Walking Europes Last Wilderness

An evocative voyage through the Carpathian mountain range and its threatened landscape, peoples, and history

The Carpathian Mountains of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine are Europe’s last true wilderness. A landscape of great spruce and beech forests, grass meadows, and ancient villages, its people contend daily with the elements—as well as Europe’s last large carnivores. But this fragile ecosystem is now under threat, from climate change and illegal logging.

Journeying from the banks of the Danube to Transylvania, Nick Thorpe guides us through the history and ecology of the watershed of Europe, between the Black Sea and the Baltic. For a thousand years the Carpathians have been a place of refuge, of identity and belonging, where powerful rulers and dynasties fought to gain control over rich gold seams and the unruly inhabitants of strategic valleys. Today, its inhabitants struggle to protect its vast forest habitat from urban sprawl as well as logging.

Drawing on interviews with shepherds, foresters and loggers, and his four decades of experience in the region, Thorpe sheds light on a neglected part of Europe—where bears, wolves, chamois, and lynxes still roam.

Review

“[Thorpe’s] book—in all its diffuse charm—should draw captivated readers, and visitors, down these beloved winding tracks.”—Boyd Tonkin, Financial Times

“A richly textured report on an ancient terrain that is being remade into a new political and economic landscape.”—Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal

“By the time I reached its final pages, I was eager to experience the Carpathians for myself.”—Guy Stagg, Literary Review

“Thorpe goes deeper than scenery, weaving together history, culture, ecology, economy and more. . . . Through Thorpe’s compassionate guiding, the voices of the people who call this region home will linger long in my mind.”—Elizabeth Wainwright, Geographical

“Nick Thorpe is adventurous, funny, compassionate and wise, your ideal companion for exploring the Carpathians, Europe’s last wilderness.”—Michael Ignatieff, author of On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times

“The Carpathians are far and away the best kept secret in Europe—and travelling with Thorpe is to be ushered into a magical world.”—Julius Strauss, former war correspondent and owner of Wild Bear Lodge

About the Author

Nick Thorpe is central Europe correspondent for BBC Radio and TV and an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. He has written for The Observer, The Guardian, and The Independent and is the author The Danube and The Road Before Me Weeps.