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Wilfred Thesiger

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The Marsh Arabs (Penguin Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, 25 Oct. 2007

by Wilfred Thesiger (Author), Jon Lee Anderson (Introduction)

4.6 252 ratings

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During the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. Travelling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicines and treating the sick. In this account of his time there he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage and endurance of the people, describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy and moments of pure comedy, all in vivid, engaging detail.
Untouched by the modern world until recently, these independent people, their way of life and their surroundings have suffered widespread destruction under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Wilfred Thesiger's magnificent account of his time spent among them is a moving testament to their now threatened culture and the landscape they inhabit.

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Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Classics
Publication date

25 Oct. 2007
Dimensions

12.95 x 1.6 x 19.81 cm
ISBN-10

0141442085
ISBN-13

978-0141442082
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Product description

Review

"It is one thing to tell the story of an expedition . . . it is quite another to convey the atmosphere. . . . This is a richly rewarding book." --The Observer

"His voyage through desert waters will remain, like his Arabian Sands, a classic of travel writing." --The Times (London)

About the Author

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (1910–2003) was a British travel writer born in Addis Ababa in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Thesiger is best known for two travel books: Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins, and The Marsh Arabs (1964), an account of the traditional peoples who lived in the marshlands of southern Iraq.

One of America's most respected foreign correspondents, Jon Lee Anderson is a staff writer for the New Yorker. He is the author of The Lion's Grave: Dispatches From Afghanistan (2002) and The Fall of Baghdad (2004 ).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Illustrated edition (25 Oct. 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141442085
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141442082
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.95 x 1.6 x 19.81 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 97,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 58 in African Historical Biographies
- 115 in Middle Eastern Historical Biographies
- 454 in Higher Education on Geography

Customer reviews:
4.6 252 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

252 global ratings

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S. McHugh

A book for your bucket list

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2015

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Thesiger was the last of the Victorian-era explorers, living amongst tribal peoples and sharing their hard, hard lives. It is an extraordinary experience to lounge in an armchair and read of the feuds and murders in the Marshes which have been going on there since the foundation of the City of Ur. You can take delight in the elegant shapes of the boats the despised Sabaean unbelievers make for the Muslims who formed the major population. The amazing architecture of the mudifs built of reeds with simple arches of the ubiquitous tall reeds stretches the eyes with their beauty. All against a backdrop of the heat, the flies, the hunger, and the blood-lusts of the dwellers in these unique marshes down at the delta of the twin rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates - the Mesopotamia of the the beginnings of civilization.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2021

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Book is a classic & was in lovely condition. Will certainly use Pigeonhouse Books again!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2019

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Very matter of fact reportage of the ultimate travel writer’s time spent exploring these extraordinary lives.

Covering their passion for hunting, civil customs, cultural hierarchy, the death of a friend in a shooting accident, and the devastating social impact of modernization - this is a fabulous insight into a life now merely remembered.

Instantly absorbing and well written, his style is so engaging that you feel you could drop your hand down to your side and feel the water on your fingertips.

2 people found this helpful

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Eli Pledge

great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2013

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It is fascinating to see how the Marsh Arabs lived for so many years. Their culture, reed architecture and history was truly peaceful. So sad that it has been destroyed in recent years.
This book has some amazing pictures of a way of life now gone forever and introduces us to some of the people who lived it.

4 people found this helpful

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Mrs. C

Fascinating: sympathetically written and vivid descriptions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2017

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Tells a sad story of the beginning of the end for these unique peoples and their life amongst the marshes of southern Iraq.

Moving, charming, honest and a sad prediction of the near-loss of an entire tribe and way of life.

2 people found this helpful

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First time user

Didnt get through it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2024

Verified Purchase

Self indulgent waffle frankly, not recommended

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Bedoumal

History in the making

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2017

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Wilfred Thesiger is an explorer and writer extraordinaire.
His travels in the Iraq marshes can never be repeated. This is a well documented story of a way of life changed forever. Written by a brave and fearless man.

One person found this helpful

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Christopher Jolly

Another classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2013

Verified Purchase

This guy Wildfred with a silly name but a fantastic nature wrote this book over a period of a few years while traveling in souther Iraq with the marsh arabs. As always he writes with ease and sensitivity. I am his greatest fan. Wish I had met him.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Russael

Lovely Book. A Case Study in Stateless Societies.

Reviewed in the United States on 24 April 2021

Verified Purchase

I am studying the state. James C Scott has written several books discussing the state v. stateless peoples, deep in time and on the edges of modern states in our own time. One stateless people are (were) the Marsh Arabs, the book itself a charming odyssey among the marshes, lakes, peoples (tribes) of the Tigris - Euphrates delta. At another level, the book touches on the convergence between history and anthropology which is so useful today. (Not the author's intent; he's more of a wanderer or explorer. He writes beautifully.) Cheers.

2 people found this helpful

N.A.

Amazing Book

Reviewed in Canada on 17 June 2020

Verified Purchase

Excellent noval work. Rich of knowledge, understanding, and analysis of life and culture in marshes area southofIraq. Worth reading.

Amazon Customer

Love Wilfred Thesiger's writing style

Reviewed in Australia on 14 September 2015

Verified Purchase

Love Wilfred Thesiger's writing style! It transported me into a different time and culture. Almost as good as Arabian Sands.

suzanne

I had and lost the hardcover.....

Reviewed in Canada on 15 February 2014

Verified Purchase

So hope I find the hardcover. I love reading anything about/by Wilfred Thesiger. He conveys his respect and admiration for the people he lives amongst.

Amazon Customer

Wondering what is there today and what life is like for the people that still live there

Reviewed in the United States on 15 May 2017

Verified Purchase

Interesting view of a remote part of Africa I was not familiar with. Wondering what is there today and what life is like for the people that still live there, if possible. RB

One person found this helpful

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