The Road to Oxiana (Penguin Travel Library) (Paperback)

His humour and infectious enthusiasm for the countries he travels through and the people he meets starts with an apparent disaster with the non-arrival in Beirut of the experimental, and somewhat surreal, charcoal powered Rolls Royce that he had intended to travel in with his long suffering companion Christopher Sykes. We then continue on the road in a series of unpredictable and often ramshackle vehicles and an equal collection of unpredictable and ramshackle horses and ponies whilst continually dodging the Persian secret police who were desperate to find out what on Earth these men were doing.

Not for nothing is the book called the Road to Oxiana, as the River Oxus, which is ostensibly the destination, only gets a brief mention at the very end although I won't spoil the story by saying how. No, this is a book of a journey and the care and time that Byron took over his choice of words draws the reader into the extraordinary life of Iran at the peak of the Peacock throne, from unbelievable wealth to grinding poverty. We travel the length and breadth of this huge and truly spectacular country, about two thirds the size of the European Union with enormous mountain ranges and vast deserts all faithfully illustrated by Byrons' pen.

I first read the book whilst travelling around Iran myself and have returned to the book with increasing pleasure several times. I promise that you don't need to visit Iran to love this book although be warned it may make you want to go there as well.

The depth and wit of Byron's writing is marvellous. He very efficiently balances a travelogue interwoven with his own observations and opinions. Most of the architectural descriptions are stunning and leave you envious. His cultural observations and some of the more ridiculous encounters he had with the locals had me laughing out loud. Based upon the current world situation if you really want to know something about the region I urge you to read this book.

It's a shame his life was cut short. I can only assume any further books he could have written would have at least equalled this one.

Byron was extremely witty and his observations acute. Considering he was travelling in the area in 1933-4, it is fascinating to read his opinions on Hitler, the situation in Bolshevik Russia, and European opinions. At times his descriptions of life in the Middle East are startlingly contemporary - clearly not much has changed in the last 70 years.

I laughed out loud at his habit of calling the Shah "Marjoribanks", because it was safer not to refer to him by name; and his description of his ill-fated visit to the toilet when in the grip of dysentry was hilarious (believe it or not).

"The Road to Oxiana" is a great book. Persevere through the first 10-15 pages and your patience will be rewarded.