WOUNDED TIGRIS: A RIVER JOURNEY THROUGH THE CRADLE OF CIVILISATION

Broadcaster, explorer and author of Wounded Tigris, Leon McCarron shares stories from his incredible journey along the River Tigris.

The River Tigris, the birthplace of civilisation, has been the lifeblood of ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq. Geopolitics and climate change have left it at risk of becoming uninhabitable.

Leon recounts his beautiful and occasionally dangerous journey by boat along the full length of the river. He is harassed by militias and relies on the generosity of a network of strangers to reach the Persian Gulf. He investigates the environmental and geopolitical challenges that threaten the river’s future.

Discover why it’s crucial to save this extraordinary river, and what its survival, or destruction, could mean for us all.

Leon McCarron is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and explorer from Northern Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Geographical Society of Philadelphia’s Explorer of the Year. He is known for long-distance expeditions and immersive multimedia storytelling. In the past decade he has travelled over 50,000km by human power, and is currently based in Iraq.

Leon has bylines for National Geographic, Noema, New Scientist, Smithsonian, BBC, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Telegraph. His two previous books have been Top Ten Bestsellers on Amazon. They were shortlisted for both the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award and the Adventure Travel prize at the Banff Mountain Book competition. Leon has presented films for the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery. He regularly lectures in the UK, US and around the world.

Read the Q&A with Leon McCarron

Presented by Turner Sims in association with the Royal Geographical Society