Why is it that to so many people Outer Mongolia seems the most remote spot on Earth? When Nick decided on a visit to find out he got an immediate inkling: it took five years to get an entry visa. This was in the heady days of soviet-style socialism, when there were no maps, no guidebooks and no way for a nosy westerner to leave the capital, Ulan Baatar. But three years later, he was in Mongolia again, this time to be whisked around the countryside by a driver who ate tadpoles. This book gives an insight into those years of transformation, as communism crumbled and a new liberalisation emerged, but also paints a picture of a fascinating society that has carried on regardless, in many ways little changed since the days of Genghis Khan.

'A very funny book by a balanced and sardonic Englishman… His anecdotes are uniformly excellent'

Spectator