Cathy Scott-Clark

The shocking true story of a brutal kidnapping high in the mountains of Kashmir that marked the beginning of modern terrorism. In July 1995, ten backpackers journeyed into the foothills of the Himalayas, trekking to an idyllic campsite known as the Meadow. But their search for tranquillity was savagely interrupted when they were taken hostage by Islamic extremists. Using diaries, letters, classified police reports and interviews with the jihadis themselves, The Meadow traces the escalating tension between kidnappers, victims and police, while examining the high-level conspiracies surrounding the abduction. It tells of the single escape attempt and how – with a brutal beheading – the hostage takers took an irreversible step into the abyss. The shocking true story of the crisis that foreshadowed a new epoch of global terrorism, this is the book that forced Intelligence and government authorities to uncover what really happened in the Meadow.