Wings of the Kite-Hawk: A Journey Into the Heart of Australia (16pt Large Print Edition)

An Australian travel classic. Reminiscent of Bruce Chatwins The Songlines Wings of the Kite-Hawk will seduce and enthrall; it will force you out of the comfortable chair and into the wilds of the bush. Wings of the Kite-Hawk is a set of linked journeys into the Australian landscape: its past and its present its people and its half-remembered secrets. In each chapter Nicolas Rothwell takes a precursor and follows him. His guides include famous explorers from the past - Leichhardt Sturt Strehlow and Giles - as well as artists anthropologists rodeo riders and even Hells Angels. Vivid characters weave in and out of the story inspiring journeys through different states of heart and mind: love loss friendship fear. This book re-issued with a new introduction by renowned travel writer Pico Iyer and a new foreword by the author is unlike any other written about inland Australia. As much fable as memoir it resonates with strangeness and bitter-sweetness with all the hidden patterns and suddenly revealed depths of life. If the travellers aim is to find wonders and treasures not before our eyes that others have overlooked then this is truly a hidden classic. -Pico Iyer Introduction