Gobi: Tracking the Desert

Man has seen these Mongolian weathers up close, wandering around this vast country in search of its peculiar wildlife--a menagerie that includes rare wild camels and horses, mountain sheep, wolves, desert bears, and the elusive snow leopard. With the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, Man writes, Mongolia's economy had collapsed. Mongolians had responded, as always in times of stress, by leaving their cities and returning to the countryside to live off the land. In the late 1990s, with the economy improving, Mongolians were going back to their offices and shops, but with a new determination to protect the backcountry from the excesses of development that had ravaged neighboring China and Russia. As a result, the Mongolian government had taken an unusual step: not only would it encourage preservation by creating huge national parks and wilderness preserves, but it would also declare the entire, vast nation a special biosphere reserve, attracting both ecotourism and funding from international wildlife organizations.

The plan worked. And, Man is happy to report, Mongolia's wildlife seems to be thriving in a time when wild nature is in decline around the world. Armchair travelers and conservationists alike will find his book to be inspiring reading. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description
Following in the footsteps of the few who have trod the Gobi desert, the author relives its extraordinary history and portrays the world's last great wildernessin all its variety.This is an extremely rich book which uses firsthand experiences of travelling in Mongolia for two months with nomads, herdsman, and paloentologists to relive the past of this extraordinary wilderness, and to explore the Gobi as it is today.

It may help a great deal to be interested in Mongolia or Central Asia before you pick up this book, but if you have even the slightest interest in the area Man will draw you in completely. While at first you might consider reading the book to learn about Mongolia without going there, Man paints in this blank corner of most people'e world view so well that you wish for much more contact with the country and its people.