The Cretan Runner

Information about the author George Psychoundakis was born in Crete in 1920. After a brief period of schooling, he lived as a shepherd until the beginning of the German occupation in 1941, when he joined the Cretan resistance as a runner. He was later awarded the BEM.

Home to mythical kingdoms, wars and expeditions, and strange and magical beasts, the Himalayas have always loomed tall in our imagination. Overrun at different times by Buddhism, Taoism, shamanism, Islam and Christianity, they are a grand central station of the world's religions. In his quest to explore the region's seismic history, Twigger seeks out the Nagas, who helped his grandfather build a camp for Allied soldiers near Imphal during the Second World War, and takes the most scenic bike ride in the world from Lhasa to Kathmandu.