Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (2008), Edition: Reissue, 400 pages
Description
"Born in Addis Ababa in 1910 and educated in England, from 1945 Wilfred Thesiger spent five years exploring in and around the vast, waterless desert, the 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia. Travelling amongst the Bedu people, he experienced their everyday challenges of hunger and thirst, the trials of long marches beneath the relentless sun, the bitterly cold nights and the constant danger of death if it was discovered he was a Christian 'infidel'. He was the first European to visit most of the region, and just before he left the area the process that would change it forever had begun - the discovery of oil. Thesiger saw Arabian Sands as 'a memorial to a vanished past, a tribute to a once magnificent people'." "This edition includes an introduction by Rory Stewart discussing the dangers of Thesiger's travels, his unconventional personality and his insights into Bedu life."--Jacket.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
A superb bit of travel writing: it's a surprise to discover from Rory Stewart's introduction in the Penguin Classics edition that Thesiger only decided to write the book as an afterthought, ten years after giving up his attempts to travel in the south of the Arabian peninsula. He certainly goes
What he's interested in, to an even greater extent than T.E. Lawrence, are the people who live in the desert, the Bedu (to use Thesiger's preferred term). He rambles on fascinatingly and delightfully for page after page about their politics, their everyday conversation, what they wear, how they eat, how their economy works, the complex ethics of life in a tribal society without central authority, and so on. It's a romantic interest, in more ways than one.
Although the two stunningly beautiful teenage tribesmen who accompany him get the only really lyrical passages of description in the book and feature in some rather self-indulgent photographs, Thesiger does make it pretty clear that, whatever Lawrence may have found (according to Thesiger, Lawrence's companions were decadent town-dwellers, not real desert people), the Bedu would not have put up with any funny business. I think we can believe that it was all strictly platonic: it's clear that what he really loves (even though he moans about it frequently) is the way the desert forces a group of men into total intimacy. It's beautifully done, not kitschy at all: we get to know all of Thesiger's companions as real individuals with real personalities, histories, families, and so on, in a way that the self-obsessed Lawrence doesn't quite manage. Thesiger's well aware what a nuisance he has been to the people who helped him on his travels. By the end of the book it's becoming clear that he's too much of a nuisance: his attempt to get into the mountains of Oman almost starts a civil war, and he realises that he'll have to stop coming to Arabia.
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about it very much in his own way: although he's travelling in places where few or no Europeans have been before, he tells us relatively little about the landscape, and practically nothing about any man-made structures. What he's interested in, to an even greater extent than T.E. Lawrence, are the people who live in the desert, the Bedu (to use Thesiger's preferred term). He rambles on fascinatingly and delightfully for page after page about their politics, their everyday conversation, what they wear, how they eat, how their economy works, the complex ethics of life in a tribal society without central authority, and so on. It's a romantic interest, in more ways than one.
Although the two stunningly beautiful teenage tribesmen who accompany him get the only really lyrical passages of description in the book and feature in some rather self-indulgent photographs, Thesiger does make it pretty clear that, whatever Lawrence may have found (according to Thesiger, Lawrence's companions were decadent town-dwellers, not real desert people), the Bedu would not have put up with any funny business. I think we can believe that it was all strictly platonic: it's clear that what he really loves (even though he moans about it frequently) is the way the desert forces a group of men into total intimacy. It's beautifully done, not kitschy at all: we get to know all of Thesiger's companions as real individuals with real personalities, histories, families, and so on, in a way that the self-obsessed Lawrence doesn't quite manage. Thesiger's well aware what a nuisance he has been to the people who helped him on his travels. By the end of the book it's becoming clear that he's too much of a nuisance: his attempt to get into the mountains of Oman almost starts a civil war, and he realises that he'll have to stop coming to Arabia.
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LibraryThing member Stbalbach
Thesiger was one of the last British "gentleman explorers" and spent a lifetime traveling the globe, but found no other place as beautiful as Arabia. He traveled through the desert within a desert, the Empty Quarter of southern Saudia Arabia, living with, and as, the Beduin nomads for 5 years and
As Thesiger says the most interesting part of his journey was not the trip, but the circumstances. Since "infidals" are not allowed in many parts of "The Sands" he was constantly under-cover, on the run, fighting raiders, jailed, sailing on ships maned by African slaves, dealing with quicksands, starvation, wolves, cold, thirst, etc.. he understates much of it, but the number of close calls and near-death encounters and sheer luck are amazing. As well the Arab culture, mindset and way of life is revealed here in a way I have never read or seen before.
A common theme throughout is how modern industrial culture is destroying the nomadic way of life, how Thesiger saw in those 5 years the first oil exploration companies changing the way of life for people who have not changed in 7000 years or more. Thesiger documented a culture and society at the cusp of its destruction, that no longer exists. Although the book was written in 1959, much of the current world events involving radical Islam can be better understood by understanding where the Arabian, and Muslim, culture used to be not so long ago.
