Colin Thubron is an acknowledged master of travel writing, and the winner of many prizes and awards. His first writing was about the Middle East - Damascus, Lebanon and Cyprus. In 1982 he travelled into the Soviet Union in an ancient Morris Marina, pursued by the KGB, a journey he recorded in Among the Russians. From these early experiences developed his classic travel books: The Lost Heart of Asia, In Siberia (Prix Bouvier), Shadow of the Silk Road and, more recently, Journey Into Cyprus (all available in Vintage). In 2010 Colin Thubron became President the Royal Society of Literature.