- Unknown Binding: 347 pages
- Publisher: Penguin (1976)
- ASIN: B0000E7LNP
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,131,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics)
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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
-"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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
"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.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
116 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book features in my top ten favourites of all time. Thesiger, a quintiessential eccentric English explorer describes in this book five years spent with the Bedu of the southern Arabian Peninsula. Thesiger lived as a Bedu, he adopted their dress, walked barefoot and learned to settle into their rigid, almost ritualistic patterns. Thesiger developed a very deep respect for the Bedu as he believes that the harder the life led the purer the man, and there are not many lives that come harder than those of the Bedu. After all T.E. Lawrence described their daily struggle as 'a death in life'. During his time with the Bedu Thesiger twice crossed the Empty Quarter (Rub 'al Khali) with camels by a longer and more dangerous route than that taken by Philby and Thomas previously. Thesiger and his companions were lucky to have survived as they found themselves without food and water and a long way from a well that none of the Bedu had been to before and that only appeared on Thesiger's notoriously inaccurate map of the region. Equally fortunate was Thesiger managing to avoid the search parties of Omani tribesmen intent on driving him out of their territory, perhaps even to kill him, because he was a Christian. This is an incredible book, describing unimaginable hardships as if they were mere inconveniences, and giving a fascinating insight to a way of life that has all but disappeared as the Bedu trade in their camels for 4 wheel drives. Read this book, it is brilliant.
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is a difficult book to read if one is looking for excitement, but an absolute gem for anyone who wants to get inside the world of the Bedouin of over half a century ago. Thesiger's prose is spare and discerning and flows through the book like sand through an hourglass. He describes a world that no longer exists; indeed, was on the cusp of change as he made his travels in Arabia. The people he travels with are continuing a way of life that has remained unchanged for millenia but would not survive the following decades.
The life Thesiger describes is hard, unforgiving existence tempered by the bond he forms with his Bedu hosts. His descriptions of his Bedu friends are sympathetic without being effusive and his admiration of and love for them shines from every page.
Forget Lawrence and his silly posturing, if you only ever read one book about Arabia of old, this should be it. It left me inspired but, I must confess, somewhat ashamed that the god of oil and mammon should have destroyed a beautiful and unspoilt way of life.
The life Thesiger describes is hard, unforgiving existence tempered by the bond he forms with his Bedu hosts. His descriptions of his Bedu friends are sympathetic without being effusive and his admiration of and love for them shines from every page.
Forget Lawrence and his silly posturing, if you only ever read one book about Arabia of old, this should be it. It left me inspired but, I must confess, somewhat ashamed that the god of oil and mammon should have destroyed a beautiful and unspoilt way of life.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
As the reviewer above points out, anyone reading this book will not find excitement leaping from the pages but this is not the objective of the book. People reading it particularly from western countries should reflect on their own lives and how it is in such stark contrast to a way of life which has all but disappeared, for this is Thesiger's message. The book retells the authors' crossing of an inhospitable region of desert in southern arabia known as the empty quarter and his travels around the surrounding area. Full of small anecdotes which illustrate the points Thesiger makes perfectly, the way in which it was written should be commended. A truly magnificent book which has certainly made me think a little deeper.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Arabian Sands
The book was as it was described. The book was rapidly despatched and it arrived promptly. I was pleased with the good service. Thank you.
Published 5 months ago by Pauline
Ultimate Travel Writing
I've been meanig to read this book for quite a while and really glad I got round to it. Wilfred Thesiger is one of the last of the great English gentlemen explorers, in the same... Read more
Published 13 months ago by christo
Insightful
I very much enjoyed Thesiger's straightforward account of his journeys across the Empty Quarter and his keen observations of the desert and the daily lives of the Bedouin. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andrew
The magnificent obsession
The Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter, or as the Arabs called it, The Sands, is one of the most inhospitable places on earth, and one of the least populated as a result. Like Mt. Read more
Published 17 months ago by John P. Jones III
Good service!
Sapphire books have been very good with the committed date, quality of parcel and customer care. It's lovely to shop over the internet without having to send any returns or... Read more
Published 17 months ago by G Taylor
Beautiful
This is one of my favourite books of all time. No other describes the beauty of the Empty Quarter or the fierce pride, resilience and honour of the Bedouin with the same power. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2010 by AJ
Simple transaction
Ordered this relatively obscure book via Amazon. It arrived within a few days. No problems. I would use the service and vendor again.
Published on 12 Jan 2010 by Hugo First
A rare trip back into the past...
...I read this book some years ago, & bought it recently for a gift to a family member. I thoroughly enjoyed being transported back to the time that this most interesting chap... Read more
Published on 27 July 2009 by Beancooper
Superb
Before visiting relatives in Dubai I thought I'd select some holiday reading with an Arabian flavour and so happenend across Wilfred Thesiger's 'Arabian Sands'. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2008 by Mr. H. F. Murden
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