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10s of thousands of miles by camel. He was the first European to see and map many parts of the desert. Incredible insights into Arabian culture and mindset. I suspect this book was the inspiration for Frank Herberts "Dune", it is very other-worldy, yet real and gripping. A short book at 300 pages covering 5 years of high adventure it can be an exhausting read. It is considered an all-time classic of the travel literature genre.As Thesiger says the most interesting part of his journey was not the trip, but the circumstances. Since "infidals" are not allowed in many parts of "The Sands" he was constantly under-cover, on the run, fighting raiders, jailed, sailing on ships maned by African slaves, dealing with quicksands, starvation, wolves, cold, thirst, etc.. he understates much of it, but the number of close calls and near-death encounters and sheer luck are amazing. As well the Arab culture, mindset and way of life is revealed here in a way I have never read or seen before.
A common theme throughout is how modern industrial culture is destroying the nomadic way of life, how Thesiger saw in those 5 years the first oil exploration companies changing the way of life for people who have not changed in 7000 years or more. Thesiger documented a culture and society at the cusp of its destruction, that no longer exists. Although the book was written in 1959, much of the current world events involving radical Islam can be better understood by understanding where the Arabian, and Muslim, culture used to be not so long ago.
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LibraryThing member breic2
Fantastic story of Thesiger's travels through the deserts of southern Arabia in the years after World War 2. Fascinating. Great photographs, too.
LibraryThing member johnnylogic
This remarkable account of Thesiger's travels in and around the Arabian Peninsula after WWII contains near equal parts perceptive description, romanticism and Anglo pluck. Despite its age, Arabian Sands contains insights into Bedu culture that still illuminates events in the region.
LibraryThing member raggedprince
i was very impressed with how he really got stuck in: worked at the language, go to know the people he was with and lived like them. They made various excursions in the desert and it's a tough place, especially for a foreigner who isn't used to it
LibraryThing member LisaLynne
This is a fascinating look back in time. Travel was very different - camels and canteens instead of high-tech jeeps and MREs. Thesiger has tremendous respect for the desert people he travels with and their traditions.
LibraryThing member keylawk
The author was a son of British diplomats born in Addis Ababa, educated at Eton and Oxford, who returned to Africa for expeditions in 1933, served as an Army officer during the war, and twice traversed the Empty Quarter of Arabia in 1945 and 1950. He was fluent in Arabic. He describes and
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photographs the life of the Bedu, "just in time" as it was vanishing with the advance of demographic and economic intrusion. Show Less
LibraryThing member jddunn
This guy was just nuts, in an amazing way. I read his obit in the Guardian awhile back, and had to check out one of his books. He grew up as a foreign service brat in what is now Ethiopia, and then went to school at Eton. Upon graduating at like 22, he promptly decided to go explore a corner of
After all of that, he decided to take on a real challenge(ha!) and explore the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, an almost waterless sand desert where only two Westerners had travelled before in modern memory. Upon arriving at the more hospitable and populous southern coast of Arabia, he immediately sought out the Bedu tribes who were the only ones who could brave the desert interior, and adapted to their almost inhuman ways remarkably quickly and ably. The book tells the story of his adventures among them, and it’s a tale evocatively, humanely, and at times poignantly told.
It’s a classic adventure/exploration tale, but it’s also very aware that it’s one of the last such tales, and that the door is closing on a world in which such places and cultures exist untouched by the modern world.
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Ethiopia that had never been mapped, because it was populated by cannibalistic tribes. And pulled it off. Then he traveled all over the Sudan and the Sahara, and throughout the Middle East during WWII in the British foreign service and military.After all of that, he decided to take on a real challenge(ha!) and explore the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, an almost waterless sand desert where only two Westerners had travelled before in modern memory. Upon arriving at the more hospitable and populous southern coast of Arabia, he immediately sought out the Bedu tribes who were the only ones who could brave the desert interior, and adapted to their almost inhuman ways remarkably quickly and ably. The book tells the story of his adventures among them, and it’s a tale evocatively, humanely, and at times poignantly told.
It’s a classic adventure/exploration tale, but it’s also very aware that it’s one of the last such tales, and that the door is closing on a world in which such places and cultures exist untouched by the modern world.
