Fantastic informative read the Himalayas has always fascinated me.This book is layered with information kept my interest and wanting to know even more.Highly recommend.#netgalley #w.wnortonboks

An amazing book with an impressive scope that neither panders to or speaks over those with little in-depth knowledge of the region. Douglas has a good journalist style that pulls the reader in and educates as well as sparks the imagination. I'd recommend reading this in had copy vice ebook- it's a BIG book. It would also be easier to flip back and forth to check data points, who's who etc. Almost unbelievably given how , I still found myself going down the google hole to follow up on certain things, which I consider a positive. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Terrific read.

I have long been fascinated by the Himalayas and wanted to know more, this book is a great start full of facts and information I can't wait to read more.

Nearly as epic as the Himalayan mountains themselves, Ed Douglas’s “Himalaya: A Human History” takes readers into a region that is far, far, far from the widely held misconceptions of a land has long closed off and isolated from the rest of the world and sparsely filled with little more than scattered monks and other assorted holy men. What is shown here in this in-depth historical exploration is the true “roof of the world” - a place richly diverse with peoples with vibrant cultures who have long been influenced from all sides while sending out their own influence in turn. As one who had a little background knowledge of the region’s history but still incorrectly viewed it as a land of limited interaction with the surrounding world, this book quickly proved to be an eye-opening learning experience. Chapter after engrossing chapter revealed between how spreading faiths, trade, armies from various nations and kingdoms, refugees, “explorers” and many other forces and figures, this land has in fact been a vibrant crossroads and consistent point of connection throughout the ages.

The incredibly detailed narrative provided by Douglas made it fascinating to learn just how wrong I have been with my prior limited familiarity with this land. However, unfortunately there ended up being a few times where the scope that he tried to cover, plus the sheer amount of information that the author tried to supply ended up being a little overwhelming. This occurred with particularly noted frequency about halfway through the book when the focus shifted to various westerners and their exploits in and around the Himalaya, including but not at all limited to a range of missionaries, mountaineers, and quite a few servants of the British Empire. While entirely in line with the overarching themes of the book, the amount of detail paid to the book’s large cast of western characters in particular definitely reached occasional saturation.

That all being said, I overall enjoyed "Himalaya: A Human History." Although it wasn’t the easiest of reading journeys, it was still a delight to travel so deep through this region’s stunningly rich and vibrant past.