Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation: Caabu book talk with Leon McCarron

Caabu invites you to an in person book talk with writer and broadcaster, Leon McCarron, who will discuss his book, Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation, on Wednesday 1 November 2023 at 6pm (GMT UK time) at The Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE.

Wounded Tigris is a source-to-sea journey along the Tigris, through the birthplace of civilisation in Turkey, Syria and Iraq, investigating the environmental and geopolitical challenges that threaten the future of this once-great river.

Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation, can be purchased here. Books by Caabu speakers can be purchased here through Caabu's affiliate page on Bookshop.org. Caabu receives 10% of any purchase made as does an independent book shop.

When: Wednesday 1 November 2023, 18:00 (GMT, UK time).

Where: The Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE. Transport and further instructions on how to get here can be found here.

Please confirm your attendance with Joseph Willits by emailing [email protected] or replying directly to this email. Priority for attendance will be given to Caabu members. You can join as a Caabu member here.

Caabu has created an affiliate page on Bookshop. This means, that with any purchase through this site, 10% of the sale price will be sent to us and another 10% will go to support local bookshops. We think this is a great way to support Caabu's work and independent bookshops across the country. More details about it can be found here.

• Buy other books from previous online Caabu briefings here and from physical events we've hosted here.
• Other books written by Caabu speakers, including others written by James Fergusson, can be found here.
• Titles written by Caabu board members and patrons can be found here, as can others written by those who have spoken at Caabu events here.

We hope you enjoy reading any of these titles, and supporting Caabu in the process.

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About the book:

The River Tigris – the birthplace of civilisation – has been the lifeblood of ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq, but geopolitics and climate change have left it at risk of becoming uninhabitable. Writer, broadcaster and explorer Leon McCarron shares stories from his incredible, beautiful and occasionally dangerous journey by boat along the full length of the river, recounted in his book Wounded Tigris. Sometimes harassed by militias and relying on the generosity of a network of strangers to reach the Persian Gulf, McCarron explains why it’s crucial to save this extraordinary river, and what its survival, or destruction, could mean for us all.

About the speaker:

Leon McCarron is an award-winning writer, broadcaster  and explorer from Northern Ireland.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Geographical Society of Philadelphia's Explorer of the Year, and is known for long-distance expeditions and immersive multimedia storytelling. In the past decade he has travelled over 50,000km by human power, and is currently based in Iraq. 

He has bylines for National Geographic, Noema, New Scientist, Smithsonian, BBC, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Telegraph. His two previous books, The Land Beyond: A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East and The Road Headed West: A Cycling Adventure Through North America, have been Top Ten Bestsellers on Amazon, and shortlisted for both the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award and the Adventure Travel prize at the Banff Mountain Book competition. Leon has also presented films for the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery, and regularly lectures in the UK, US and around the world.

More can be found on his website here. He Tweets: @leonmccarron.

Caabu is a not-for-profit cross-party organisation whose mission is to work for a British Middle East policy that promotes conflict resolution, human rights and civil society in the Arab world through informed debate and mutual understanding. Caabu is one of the most active NGOs working on the Middle East in British parliament since its establishment in 1967. From then on Caabu has assumed an active advocacy, educational and media role.

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