The story behind the book

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the story of a remarkable mission that began with a Muslim community’s act of compassion and a Christian’s promise to return the favor.

It’s one that has earned acclaim, including the 2007 Kiriyama Prize (nonfiction), for books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia, and the Book of the Year Award” from the Pacific Northwestern Booksellers Association. Readers, too, have responded with enthusiasm that has earned the paperback edition a spot on The New York Times best-seller list for eight weeks following its February release. (Relin is a contributing editor for Parade and Skiing magazines.)

In 1993, Mortenson, a lifelong mountaineer, became separated from a party climbing K2 on the border of Pakistan and China, the second highest peak in the world. Weakened and disappointed at having failed to reach the summit, he was discovered by two Balti porters who brought him to the home of Haji Ali, the village chief of Korphe, Pakistan, where he was nursed back to health.