Chasing the Mountain of Light

History

Kevin Rushby

Asia

Flamingo

The Koh-i-Noor is the greatest diamond of India and one of the most famous stones in the world. Supposedly cursed, the stone can now be seen in the Tower of London. Here, Kevin Rushby tells of his journey to discover the history behind the stone.

Travel

Constable

In the early 1800s, the greatest criminal gang in history operated throughout India. Its members were inspired by religious fanatics and came from many faiths, yet they worshiped one goddess, Kali. In her name, they murdered more than one million Indian travelers—all without spilling a drop of blood. Their weapon was the handkerchief, their sacrament sugar, and the gang was supposedly eradicated by the British in the 1830s.\nToday, a modern-day bandit named Veerappan is India’s most-wanted man and most notorious criminal, responsible for more than one hundred murders. Some say he is a freedom fighter, others that he is a vicious killer. Still at large in the jungles of southwestern India, he avoids capture, his followers claim, by magical powers.\nIn Children of Kali, Kevin Rushby researches these two criminal legends, both of which have been distorted and misused by those in power. As intrepid an investigator as he is an elegant writer, Rushby recounts his quest both to gain a meeting with Veerappan and to untangle the legends of the Thug Cult and the British policeman, William Sleeman, responsible for its suppression. He visits prisons and gangster hideouts, exploring the nature of crime and punishment in a country where good and evil may be as murky as the Ganges.\nA compelling blend of travel journalism and history, infused with Rushby’s infectious spirit and with memorable characters, Children of Kali connects past with present and reexamines the legacy of the British Raj.

Children Of Kali : Through India In Search Of Bandits The Thug Cult And The British Raj

Robinson

An accounting of the author's journeys around India exploring the diamond trade. Although the title suggests that the book focuses on one particular diamond, the author relates the tumultuous history of that diamond and the diamond trade in general to his impressions of the India that he encountered. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

St.Martin's Press

Ethiopia in Eastern Africa and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula remain two of the most inviting outposts for travelers seeking the exotic. In these two places, Qat is just one name given to a green leafy plant that is cultivated there. When chewed, the leaves of this plant release two substances that produce a hypnotic, reverential "high," distinctive in the thoughtful state it induces. Kevin Rushby discovered that the use of Qat is a way of life since it plays a pivotal role in all facets of the culture influencing everything from architecture to television schedules.

Eating the Flowers of Paradise: One Man's Journey Through Ethiopia and Yemen

Anthropology

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Eating the Flowers of Paradise: A Journey Through the Drug Fields of Ethiopia & Yemen

Diane Pub.

This acclaimed book is travel writing at its entertaining and hair-raising best. Kevin Rushby set out to find the lost pirate settlements that once existed on the islands and atolls of the Indian Ocean. Hitching rides on a motley assortment of vessels, he sails up the African coast, then east, to locate the descendants of the legendary sixteenth-century pirates who carved out kingdoms in the jungles of Madagascar. Along the way, Rushby meets up with the crackpot dreamers, tough settlers, the fighters and the failures who live on the islands now. This is a romantic story in the old-fashioned sense, full of adventure and colour.

Hunting Pirate Heaven

Constable & Robinson Ltd.

They murdered more than a million travellers without spilling a drop of blood. They were inspired by religious fanaticism, yet came from many faiths. Their weapon was the handkerchief, their sacrament sugar, and their goddess Kali. They were the thugs. He is responsible for more than a hundred murders. He lives in the deepest jungles left in India and avoids capture, his followers claim, by magical powers. Some say he is a freedom fighter, others that he is a vicious hoodlum. He is Veerappan, India's most wanted man, and the most famous member of the modern thug cult. This book investigates this dark side of India. The author's quest takes him to prisons and gangster hideouts, probing the nature of crime and punishment in a country where the distinction between good and evil can be as murky as the Ganges. Part travelogue, part history and part personal record, this book is a revelation too - the Devil of the title is not Kali, nor is it any of the thugs or other villains, but the demons that exist within a traveller's own mind.

Children of Kali

Robinson Publishing

Chasing the Mountain of Light : Across India on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond

Paradise

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kevin Rushby. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kevin Rushby