Custodians of wonder Ancient customs, profound traditions, and the last people keeping them alive

Stein, journalist and editor for BBC Travel, profiles 10 people who may be the last to carry on traditions of their cultures. In Mali, Sweden, Peru, Italy, India, Taiwan, England, Cuba, Japan, and Germany, these custodians of heritage explain what they do and their concerns for the future. Usually, the art is learned from the previous generation; the djeli (griot or "living history book") of the Mali Empire, for example, is the twenty-seventh generation descendant of the original djeli. Sometimes, as with the German postal worker who is the historian of the Brautigamseiche, or Bridegroom's Oak, custodians are self taught. Stein approaches each person and tradition with respect. Area histories are woven into the narrative, providing essential background to understanding what will be lost if these traditions are not carried on. "I am hoping to awaken people to something deep and beautiful they may otherwise never know about," he writes--and he succeeds. A mix of travel, history, craft, and anthropology, this insightful book will especially delight armchair travelers and those interested in the diversity of the world.

In this vibrant debut travelogue, BBC Travel journalist Stein crisscrosses the globe to spotlight 10 "cultural marvels on the edge of disappearance" and the people charged with preserving them. Subjects include Balla Kouyate, a Malian djeli, or bard, who uses the balafon, a wind instrument, to perform "national epics recall family genealogies"; Paola Abraini, who wakes daily at 7 a.m. to make su filindeu, "the rarest pasta in the world," from a 300-year-old recipe passed down by her Sardinian family; and Taiwanese artist Yan Jhen-fa, one of the last people to hand-paint film posters. A particularly fascinating chapter details how Peru's Victoriano Arizapana maintains a woven suspension bridge dating from the Inca empire; once a year, he oversees thousands of villagers as they prepare braided grass cable to rebuild the bridge, offering a blessing to "Pachamama (Mother Earth)" to honor the "Incan bond with nature." Stein's reverent prose conveys the awe-inspiring nature of these arcane cultural traditions without exoticizing them ("There's something truly singular about witnessing someone do something that nearly nobody else in the world knows how to do. It's like watching a secret"). This is worth seeking out. (Dec.)