The most admired travel writer of our time—author of Shadow of the Silk Road and To a Mountain in Tibet—recounts an eye-opening, often perilous journey along a little known Far East Asian river that for over a thousand miles forms the highly contested border between Russia and China.

Originally published: Chatto & Windus, 2021. Includes index.

The source --Steppelands -- The treaty -- The shilka -- The lost fortress -- The city of annunciation -- Black dragon river -- Khabarovsk -- City of the dawn -- The promise.