Robert Hutchison studied at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, majoring in economics and political science. He interrupted his studies to travel and begin a career in journalism. A native of Quebec, he has lived in Switzerland for many years. He is fluent in English and French.
From 1961 to 1976, Hutchison was a correspondent of the Sunday and Daily Telegraph of London. His articles in The Financial Post of Toronto on international fraud and corruption surrounding the sale of Canadian nuclear reactors to Argentina, won him the National Business Writing Award and three citations for outstanding investigative reporting in Canada. He has also contributed articles to The Sunday Times ( London) and The Smithsonian (Washington). His photos have appeared in leading publications around the world. He is the author of the following works: Vesco, Off The Books, Juggernaut, In the Tracks of the Yeti and Their Kingdom Come.
When not writing or photographing his favourite pastimes are ski-touring in the alps and trekking in the Himalayas. While researching a feature article on the Garhwali activist Sunderlal Bahuguna in 1987 he fell in love with India’s Garhwal region and visited the area many times since. ‘Mussoorie’ he says, ‘is my second home.’
A young British officer deserted during the First Afghan war (1839-42) and went to ground in the wilds of Tehri Garhwal. Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson changed the face of the region forever and became a Himalayan legend. He played a daring role in the Great Game, was witness to the Anglo Sikh War of 1845 – when the British nearly lost India – and became a pioneering force in the great Indian Railways adventure. Capturing the humour of the petty world of officers’ clubs in Meerut, Mussoorie, and Shimla, the chill of stiff winds on the high passes into Tibet, and the hardships of life in the remote valleys of Garhwal, The Raja of Harsil is a thrilling account of that tumultuous and exciting period.
Driven by personal ambition, Fredrick Wilson introduced commercial timbering to the Himalayas and became India’s first timber magnate. An avid hunter, ornithologist and botanist, he settled at Harsil, and shared the lives and destinies of the Garhwali people. He acquired enormous wealth – becoming the richest man in Northern India – and fame as ‘raja’ of Harsil before falling into disfavour – a pariah for plundering Garhwal of its wildlife and natural resources.
ISBN: 9788174367969
Author: Robert Hutchison
Published by: Roli Books
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