ALAN BOOTH

En 1996 el joven Mahmud cruzaba con su burro la meseta que se extiende a las afueras de El Bawiti, en el oasis de Bahriya; cuando de repente una de las patas del animal se hundió en la arena del desierto, destapando un tesoro que habia permanecido oculto mas de 2.000 años.EL VALLE DE LAS MOMIAS DE ORO es un viaje alucinante que nos transporta al ultimo gran descubrimiento realizado en Egipto. Contado por los propios protagonistas de esta historia, y como si se tratara de un libro de aventuras, Nacho Ares conduce al lector de una forma distendida y amena por una de las paginas mas brillantes de la egiptologia, el hallazgo, en pleno corazon del desierto libio, de la necropolis de momias humnas mas grande de toda la Antiguedad. A lo largo de 6 kilometros cuadrados se extiende un cementerio que puede albergar en sus subterraneos unas 10.000 momias. Hasta ahora se han podido recuperar mas de doscientos cuerpos, muchos de ellos cubiertos con mascaras de oro, cuyos enigmaticos rostros nos lanzan infinidad de preguntas. ¿Quienes eran esos hombres y mujeres que se hicieron enterrar de forma tan ostentosa hacie 2.000 años? ¿Que han dicho de ellos las ultimas investigaciones llevadas a cabo entre 1999 y 2000? En Bahariya, tal y como refleja el autor, las tecnicas de la medicina moderna y los sofisticados estudios de ADN antiguo tienen la ultima palabra.

A VIBRANT, MEDITATIVE WALK IN SEARCH OF THE SOUL OF JAPANTraveling by foot through mountains and villages, Alan Booth found a Japan far removed from the stereotypes familiar to Westerners. Whether retracing the footsteps of ancient warriors or detailing the encroachments of suburban sprawl, he unerringly finds the telling detail, the unexpected transformation, the everyday drama that brings this remote world to life on the page. Looking for the Lost is full of personalities, from friendly gangsters to mischievous children to the author himself, an expatriate who found in Japan both his true home and dogged exile. Wry, witty, sometimes angry, always eloquent, Booth is a uniquely perceptive guide. Looking for the Lost is a technicolor journey into the heart of a nation. Perhaps even more significant, it is the self-portrait of one man, Alan Booth, exquisitely painted in the twilight of his own life.

A memorable, oddly beautiful bookWall Street JournalA marvellous glimpse of the Japan that rarely peeks through the countrys public imageWashington PostOne sunny spring morning in the 1970s, an unlikely Englishman set out on a pilgrimage that would take him across the entire length of Japan. Travelling only along small back roads, Alan Booth travelled on foot from Soya, the countrys northernmost tip, to Sata in the extreme south, traversing three islands and some 2,000 miles of rural Japan. His mission: to come to grips with the business of living here, after having spent most of his adult life in Tokyo.The Roads to Sata is a wry, witty, inimitable account of that prodigious trek, vividly revealing the reality of life in off-the-tourist-track Japan. Journeying alongside Booth, we encounter the wide variety of people who inhabit the Japanese countryside - from fishermen and soldiers, to bar hostesses and school teachers, to hermits, drunks and the homeless. We glimpse vast stretches of coastline and rambling townscapes, mountains and motorways; watch baseball games and sunrises; sample trout and Kilamanjaro beer, hear folklore, poems and smutty jokes. Throughout, we enjoy the wit and insight of a uniquely perceptive guide, and more importantly, discover a new face of an often-misunderstood nation.