From the rose gardens of Shiraz to the snow-powdered hillside above Kabul, from the water and stone mirages of St Petersburg to gritty Mumbai, the evocative essays in this collection combine travel and literature using a charming mix of the personal impression and incisive literary criticism.

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Written over seven years for the Hindu Literary Review from the cocoon of a book-lined study, digging into forgotten second-hand bookshops, trekking the Himalayan hills or searching out far-flung literary sites around the globe, Navtej Sarna never veers far from the essential focus of these essays: the love of books and the men who write them.