The author travels from Peking, across the centre of Asia to Leningrad, encountering a host of characters who enable him to piece together Mongolia's turbulent history. He uncovers the unique cultural heritage of a country hidden from the West until only recently. Along the way he uncovers Japanese attempts during World War II to place a descendant of Genghis Khan at the head of a new Mongolian state, recounts the horrors of Stalin's rule when 20 per cent of the population was liquidated and the monasteries were destroyed, discovers the real location of Shangri-La and visits the high mountains of the north where the last surviving shamans summon up the spirits of the dead.
- ISBN10 034055665X
- ISBN13 9780340556658
- Publish Date 21 May 1992
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 30 September 2008
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Imprint Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English