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Few equestrian travelers had a more politically radical life than did the American, Anna Louise Strong. Having been raised in Seattle in the early 1900s where she was strongly influenced by the labor riots and social unrest of that time, Strong turned her back on her otherwise normal suburban roots and fled overseas. Denouncing capitalism, she began a series of state-sponsored journeys deep into the secretive heart of the recently formed Soviet Union. Her resulting books described a worker s paradise and invariably praised the communist experiment. Dictator Joseph Stalin was so pleased with this American convert, he encouraged her to visit the far-flung corners of the new Red Empire. The Road to the Grey Pamir is the story of how Strong accompanied a group of Soviet geologists as they rode into the seldom-seen Pamir mountains of faraway Tajikistan. Mounted on her horse, American Girl, the political renegade turned equestrian explorer soon discovered more adventure than she anticipated.