"We have become used to the sight of self-made people pushing themselves into physical and life-threatening tasks as they strive to confront the meaning of their lives. With Matthew it is different. He is driven as much by the romance of the endeavour as its physical and often lethal challenges. He would be the first to deny this, but he is a thoroughly modern incarnation of the gentleman explorer.

Like the explorers of the past, at least those that we revere, Matthew also writes. I have to admit to a certain annoyance the first time he pitched a story to me. I felt it was enough already that he was off expeditioning at leisure - how dare he presume to write as well? When the piece arrived, I was stunned and mortified. It was an astonishingly good piece of writing. In fact, it appears in this very collection. It would be unfair to single it out, though, as every one of the stories here is as astute.

As it turns out, Matthew is blessed with the ability to see beneath the surface of things to where the heart of a story lies. That is a gift for anyone, but in a writer it is the most sought-after quality. He is going to be one of the great travel writers of our time. Indeed, he already is. “

Paul Ash
Deputy Editor, Travel and Food, Sunday Times