In an unpublished letter, Geoffrey Moorhouse describes himself as “simply a writer who happens to travel a lot, among other things, an inquiring generalist who has never felt the slightest inclination to become a specialist.” Throughout his career Moorhouse has struggled to define himself as a writer, while resisting critics' and readers' occasionally facile classifications. His travel books, however, have won him international recognition. Those familiar with Moorhouse's work point to his books on Calcutta, the Sahara, New York, Pakistan, and the Soviet Union as his most significant achievements. Trained as a journalist, Moorhouse combines straightforward reporting with impressionistic narration in his best travel books, such as The Fearful Void (1974) and To the Frontier (1984). His other travel writings range from the expository and factual Calcutta (1971) to the deeply personal OM: An Indian Pilgrimage (1993).

Moorhouse was born Geoffrey Heald in Bolton, Lancashire, on 29 November 1931 to William Heald, a Congregational...