Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World

A groundbreaking new look at the Himalaya and how climate change is re-casting one of the world's most unique geophysical, historical, environmental, and social regions.

More rugged and elevated than any other zone on earth, the Himalaya embraces all of Tibet, plus six of the world's eight major mountain ranges and nearly all its highest peaks. It contains around 50,000 glaciers and the most extensive permafrost outside the polar region. 35% of the global population depends on the Himalaya's freshwater for crop-irrigation, protein, and, increasingly, hydro-power. Over an area nearly as big as Europe, the population is scattered, often nomadic and always sparse. Many languages are spoken, some are written, and few are related. Religious allegiances are equally diverse.

Himalaya is historian John Keay's striking case for this spectacular but endangered corner of the planet as one if its most essential wonders. Without an other-worldly ethos and respect for its confounding, utterly fascinating features, Keay argues, Himalaya will soon cease to exist.