Arabian Sands

by Wilfred Thesiger
List(s):"Extreme Classics"
Category: "Travel"
Pages:330
Year of Publication:1959
Date Added:01/21/2010
Date Read:02/01/2015
Notes:The author's account of his travels in the deserts of Arabia from 1945-1950, supposedly to find out where the hordes of locusts were breeding, but really just out of a desire to go where he wasn't supposed to go, or at least, where he wasn't supposed to be able to go. Twice he crossed the Empty Quarter, a portion of extreme desert with no water and no inhabitants. He traveled with various Arab tribesmen who still, just before the oil boom, lived as nomads. Frequently, he was chased by Muslims who wished to kill him while be protected by others whom he befriended.
My Rating: 5

Reviews for Arabian Sands

Review - Arabian Sands

A well-written book about a very boring lifestyle in a very boring place. It was all about camels and water polluted with camel urine and camel raids and tribes rushing about trying to kill each other when they weren't competing to see how much they could give each other. Thesiger's disdain for anyone who didn't share his contempt for modern things like cars was annoying, as was his praise for his Arab friends who were unrepentant thieves and brigands.
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