The Meadow: Terrorism, Kidnapping and Conspiracy in Paradise

Description

The shocking true story of a brutal kidnapping high in the mountains of Kashmir that marked the beginning of modern terrorism. In July 1995, ten backpackers journeyed into the foothills of the Himalayas, trekking to an idyllic campsite known as the Meadow. But their search for tranquillity was savagely interrupted when they were taken hostage by Islamic extremists. Using diaries, letters, classified police reports and interviews with the jihadis themselves, The Meadow traces the escalating tension between kidnappers, victims and police, while examining the high-level conspiracies surrounding the abduction. It tells of the single escape attempt and how - with a brutal beheading - the hostage takers took an irreversible step into the abyss. The shocking true story of the crisis that foreshadowed a new epoch of global terrorism, this is the book that forced Intelligence and government authorities to uncover what really happened in the Meadow.

Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark are internationally renowned and award winning investigative journalists who worked as staff writers and foreign correspondents for The Sunday Times before joining the Guardian. Their first book, Stone of Heaven (2001) was named by the New York Times as a book of the year. The Amber Room (2004) was a finalist in the Borders' Original Voices US book awards, becoming a national best seller there. Their third book, Deception (2007) was a Washington Post 'pick of the year', and a finalist in the Royal United Services Institute, Duke of Westminster's Medal for military literature. They won the One World Media award for foreign reporting in 2005 and were selected as One World Media Journalists of the Year in 2009. They have produced several television documentaries, most recently City of Fear, a film for Channel 4's Dispatches (2010). They live in London and in France. Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark are internationally renowned and award winning investigative journalists who worked as staff writers and foreign correspondents for The Sunday Times before joining the Guardian. Their first book, Stone of Heaven (2001) was named by the New York Times as a book of the year. The Amber Room (2004) was a finalist in the Borders' Original Voices US book awards, becoming a national best seller there. Their third book, Deception (2007) was a Washington Post 'pick of the year', and a finalist in the Royal United Services Institute, Duke of Westminster's Medal for military literature. They won the One World Media award for foreign reporting in 2005 and were selected as One World Media Journalists of the Year in 2009. They have produced several television documentaries, most recently City of Fear, a film for Channel 4's Dispatches (2010). They live in London and in France.

'The definitive end to the story, which has remained unresolved for seventeen years ... Levy and Scott-Clark have dared to follow the pitiless logic of a very dirty war, and have shown where it can lead...a gripping and often emotional read' Literary Review 'A meticulous account ... Like a real-life version of 'The Beach' by Alex Garland' Sunday Telegraph