In this personal, witty account of travels across Mongolia by horse, Stewart mixes anecdote and history, capturing the warmth and spirit of the many people he encountered. He begins his journey in Istanbul, making his way by tramp steamer across the Black Sea, rattle-trap train from Volograd to Almaty, and a short hop by air to western Mongolia. From there he sets out across the steppes to Dadal, a thousand miles to the east. The book won the Thomas Cook Travel Award in 2001, the second Cook award for the British journalist and travel writer.  (MGL40, $14.95)