Editions

The Snow Leopard

The Snow Leopard

RELEASED 05/11/2020

This is the account of a journey to the dazzling Tibetan plateau of Dolpo in the high Himalayas. In 1973 Matthiessen made the 250-mile trek to Dolpo, as part of an expedition to study wild blue sheep. It was an arduous, sometimes dangerous, physical endeavour: exertion, blisters, blizzards, endless negotiations with sherpas, quaking cold. But it was also a 'journey of the heart' - amongst the beauty and indifference of the mountains Matthiessen was searching for solace. He was also searching for a glimpse of a snow leopard, a creature so rarely spotted as to be almost mythical.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD MABEY

'A beautiful book, and worthy of the mountains he is among' Paul Theroux

Reviews

  • A beautiful book, and worthy of the mountains he is among

    Paul Theroux

  • What began as a practical search for the rare snow leopard, revered Buddhist emblem, developed into a quest for the meaning of Being. An enjoyable combination of mountaineering and mysticism

    Observer

  • It's a tale of an inner struggle for calm, and would be an inspiring and sustaining desert island companion

    Emily Barr

  • As much the chronicle of an inner journey as it is the learned recording of an unfamiliar territory...a timeless account

    Independent

  • An evocative account of a remote and timeless place and its people

    Sunday Times

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About the Author

Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen was a naturalist, explorer and writer. His works of fiction include At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Far Tortuga and the acclaimed 'Watson Trilogy'. His explorations resulted in many fine works of non-fiction, among them The Snow Leopard, The Cloud Forest and The Tree where Man was Born. He died in 2014, aged 86.

Peter Matthiessen

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