The Ghost of the Mountains

A beautiful and heart-wrenching book… Underpinning The Ghost of the Mountains are the major issues of conservation… A spectacular chimaera of observation and action, philosophy and science – FIVE STARS * Telegraph *
Thrilling… Suryawanshi makes these leopards real, in all their glory, subtle skill and extreme vulnerability, in a book that reads like a classic of conservation - measured and thorough but imbued with a profound sense of discovery * Financial Times *
Compelling and intimate… The effect of this book is a gradual stripping away of mystification, revealing the snow leopard to be fragile and beautiful just like any other inhabitant of high mountain ranges - the pika, the wild yak, the Pallas’s cat - but no less wondrous for it, and no less deserving of our attention and respect * Guardian *
Moving… For westerners, snow leopards “epitomise the romance of wilderness, a solitary life in remote mountains with no humans around”. Suryawanshi captures a different, Himalayan perspective, revealing how the animals are enmeshed in people’s lives… He puts flesh back on the ghost. And teeth, and claws, and fur * Sunday Times *
This is one for all of us who love silvery-grey snow leopards, those fabulous and elusive beasts * New Scientist *
Suryawanshi’s approach to his subject is wide-ranging… A joy to read * Irish Examiner *
A transporting and engrossing book * Herald *
Fascinating * Irish Times *
Marvellous - quite literally. A thrilling story of adventure amongst high mountains, deep mysteries, elusive animals and vertiginous facts – Charles Foster, author of The Edges of the World
A brave, unique field-study of the most extraordinary cat on the planet – the Snow Leopard – elusive, Spartan and beautiful – Desmond Morris
Enchanting. The author is a most amiable guide on the mountainside, and this deeply informed book gave me hope for the future of conservation – Sara Wheeler
Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi has spent his adult life studying, following and trying to protect snow leopards. The Ghost of the Mountains takes readers into the field, high in the Himalayas. The story it tells is by turns beautiful, terrible, and encouraging – Elizabeth Kolbert
What a thrilling and intrepid story. Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi takes us into the icy heights of the Himalaya, tracking the elusive snow leopard and bringing to life both this solitary animal and the threatened world it inhabits. Beautifully told, it’s a tale of beauty, drama and wild landscapes but also one of the entangled lives of snow leopards, their prey and the humans who share their terrain – Andrea Wulf
The Ghost of the Mountains is a thrilling and engrossing adventure, written in passionate prose by one of the world’s foremost conservationists of the snow leopard. Kulbhushansingh’s deeply grounded praxis in the Himalayan landscape imbues his passages with a unique and strange power. Like the experienced mountaineer that he is, his writing too constantly straddles across the huge challenges of conservation, political complexity and community struggles in the mountains, and the haunting beauty of the snow leopard in its habitat. In that sense, for me, he surpasses Matthiessen – Yuvan Aves
The narrative echoes with delight and wonder; Kullu’s pursuit of knowledge about snow leopards blends with his recounting of pursuing glimpses of these wondrous creatures. You should allow yourself to be swept along – Alexandra Horowitz
Stunning prose and a gripping story, this book is a wonder. A totally fresh and authentic look at the Himalayas that will change how the mountains (and the snow leopard) are seen and understood – Ben Rawlence
Setting out his fascinating field work and weaving elements of memoir and storytelling throughout, this book sheds thrilling light on these charismatic and vulnerable animals, making a compelling and urgent case for their conservation * The Bookseller *
A remarkable book about this most inscrutable of animals * New Scientist *
Groundbreaking… and makes for a gripping story * The Field Magazine *

Dr. Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, known as Kullu to friends and colleagues, is an award-winning scientist and conservationist. He has dedicated twenty years to studying the snow leopard in the Himalayas and other high mountains of Central Asia.

Dr. Suryawanshi is a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, a National NGO in India. He also serves as the Country Director for the Snow Leopard Trust, an international NGO. His field research is concentrated in India, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.

The Ghost of the Mountains is his first book.

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