I caught the ABC show “Talking Heads” the other night. It was riveting! An Australian woman, Paula Constant, talked about her incredible walk from London, through the Arabian deserts and (almost) through to Cairo. I was interested that her inspiration was Wilfred Thesiger. I have been reading Thesiger’s books for years, and we now have one of them in the OLRC.
Thesiger was an Oxford graduate who served with the SAS in the Western Desert in WW2. After the war he returned to Arabia and travelled extensively by foot and by camel. He dressed as an Arab and travelled without any European companions, relying solely on the tribal guides with whom he became fast friends. Arabian Sands details his wanderings through the “empty quarter” and meetings with many different Arabs, some still living the ancient tribal culture.
He is a careful observer, and his total immersion in the culture and the trust he built means there are wonderful stories about his own adventures as well as tales told around the campfires. As you can imagine, life in the “howling desert” is fraught with danger, not the least being the histories of revenge killings between certain tribes and families.
The book has some photographs, so at least the main characters he travels with are introduced. This is a gripping book for the older (Senior School and above) reader interested in travel, adventure, Arabian culture, or history.
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