Robert Twigger

Freelance

Robert Twigger is is a British poet, writer and explorer. His latest book is White Mountain: Real and Imagined Journeys in the Himalayas (2016), and he divides his time between the UK and Egypt.

Written by Robert Twigger

Soldiers in camouflage uniforms and white hats, with one soldier laughing and holding a rifle, surrounded by other soldiers.

essay

War and peace

The legend of the Legion

His cap is bleached as white as the bones of a Saharan camel. Is the romance of the French Foreign Legion a cult of death?

Robert Twigger

Silhouette of two people on a rocky peak above clouds in a mountainous landscape.

essay

Sports and games

A higher plane

For centuries, altitude sickness thwarted our attempts to reach sacred heights. What mysterious force repelled us?

Robert Twigger

Painting of a person in dark clothing holding an open book, with a desk scattered with papers, flowers and a lizard.

essay

Cognition and intelligence

Master of many trades

Our age reveres the specialist but humans are natural polymaths, at our best when we turn our minds to many things

Robert Twigger

A 4x4 vehicle on a vast sandy desert with rolling dunes under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

essay

Stories and literature

Desert silence

City life is a constant, maddening hum. Only in a place like the Sahara can we hear the nothingness that revives

Robert Twigger