This dual travelogue tells the extraordinary story of a maverick's 5000-milejourney on foot from England to India, across the forbidding Arabian desert andthe treacherous Hindukush mountains, and then his wanderings in Mughal India. In the early 1600s, Thomas Coryate, writer and wanderer, decided to walkfrom his village in Somerset to the Indies-to the court of the 'Great Mogul',Jehangir-and onwards to China.

His search was for fame, not fortune-hewanted to be the first Englishman to write about those distant lands. Above all, hewanted to prove himself to his many sceptics in Prince Henry's court, and to thebeautiful Anne Harcourt, whom he loved deeply, only to be hurt.

To reach the court of Jehnagir, Coryate survived penury, loneliness, ridicule andextreme hostility; but disillusionment awaited him at the end of his journey:despite her many wonders and charms, he was also shocked and repelled byIndia, and the emperor made a mockery of his dream. Coryate died in the portcity of Surat and was buried there in an obscure grave.

Interwoven with the narrative about Coryate's quest is the account of the authors'own travels through the cities and towns the Englishman visited four hundredyears before. In his footsteps, they go to Delhi, Agra (which Coryate saw beforethe Taj was built), Allahabad, Varanasi, Haridwar, Kangra, Mandu, Ajmer, Pushkarand Surat-and discover that while India has changed beyond recognition sinceCoryate first experienced it, in some ways it hasn't changed at all.

Part biography, part travelogue, part history, The Long Strider, written withelegance, wit and insight, is a compelling read. .