Rory Stewart

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the former diplomat, traveller and writer, Rory Stewart. His life has been part establishment convention, part wild adventure. He went to Eton, Oxford and then joined the Foreign Office, but along the way spent part of his childhood running wild in the jungles of Malaysia. He was based in Kosovo during the Nato campaign and, at the age of 29, turned up in Iraq and volunteered to help in the rebuilding work. He ended up running one of the provinces. He remains fiercely critical of the war and has written a well-received book about his experiences there.

The event that has changed his outlook on life was the decision he made to walk 6,000 miles across Asia. It took the best part of two years and throughout the journey he relied on the hospitality of villagers to give him food and shelter. Now he spends most of his time in Kabul where he has set up a charity to support traditional Afghan crafts, but he says his next move is to return to Britain where he wants to understand more about how our society works and attempt, he says, to 'normalise' himself.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Choices

1.

Sophie Ramsay

The Laird O’Cockpen

2.

Gilbert & Sullivan

I am the very model (from The Pirates of Penzance)

Soloist: Eric Roberts Orchestra: Doyly Carte Opera Conductor: John Pryce Jones

Others who chose this artist

3.

The Regimental Band of the Black Watch

The Barren Rocks of Aden

4.

Dub Specialists

Gunman Mix

Others who chose this artist

5.

Ted Hughes

Little Gidding

Others who chose this artist

6.

Castaway's favourite

Franz Schubert

Die Forelle (The Trout), D550

Soloist: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore

Others who chose this artist

7.

R Khushnawaz, G Mohammad, A Hassanpur

Jâm-e Nârenji

8.

Don Edwards

Coyotes

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Book

A parallel text of the Bhagvad Gita by

Others who chose this author

Luxury item

A ceramic bowl from the village of Istalif in Afghanistan

Others who chose a similar luxury