account of an epic journey through Russia's most volatile region. Parfitt is a captivating guide whose reportage is an enthralling blend of history, politics and the personal.’

Marc Bennetts, author of Kicking the Kremlin

‘Parfitt's epic walk, which he recounts with such sensitivity and narrative verve, didn't just take him across the wilds of the High Caucasus. It also took him into the pantheon of great travel writers.’

Paul Willetts, author of Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms

‘Courageous, clear-eyed, informative, and searingly real, Tom Parfitt's journey takes us through an epic human geography that has long fascinated. I gained intimate insight into the demonic forces that have driven the Russian project of colonisation on the ground. The sketches of highlanders and their mountains will stay with me, and so will the grief, anger, love and hope for the people and places of the Caucasian highlands.’

Kapka Kassabova, author of Border

‘In this vividly written, deeply researched and profoundly moving book, Tom Parfitt walks not only to investigate place but to heal. Layers of history, culture and trauma run through the beauty of the High Caucasus, and Parfitt is a wonderfully wise and empathetic guide.’

Nick Hunt, author of Outlandish