Arabian Sands (Travel Library) - Softcover

Thesiger, Wilfred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140095144 ISBN 13: 9780140095142

Publisher: Penguin, 2007

Synopsis

"Arabian Sands" is Wilfred Thesiger's record of his extraordinary journey through the parched "Empty Quarter" of Arabia. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life-"the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets." In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels. His now-classic account is invaluable to understanding the modern Middle East.

About this title

Review

"Following worthily in the tradition of Burton, Lawrence, Philby and Thomas, ["Arabian Sands"] is, very likely, the book about Arabia to end all books about Arabia." -"The Daily Telegraph", London "The narrative is vividly written, with a thousand little anecdotes and touches which bring back to any who have seen these countries every scene with the colour of real life." -"The Sunday Times", London

From the Back Cover

With this book Wilfred Thesiger took his place among the few great Arabian travellers – not only as an explorer, but as a writer.

'Arabian Sands' covers the five years ending in 1950 which, with the exception of brief interruptions only, Thesiger spent in and around the Empty Quarter, the half million square miles of one of the cruellest deserts of the world. Before him, no othe trraveller European or Arab – apart from the Bedu who live there – had twice dared to cross those empty wastes. Travelling without European companions and living as an Arab, Thesiger's experience and knowledge of the desert life are unique – and will remain so, for the world he describes has vanished, succumbing to the invasion of technicians in search of oil.

Thesiger's account of the Arabian Sands and its people, its tribal warfare and ancient history, its daily life and landscape is widely hailed as a classic of Arabian travel literature.

'The crowning touches have been placed on this exploratory activity in Arabia by Wilfred Thesiger who is probably the greatest of all the explorers'
ST JOHN PHILBY

'This splendid book, magnificently illustrated with the author's photographs, is a feast.'
DAILY EXPRESS

'Wilfred Thesiger is perhaps the last, and certainly one of the greatest, of the British travellers among the Arabs'
LT GEN. SIR JOHN GLUBB, 'Sunday Times'

'A MJOR ADDITION TO THE LITERATURE OF EXPLORATION'
PETER WORSLEY, 'Guardian'

'THE LAST GREAT BOOK ON ARABIAN TRAVEL'
ECONOMIST

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0140095144
• ISBN 13: 9780140095142
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352