On a boozy, cricket-filled afternoon, Dom Joly convinces his two closest friends Chris and Harry to agree to the unthinkable: hiking across Lebanon all the way to the Syrian border in the north. Arriving in Lebanon armed with copious amounts of Vaseline—and no walking experience, bar taking the dog for the occasional stroll—Dom, Chris, and Harry join their bemused chaperone Caroll for a truly strange journey. As Joly recounts here, they meet a variety of characters along the way, including Ali, a stony-faced Hezbollah Museum guide who seems unperturbed by circling Israeli jets.

"Compelling, enlightening, funny and yet serious too. This trip through Lebanon is both journey and reportage, both intimate and informative on this complex country."—Simon Sebag Montefiore