Through a Land of Extremes: The Littledales of Central Asia

On August 4, 1895, at a 19,000 foot pass on the north side of Goring La in Tibet, only 48 miles from Lhasa, a 43-year-old Englishman, his 55-year-old wife, and a fox terrier confronted over 150 Tibetans armed with primitive matchlocks. The Englishman was St. George Littledale. His wife, Teresa, had shared in all of his adventures. In the 19th century, Teresa and George Littledale were known as the greatest English explorers of their day, journeying further into the hidden lands of Asia than any Western explorer had previously achieved. Yet, because they never published their own account of their journeys, for more than a century their story has remained largely forgotten. Now, the authors, having discovered the Littledales' diaries and letters, have for the first time pieced together their remarkable, adventurous, and courageous lives.