Arabian Sands: The Great Classic of Desert Literature by Wilfred Thesiger

Arabian Sands has never been out of print since it was first published, to great critical acclaim, in 1959. This new edition contains all the original photographs. With this book Wilfred Thesiger took his place among the few great Arabian travellers - not only as an explorer but as a writer. Doughty, Lawrence, Bertram Thomas and St John Philby preceded him but, as St John Philby himself said, 'The crowning touches have been placed on this exploratory activity in Arabia by Wilfred Thesiger, who is probably the greatest of all the explorers...' Arabian Sands covers the five years ending in 1950 which, with the exception of brief interruptions only, Thesiger spent in and around the Empty Quarter, the half million square miles of one of the cruellest deserts of the world. Before him, no other traveller, European or Arab - apart from the Bedu who live there - had twice dared to cross those empty wastes. Travelling without European companions and living as an Arab, Thesiger's experience and