Robert Twigger

'Micromastery is a triumph. A brilliant idea, utterly convincing, and superbly carried through' - Philip Pullman We read that we must be passionate about only one thing, that 10,000 hours of hard practice is needed to achieve mastery. But in fact most successful people, including Nobel prize winners, nurture multiple areas of knowledge and activity that feed their central subject. Whether it's making a perfect souffle, dancing a tango or lighting a fire, when we take the time to cultivate small and quantifiable areas of expertise, we change everything. We become faster and more fearless learners, spot more creative opportunities, improve our brain health and boost our happiness. We see knowledge itself completely differently. The skills acquired in painting a door flawlessly or growing delicious chillies will unexpectedly transform your life. So start small. Start specific. But start - and you'll be on the path to mastery.

Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Find the Hidden Path to Happiness

Micromastery

Robert Twigger, poet and travel author, was in search of a new way up England when he stumbled across the Great North Line. From Christchurch on the South Coast to Old Sarum to Stonehenge, to Avebury, to Notgrove barrow, to Meon Hill in the midlands, to Thor's Cave, to Arbor Low stone circle, to Mam Tor, to Ilkley in Yorkshire and its three stone circles and the Swastika Stone, to several forts and camps in Northumberland to Lindisfarne (plus about thirty more sites en route). A single dead straight line following 1 degree 50 West up Britain. No other north-south straight line goes through so many ancient sites of such significance. Was it just a suggestive coincidence or were they built intentionally? Twigger walks the line, which takes him through Birmingham, Halifax and Consett as well as Salisbury Plain, the Peak district, and the Yorkshire moors. With a planning schedule that focused more on reading about shamanism and beat poetry than hardening his feet up, he sets off ever hopeful. He wild-camps along the way, living like a homeless bum, with a heart that starts stifled but ends up soaring with the beauty of life. He sleeps in a prehistoric cave, falls into a river, crosses a 'suicide viaduct' and gets told off by a farmer's wife for trespassing; but in this simple life he finds woven gold. He walks with others and he walks alone, ever alert to the incongruities of the edgelands he is journeying through.

Up England Another Way

Walking the Great North Line

'Robert Twigger is not so much a travel writer as a thrill-seeking philosopher' Esquire The Himalayas beckon and we go ... Some to make real journeys and others to make imaginary ones. These mountains, home to Buddhists, Bonpos, Jains, Muslims, Hindus, shamans and animists, to name only a few, are a place of pilgrimage and dreams, revelation and war, massacre and invasion, but also peace and unutterable calm. In an exploration of the region's seismic history, Robert Twigger unravels some of these real and invented journeys and the unexpected links between them. Following a meandering path across the Himalayas to its physical end in Nagaland on the Indian-Burmese border, Twigger encounters incredible stories from a unique cast of mountaineers and mystics, pundits and prophets. The result is a sweeping, enthralling and surprising journey through the history of the world's greatest mountain range.

White Mountain

Doris Lessing

T. H. Benson

Institiute of Poetic Patience

Poems by Doris Lessing, Robert Twigger and TH Benson

INPOPA Anthology 2002

a biography of the world's greatest river

Red Nile

Adrift in Tokyo, teaching giggling Japanese highschool girls how to pronounce Tennyson correctly, Robert Twigger came to a revelation about himself: he'd never been fit. In a bid to escape the cockroach infestation and sweaty squalor of a cramped apartment in Fuji Heights, Twigger sets out to cleanse his body and his mind. Not knowing his fist from his elbow the author is sucked into the world of Japanese martial arts, and the brutally demanding course of budo training taken by the Tokyo Riot Police, where any ascetic motivation soon comes up against blood-stained dogis and fractured collarbones. In Angry White Pyjamas Robert Twigger skilfully blends the ancient with the modern ¿ the ultra-traditionalism, ritual and violence of the dojo (training academy) with the shopping malls, nightclubs and scenes of everyday Tokyo life in the twenty-first century ¿ to provide an entertaining and captivating glimpse of contemporary Japan.

Angry White Pyjamas

The Dangerous Book for Men, not boys Every man has faced that emergency where a car needs to be broken into and hot-wired; just as every man needs to be able to mix the perfect dry Martini. The world is a dangerous and unpredictable place; a man never knows when he might be called upon to start a fire with just a coke can, win at croquet or drive a T34 tank. Twigger has plenty of experience of facing down bears, building coracles, swimming with sharks - now he shows every man how to cook a hedgehog, commit hara-kiri and land a Boeing 747.

