The diaries of a great observer of the world. For Tiziano Terzani, a long-time SPIEGEL correspondent in Asia, his diaries served as a sketchbook for his reports and at the same time as a highly personal testament. Over approximately 3,500 pages, this wonderfully attentive observer has recorded his impressions of politics and everyday life since the 1980s, focusing particularly on themes such as globalization, consumer society, Asian culture and philosophy, and the meaninglessness of the modern world. Compared to his published reports, his diary entries are more personal and immediate, as well as more searching. After being diagnosed with cancer in 1997, Terzani increasingly withdrew from the world. He began to engage more deeply with meditation and Eastern philosophies of life, trying to let go of his restless existence.