Most countries have been explored and documented extensively - Saudi Arabia isn't one of them. Still shrouded in mystery, the country and its inhabitants are relatively unknown to the rest of the world. Alex Schlacher travelled the entire Kingdom in search of people and culture and was enthusiastically welcomed by a nation eager to shine a light on its extraordinary citizens in a way that hadn't been done before. The West's view on Saudi Arabia is often narrow and impersonal, and media features tend to cover politics and the economy. Schlacher focused on the private lives of Saudis, and the result is a collection of portraits and stories of people living in a vast country steeped in history, a country on the cusp of change.

The Gurkhas are an elite fighting force from Nepal who have served the British Crown since 1815. They occupy a unique place in the public's imagination, and are renowned for their loyalty, professionalism and resolve. Through stunning photography, Arc of the Gurkha explores the span of the Gurkha career from recruitment through to training and deployment up to post-military employment and retirement. Alex Schlacher has accompanied the Gurkhas on operations in Afghanistan, on exercises in the Brunei jungle and Australia, and has visited all the units in the Brigade as well as retired and medically discharged Gurkhas. She has taken intimate portraits of hundreds of soldiers and heard their stories, many of which are recounted in this book. There have been other books on the Gurkhas, but none has portrayed the individual soldiers and focused about their backgrounds, lives and thoughts. This unique and insightful publication is the first to explore what it really means for a Gurkha to be a Gurkha.