And 93 Other Dangerous Things To Consider

Real Men Eat Puffer Fish

Robin Hanbury-Tenison

Stories of the thrills and hardships faced by modern expeditions that continue to enhance our understanding of the world around us, now in a compact edition. This book profiles forty modern explorers who have disproved the idea that there is nowhere left to discover. Some are experienced and celebrated worldwide, while others are just starting to make their mark. The Modern Explorers delves into challenging and extraordinary expeditions to the remotest parts of the world by explorers from the United States, Australia, China, France, and beyond. Nine thematic sections cover all terrains: Polar, Desert, Rainforest, Mountain, Ocean, River, Under Sea, Under Land, and Lost Worlds. Written mainly by the explorers themselves, these accounts provide unique insight into what it is like to join an expedition, from being dragged through the top of the rainforest canopy in an inflatable raft suspended from a balloon to pedaling a boat across the Pacific to standing on the edge of an erupting volcano.

Epic Journeys to the Ends of the World

The Modern Explorers

A rip-roaring yet intimate biography of the mighty Nile by Robert Twigger, award-winning author of ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS. 'A tour de force' FINANCIAL TIMES. So much begins on the banks of the Nile: all religion, all life, all stories, the script we write in, the language we speak, the gods, the legends and the names of stars. This mighty river that flows through a quarter of all Africa has been history's most sustained creator. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey from ancient times to the Arab Spring, award-winning author Robert Twigger weaves a Nile narrative like no other. As he navigates a meandering course through the history of the world's greatest river, he plucks the most intriguing, colourful and dramatic stories - truly a Nile red in tooth and claw. The result is both an epic journey through the whole sweep of human and pre-human history, and an intimate biography of the curious life of this great river, overflowing with stories of excess, love, passion, splendour and violence.

The Biography of the World's Greatest River

From Robert Twigger, the internationally acclaimed author of Angry White Pyjamas and Big Snake, comes The Extinction Club, the brilliant, peculiar, and complex tale of the Milu. For one thousand years, the Milu, an exotic species of deer with the neck of a camel, the horns of a stag, the feet of a cow, and the tail of a donkey, existed only in the Chinese emperor's private park in Beijing. But in the second half of the nineteenth century a Basque missionary, Pére David, became the first Westerner ever to see a Milu. Transfixed by the strange beast, he risked his life to obtain a specimen, then embalmed it and sent it to Paris in a diplomatic bag. The preserved remains caused quite a stir across Europe, and zoologists clamored to get hold of a live animal. Within a very short time, every major nation in Europe possessed a Milu. But most failed to thrive and died quickly in their new surroundings, and due to war -- most notably the Boxer Rebellion -- they became extinct in their native habitat as well. Yet the exotic deer were able to survive in one place -- Bedfordshire, England -- due to the nurturing of a devoted caretaker, the 11th Duke of Bedford, who kept a herd at Woburn Abbey. This labor and persistence paid off nearly a century later in 1986, when a part of the British herd was returned to China. And to this day the very rich hunt the Milu -- for a steep price -- in wild game reserves throughout the world, but most notably in Texas. In his fascinating tale of nature, civilization, and history, Robert Twigger poignantly recounts the story of this strange and rare animal while providing a riveting meditation on a number of human obsessions -- evolution, truth-telling, extinction, myth-making, and survival.

The Extinction Club

'Last night my son wanted to appease me because of some annoyance he had caused. "Show me your desert things," he said, "show me your crystals and stones." However tired and grumpy I might be, he knew how to revive me. I unwrapped everything from its newspaper roll. The chipped flint knives, the silica glass arrowheads, ancient porous pottery shards I'd found in the Gilf, fossils, the jawbone of a gazelle, palm nuts so desiccated they were like stone . . .' Robert Twigger's latest journey is in search of paradise: a desert adventure in the footsteps of seasoned explorers such as Theodore Almasy (the Inspiration for THE ENGLISH PATIENT) who tried to locate the lost oasis of Zezura, reportedly home to hoards of treasure, flocks of birds and a lush, verdant valley. The Egyptian Sahara is one of the most arid and hostile environments on earth. But it is also a wonder of desolate beauty, where in the ultra-clear light of the desert you can see for miles. Armed with plenty of water and a homemade wooden trolley (his Lada being too heavy for the sand), Twigger embarks on a desert trip ilke no other . . .

Adventures in and Out of the Egyptian Desert

Lost Oasis

"Discovery Channel junkie" meets "weekend warrior" in this true story of a terrified desk dweller who sets out to capture the world's longest snake. Out of funding, acclaimed poet Robert Twigger was surfing the Internet for poetry prizes when he came upon a cash reward being offered for the capture of a live snake in excess of thirty feet. Established in 1912 by President Roosevelt following the capture of a twenty-eight-foot reticulated python, the reward had gone unclaimed for eighty-six years, boosting the $1,000 prize to $50,000. About to be married but craving one last adventure, the scrawny Oxford poet sets off for the Far East without either hesitation or serious strategy. No matter that his closest encounter with a live snake was at the reptile house at the Howlett Zoo or that he suffers from ophicliophobia, a fear nearly universal among humans. Twigger is determined to win the moneyand to guarantee that his last escapade as a bachelor will be an unforgettable one. Part travelogue, part classic adventure, Big Snake grapples with the mythic and symbolic status of one of the world's most fascinating yet dreaded creatures, which are generally the victims of bad press. Trekking through South-East Asia with a band of headhunters, Twigger stalks pythons in the sewers of Kuala Lumpur, is forced to survive on greasy civet cat (a relative of the skunk) deep in the jungle, attempts to date the most beautiful woman in the world, encounters the cobweb hunters of Buru, and evaluates the legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace ("the true discoverer of evolution"). Ultimately, after close encounters with snakes both petite though venomous and harmless yet gargantuan, Twigger eventually comes face-to-face with the big one-but the final capture is not quite what he had in mind.