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LibraryThing member SuzanRawlins-Meyer
The record of Thesiger's extraordinary journeys through the parched 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia first published 1959
LibraryThing member Pandaros
While this was an entertaining read and provided an excellent insight into Bedouin culture it remains in the shadow of Lawrence's Seven Pillars. In fact I believe that to be the case why Thesiger wasn't so inclined to publish it in the first place and faced with the fact that his thirst for
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exploration and part of his reason for taking up life with the Bedouin was because of Lawrence's experiences - which cannot be surpassed in terms of English literature in the Arab world. Thesiger's influence is made more clear in his portrayal of himself with matched closely the modesty Lawrence had and the poignancy with which he wrote of the Bedu. Thesiger certainly wasn't a modest man. But in short it is excellent reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member overthemoon
Thesiger found his deep-down nomad soul when he explored the Empty Quarter with the Bedu. I wish he had not included the sentence "I shot 70 lions" but overall his writing is beautiful and fills me with nostalgia for a life I could never have known. Lots of interesting information about camels, too.
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
Five years spent in southern Arabia, Yemen and Oman are chronicled by Thesiger. Classic British travelogue by another Brit not comfortable being one. But a great look at the quantumm leap the Arabs took from being fierce bedu to "hanging around on street corners". Also intriguing were the
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differences between tribes and how the Sauds used the Wahabi's to extend theirs. There are more than one Arabias. Show Less
LibraryThing member seabear
Travels across the Empty Quarter of Arabia on camel in the 1940s. Although it's a very interesting and readable story, and not one I'll forget any time soon, Thesiger is a strange and rather unlikeable sort of person.
LibraryThing member Grace.Van.Moer
Fascinating account of traveling the most remote parts of the Arabian Penisula.
LibraryThing member EricCostello
Accounts of travel in the "Empty Quarter" of Arabia and various adjoining areas, like Yemen, Aden, Oman, and what is now the United Arab Emirates. The travel took place in the years immediately after the Second World War (though the opening chapters describe events of the 1930s in Sudan and
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Ethiopia), just at the point where oil was starting to change the culture and life of the area; much of what the author describes would no longer exist scant years later (including the wildlife that he describes). One of the issues are the Byzantine (I realize that's an odd choice of word) nature of the shifting alliances of tribal warfare and raiding in the region, which to a certain extent reminds one of medieval Scottish raids. It can be very hard to follow what's going on, in part because even though there are good maps, they don't really show where events are going on. Thesiger's contempt for modern life can also get a bit irritating after a while. Still, an interesting account well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member PDCRead
After the Second World War, Thesiger spent five years criss-crossing the deserts of Arabia in particular the 'Empty Quarter'. He had an unconventional life; born in Addis Ababa in Abyssinia, he spent the war in the region ending up in the SAS, before falling in love with the place and deciding to
The Bedu were a people he had a deep respect for; he never ceased to be amazed by the way they could look at footprints in the sand and tell him who was riding the camels as well as picking up the subtle differences in the sands. The account of his travels across these lands show a harsh way of life that was about to vanish forever with the discovery of huge oilfields below the Arabian peninsular. It was dangerous too; whilst some welcomed him warmly, others considered him an infidel even going as far to threaten his life at times.
Thesiger has written a fascinating account of a landscape and culture of a people that is long gone. The writing has little emotion, instead the author conveys events as they happened, even when he was in the most danger, in an almost clinical way. The way that he immersed himself in the desert way of life gives us an insight that very few other authors have been able to gain since. The region has undergone massive changes since that time and this vanished way of life may never return. A traveller in the modern Arabia would not be able to have access to the deserts in the way that Thesiger did, and this fine book is a worthy tribute to a traditional society. Now I want to read The Marsh Arabs by him.
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spend more time exploring it. He travelled with the Bedouin people, or as he calls them Bedu, experiencing their daily challenges of extreme heat, ice cold nights, long treks with camels under the relentless sun and the daily challenge of hunger and thirst. In most places he visited, he was the first European ever to set eyes on the dunes and wadis of those deserts. He immersed himself into their life, sharing food and water, hardship and company. The Bedu were a people he had a deep respect for; he never ceased to be amazed by the way they could look at footprints in the sand and tell him who was riding the camels as well as picking up the subtle differences in the sands. The account of his travels across these lands show a harsh way of life that was about to vanish forever with the discovery of huge oilfields below the Arabian peninsular. It was dangerous too; whilst some welcomed him warmly, others considered him an infidel even going as far to threaten his life at times.
Thesiger has written a fascinating account of a landscape and culture of a people that is long gone. The writing has little emotion, instead the author conveys events as they happened, even when he was in the most danger, in an almost clinical way. The way that he immersed himself in the desert way of life gives us an insight that very few other authors have been able to gain since. The region has undergone massive changes since that time and this vanished way of life may never return. A traveller in the modern Arabia would not be able to have access to the deserts in the way that Thesiger did, and this fine book is a worthy tribute to a traditional society. Now I want to read The Marsh Arabs by him.
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1959
Physical description
400 p.; 5 inches
ISBN
0141442077 / 9780141442075
Other editions
Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger (Paperback)