Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

His father Brian taught Rory Stewart how to walk, and walked with him on journeys from Iran to Malaysia. Now they have chosen to do their final walk together along ‘the Marches’ - the frontier that divides their two countries, Scotland and England.Stewart proves to be a captivating tour guide... He brings archaic languages and traditions vividly alive, wrestles with nationalism and nationhood and, in a poignant closing section, traces his father's war years and last days... Beautiful, evocative and wise, The Marches highlights new truths about old countries and the unbreakable bond between a father and son."-- Malcolm Forbes, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE Stewart's evaluation of his father feels entirely justified, but his self-deprecation not so much. I suspect his father -- who continued to call his son "darling" right up to the end -- was immensely proud of his son's accomplishments, and felt he was leaving his world in good hands. McNeill, Ronald John (1911). "March, Earls of § II Scottish Marches". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.17 (11thed.). pp.687–688.

It is also a book about the author’s father, and his relationship with him. His father was certainly a remarkable man: soldier, scholar, linguist, diplomat, and intelligence officer, and he lived a long and active life. In some ways the last third of the book is an elegy and a memorial to his father.It might be seen as an act of love. At the beginning of this book, the author recounts an incident from his childhood, when he showed his father a model plane he’d made and his father didn’t pay it sufficient attention. Rory then wrote a note: “Because you would not look at my plane … I am running away.” When Brian Stewart found it, his son writes, “I saw from his face how frightened he was. I realised how easily I could hurt him. I never wanted to see him like that again.” Two states now predominated -- suburban and abandoned -- increasingly at the expense of the alternative, a living countryside." Stewart's father, Brian, is present throughout the book. In his early 90s as the book takes place, Brian Stewart serves as a bridge between the British Empire and Britain of today. A WWII veteran, a diplomat, and a high-ranking director of MI6 in the mid-70s. He was "Q". The miracle of The Marches is not so much the treks Stewart describes, pulling in all possible relevant history, as the monument that emerges to his beloved father." -- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW However I have to say that I don't feel that Stewart's change of focus in 'The Marches' works as well. Unfortunately, it also lessened, to a degree, my personal respect for the author.