After a varied career included teaching English in rural Sudan and surveying historic farm buildings, Laurence Mitchell (eastofelveden.wordpress.com) became a travel writer and photographer with an interest in forgotten places, border zones and territories in transition, meaning that he has travelled widely in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the ex-Soviet world. He has been interested in Kyrgyz culture since first meeting nomads in northwest China en route to Pakistan in 2001 and has visited Kyrgyzstan four times since 2006. As well as Bradt’s Kyrgyzstan guidebook, he has written Bradt’s Serbia guide, Bradt’s Slow Travel guidebooks to Norfolk and Suffolk, walking guides to East Anglia and Westering (a lyrical account of a slow coast-to-coast walk in Britain). He has also contributed to publications including Walk, hidden europe, Geographical, Discover Britain and Russian Life, and is a member of the Outdoor Writers & Photographers Guild.