Arabian Sands

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What to expect

Arabian Sands is Wilfred Thesiger’s stunning account of five years spent crossing the Arabian Peninsula by foot and on camels, with nomadic Bedouin tribesmen as guides. Travelling between 1945 and 1950, the British explorer treks through Yemen, The Empty Quarter, Oman and parts of the then Trucial States, crossing and re-crossing around 250,000 miles of this most inhospitable terrain. He was the first European ever to set eyes on the dunes and wadis of these deserts. Faced with constant challenges and trials beneath the punishing sun, his journey is also spiritual and enriching, as it requires the utmost courage, patience, generosity and humour. In clear and evocative prose, Thesiger documents a journey of unimaginable hardship and startling beauty, as well as a time, place and people on the cusp of change.

Critics Review

This audiobook is not only a portrait of a way of life on the edge of extinction. Thesiger is also one of the main sources that author Frank Herbert used in creating his classic novel, Dune. Laurence Kennedy narrates the story of Thesiger’s experiences with the Bedouin of Arabia like a man reminiscing about the best times of his life. He conveys the wit and wonder of an explorer who plunges himself into an alien world and the sorrow of an observer who sees that that world is about to be destroyed by the discovery of oil. Traditional Bedouin culture has almost vanished now, but this valuable and fascinating record survives.

D.M.H., AudioFile

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