The Hunt for the World's Longest Python

Big Snake

From religion, to language, to the stories rooted in our faith and history books, the Nile River has proven to be a constant fixture in mankind's tales. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey from ancient times to the Arab Spring, Red Nile navigates a meandering course through the history of the world's greatest river, exploring this unique breeding ground for creativity, power clashes, and constant change. Seasoned historical writer Robert Twigger connects the comprehensive history of the Nile with his personal experience of living in Egypt while researching the Nile's historical origins. Twigger covers the entirety of the river, charting the length of the Nile from its disputed origins through Africa on a whirlwind tour of the rulers, explorers, conquerors, generals, and novelists who painted the Nile "red." Both comprehensive and intimate, this narrative guides readers through history by way of the mighty river known across the world. The result of this meticulously researched book is an all-inclusive history of this epic river and the incredible connections throughout history. The stories of excess, love, passion, splendor, and violence are what make the Nile so engaging, even after centuries of change.

A Biography of the World's Greatest River

A sweeping biography of the Himalayas by the acclaimed author of Angry White Pyjamas. Home to mythical kingdoms, wars and expeditions, and strange and magical beasts, the Himalayas have always loomed tall in our imagination. These mountains, home to Buddhists, Bonpos, Jains, Muslims, Hindus, shamans and animists, to name only a few, are a place of pilgrimage and dreams, revelation and war, massacre and invasion, but also peace and unutterable calm. They are a central hub of the world’s religion, as well as a climber’s challenge and a traveler’s dream. In an exploration of the region's seismic history, Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile and Angry White Pyjamas, unravels some of these seemingly disparate journeys and the unexpected links between them. Following a winding path across the Himalayas to its physical end in Nagaland on the Indian-Burmese border, Twigger encounters incredible stories from a unique cast of mountaineers and mystics, pundits and prophets. The result is a sweeping, enthralling and surprising journey through the history of the world's greatest mountain range.

White Mountain: A Cultural Adventure Through the Himalayas

Zenslacker

Bestselling author of ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS, BIG SNAKE and VOYAGEUR enters into the desert in search of a lost oasis 'Last night my son wanted to appease me because of some annoyance he had caused. "Show me your desert things," he said, "show me your crystals and stones." However tired and grumpy I might be, he knew how to revive me. I unwrapped everything from its newspaper roll. The chipped flint knives, the silica glass arrowheads, ancient porous pottery shards I'd found in the Gilf, fossils, the jawbone of a gazelle, palm nuts so desiccated they were like stone . . .' Robert Twigger's latest journey is in search of paradise: a desert adventure in the footsteps of seasoned explorers such as Theodore Almasy (the Inspiration for THE ENGLISH PATIENT) who tried to locate the lost oasis of Zezura, reportedly home to hoards of treasure, flocks of birds and a lush, verdant valley. The Egyptian Sahara is one of the most arid and hostile environments on earth. But it is also a wonder of desolate beauty, where in the ultra-clear light of the desert you can see for miles. Armed with plenty of water and a homemade wooden trolley (his Lada being too heavy for the sand), Twigger embarks on a desert trip ilke no other . . .

In Search Of Paradise

Exploration has never been more popular and any idea that there is nowhere left to explore is instantly disproved by the contemporary explorers who are showcased here. Most of the accounts are written by the explorers themselves, and they all vividly describe challenging and extraordinary expeditions to some of the remotest parts of the world, in extremes of temperature and aridity, often alone and on the edge of danger. Some of these explorers are very experienced and are already celebrated worldwide, others are young and less well known and just starting to make their mark; all are driven by ambition, aspiration and passion.

Further adventures in extreme (and not so extreme) sports, from the bestselling author of ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS. Having learnt Aikido with the Tokyo riot police (ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS) and hunted for the world's longest snake in the jungles of the Far East (BIG SNAKE), Robert Twigger now turns his attention to other traditionally male pursuits and pastimes (some of which are fairly close to home, some of which are more extreme), and looks at the questions these raise about masculinity and the role of man in modern society. BEING A MAN features Twigger participating in, and writing on: the informal rules and thrill seeking of solo climbing, bullfighting in Spain, the 'illicit pleasure of buying my first gun', and the rules of survival with a tribe of Naga headhunters - the sort of activities and pursuits often scorned in the modern, interiorised office-based world.

Robert Twigger

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