Fresh out of college and inspired by the spirit of great travellers before him, William Dalrymple undertakes a journey from Jerusalem to Shangdu taking him through Turkey, Syria, mid-revolution Iran, the famed Silk Roads, Pakistan and China in a travelogue which catapulted him to instant literary acclaim and quickly became a classic of its genre. Both scholarly and hilarious, In Xanadu is a grand adventure in the company of a travel companion whose erudition and curiosity is matched only by his wit and flair.