Kevin Rushby

My new column in The Guardian is The Explorer page in the Saturday Travel section. Here's a recent one...

Kevin joins a scientific expedition in a mountainous Indian jungle to look for rare snakes and collect their venom

Over the coming months, the idea is to get out to more challenging and interesting destinations. 

Paradise, my latest book, is out now. Listen to a BBC World Service Interview on the subject. The Independent review of Paradise said: 'This is an exceptionally lucid, stimulating and thought-provoking book.' Other pages on the website have details of my previous books, among them Hunting Pirate Heaven which was a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. You can also read my recent articles from The Guardian.

The Paradise Myth has been one of the most powerful motivators in human history, influencing and energizing all kinds of individuals and groups. From the Assassins of 12th century Persia to the Pilgrim Fathers of the United States; from Pythagoras to modern-day downsizers, there has always been those who would seek perfection on earth. This hope for an earthly paradise drives humanity onwards, pressing for change and offering salvation. Yet it also comes attached to religious beliefs such as Armageddon, original sin and martyrdom - all notions that influence modern life even when hidden beneath a veneer of secularism.

Kevin Rushby traces the belief in paradise from its earliest origins down to the present day, taking in a vast array of characters, particularly from within Christian and Islamic cultures. The story carries us through the botanic gardens and utopian dreams of 17th century Europe, but also to terrible events such as the Holocaust and to the atrocities of modern religious extremism. Paradise uncovers the history of an idea and in doing so reveals some of the key events and characters that have shaped our ideas of perfect happiness.

Paradise: A History of the Idea That Rules the World