The Places in Between
By Rory Stewart

Stewart is a Scotsman who spent 16 months walking from Iran to Nepal. This is an account of his trip through Afghanistan. He started just six weeks after the Taliban fell. On the first page, he writes that two government men came to his hotel and demanded that he accompany them "to a room on a floor I didn't know existed. … A pulse was beating strongly in my neck. I tried to breathe slowly." It's not just a diary of his trip; it's also a study in behavior—what compels people to take such risks.