Thorpe Nick

,,Kalandos, vicces, érzékeny és bölcs." - Michael Ignatieff Érzelmes utazás a vadregényes Kárpátokban, hogy megismerjük annak veszélyeztetett tájait, a népeit és a történelmét. A javarészt Szlovákiában, Lengyelországban, Romániában és Ukrajnában elnyúló Kárpátok Európa utolsó igazi vadonja. A hatalmas fenyőerdőknek és bükkösöknek, füves réteknek és ősöreg falvaknak otthont adó természeti környezetben egyúttal Európa nagyragadozói is szép számmal tanyáznak. Ezt a törékeny ökoszisztémát azonban ma már számos veszély fenyegeti, az éghajlatváltozástól kezdve a városok terjeszkedéséig, az illegális fakitermeléstől az Ukrajnában jelenleg is zajló háborúig. Nick Thorpe a Duna partján indul útnak, hogy végül megérkezzen Erdélybe, és közben végigvezeti az olvasót a Kárpátok történelmén és ökológiáján. Európa utolsó vadonja évezredeken át szolgált menedékül, identitást adott és a valahová tartozás érzését, ugyanakkor uralkodók és dinasztiák harcoltak a gazdag aranymezők és a stratégiailag fontos völgyekben lakó zabolátlan népek fölötti uralom megszerzésért. A juhászokkal és erdészekkel, favágókkal és méhészekkel folytatott beszélgetések és Nick Thorpe négy évtizedes gazdag helyismerete révén feltárul előttünk Európa értékes, de kissé elhanyagolt része, ahol még mindig szabadon barangolnak a medvék, a farkasok, a zergék és a vadmacskák. ,,Nick Thorpe kalandos, vicces, érzékeny és bölcs: ideális útitárs Európa utolsó vadonjának, a Kárpátoknak a felfedezése során." Michael Ignatieff, az On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times (A vigaszról: megnyugvást találni sötét időkben) című könyv szerzője. ,,A Kárpátok messze a legjobban őrzött titok Európában - és Thorpe a vele való utazás során egy varázslatos világba kalauzol el bennünket." Julius Strauss, egykori háborús tudósító és a Wild Bear Lodge tulajdonosa

An evocative voyage through the Carpathian mountain range and its threatened landscape, peoples, and history The Carpathian Mountains of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine are Europe's last true wilderness. A landscape of great spruce and beech forests, grass meadows, and ancient villages, its people contend daily with the elements-as well as Europe's last large carnivores. But this fragile ecosystem is now under threat, from climate change and illegal logging. Journeying from the banks of the Danube to Transylvania, Nick Thorpe guides us through the history and ecology of the watershed of Europe, between the Black Sea and the Baltic. For a thousand years the Carpathians have been a place of refuge, of identity and belonging, where powerful rulers and dynasties fought to gain control over rich gold seams and the unruly inhabitants of strategic valleys. Today, its inhabitants struggle to protect its vast forest habitat from urban sprawl as well as logging. Drawing on interviews with shepherds, foresters and loggers, and his four decades of experience in the region, Thorpe sheds light on a neglected part of Europe-where bears, wolves, chamois, and lynxes still roam.

An evocative voyage through the Carpathian mountain range and its threatened landscape, peoples, and history The Carpathian Mountains of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine are Europe's last true wilderness. A landscape of great spruce and beech forests, grass meadows, and ancient villages, its people contend daily with the elements-as well as Europe's last large carnivores. But this fragile ecosystem is now under threat, from climate change and illegal logging. Journeying from the banks of the Danube to Transylvania, Nick Thorpe guides us through the history and ecology of the watershed of Europe, between the Black Sea and the Baltic. For a thousand years the Carpathians have been a place of refuge, of identity and belonging, where powerful rulers and dynasties fought to gain control over rich gold seams and the unruly inhabitants of strategic valleys. Today, its inhabitants struggle to protect its vast forest habitat from urban sprawl as well as logging. Drawing on interviews with shepherds, foresters and loggers, and his four decades of experience in the region, Thorpe sheds light on a neglected part of Europe-where bears, wolves, chamois, and lynxes still roam.

A powerful and revealing firsthand account of the migrant and refugee experience on the overland route across Europe War and chaos in Syria and Iraq, violence in Afghanistan, and hopelessness in countries bordering war zones have spurred several million refugees and migrants to set out for Europe. The West Balkans, from Turkey through Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, became the main entry route. Based in Budapest for more than three decades, Nick Thorpe was perfectly placed to cover the birth of the route, its heyday, and the attempts of numerous states to close it. This is his intimate account of the daily lives of those stuck in razor-wire enclosures or on the move along forest tracks, railway lines, motorways-and of the smugglers, border police, and political leaders who help, exploit, or obstruct them. He challenges those who demonize or glorify migration, visits the arrivals in their new environment, and studies their impact on the countries which welcomed them with open arms or hesitation.

The author takes us on an unexpected journey up the Danube, where we encounter a remarkable and unfamiliar world The magnificent Danube both cuts across and connects central Europe, flowing through and alongside ten countries: Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany. Travelling its full length from east to west, against the river’s flow, Nick Thorpe embarks on an inspiring year-long journey that leads to a new perspective on Europe today. Thorpe’s account is personal, conversational, funny, immediate, and uniquely observant—everything a reader expects in the best travel writing. Immersing himself in the Danube’s waters during daily morning swims, Thorpe likewise becomes immersed in the histories of the lands linked by the river. He observes the river’s ecological conditions, some discouraging and others hopeful, and encounters archaeological remains that whisper of human communities sustained by the river over eight millennia. Most fascinating of all are the ordinary and extraordinary people along the way—the ferrymen and fishermen, workers in the fields, shopkeepers, beekeepers, waitresses, smugglers and border policemen, legal and illegal immigrants, and many more. For readers who anticipate their own journeys on the Danube, as well as those who only dream of seeing the great river, this book will be a unique and treasured guide.