- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics; First printing of this edition edition (1 Feb 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141025387
- ISBN-13: 978-0141025384
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
289,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Middle East > Saudi Arabia
To the Holy Shrines (Penguin Great Journeys)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Disguised as a Persian dervish, Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) set out to become the first Christian to penetrate the Muslim shrines of Medina and Mecca - a reckless stunt that would have resulted in his being executed if discovered. Endlessly observant, amused, boastful and engaging, Burton here describes his time in Cairo (including a memorable drinking contest with a ferocious Albanian mercenary captain), his crossing of the Red Sea in a crazily overloaded pilgrim boat and his arrival in the fabled Nejd.
Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries – but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.
About the Author
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was a British explorer, spy, linguist, sexologist, translator and writer. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
On the evening of April 3, 1853, I left London for Southampton. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the evening of April 3, 1853, I left London for Southampton. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful little book for anyone not quite up to the task of reading deeply the complete two-volume Sir Richard Francis Burton "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah". And, by using the term "little", I do not mean insignificant, but actually size-wise being only 105 pages and perhaps 4 inches by seven at best. Penguin Books has done a wonderful job of choosing a very interesting assortment of inserts from the major volumes, yet still leaving you with the overall sense of adventure. Now I do so love Burton and his writing style and all that he ever was, yet even I can get a little bogged down in his details, for I am not a scientist, nor anthropologist myself, but an attorney.
One more thing--I had first thought when purchasing this book, that it would encompass several shrines throughout his travels--maybe even more importantly to me--the sacred shrines of Harrar--and perhaps even his thoughts on shrines in Cairo, Constantinople, India. So I thought I should mention that it deals solely with the shrines of Meccah and Al-Madinah.
Great stuff! Really!
One more thing--I had first thought when purchasing this book, that it would encompass several shrines throughout his travels--maybe even more importantly to me--the sacred shrines of Harrar--and perhaps even his thoughts on shrines in Cairo, Constantinople, India. So I thought I should mention that it deals solely with the shrines of Meccah and Al-Madinah.
Great stuff! Really!
Listmania!
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