Nine Lives

Description

‘Dalrymple’s triumphant return to travel writing not only illuminates India’s relationship with religion but casts the genre itself in a new light … A wise and rewarding book fizzing with Dalrynlple’s signature erudition and lightness of touch. The Travel Book of the Year’ Rory MacLean, Guardian

A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet — then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand-printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep
into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the continuity of ancient traditions.

‘An absolutely beautiful book, clean and honest and edifying and moving. I love so much about it: a delight’ Elizabeth Gilbert

‘Dalrymple’s study of the people and beliefs of India ranks with the very finest travel writing … A series of biographies which unpick the rich religious heritage of the subcontinent, it makes its political points more powerfully than any newspaper article and displays deep knowledge of the culture’ Observer