Exploration usually demands the qualities of bravery, curiosity and organising ability. Arabia demanded more of the voyager: linguistic ability of a high order, scholarship and an imaginative temperament. It was also necessary to be able to pass as a native, if not of Arabia then of part of the Islamic world. The early explorers faced untold dan

Exploration usually demands the qualities of bravery, curiosity and organising ability. Arabia demanded more of the voyager: linguistic ability of a high order, scholarship and an imaginative temperament. It was also necessary to be able to pass as a native, if not of Arabia then of part of the Islamic world. The early explorers faced untold dangers, travelling in a region riven by religious and tribal conflict. This book, first published in 1978, presents the carefully selected accounts of some remarkable travellers, ranging from the Renaissance to the Victorian era, all of whom have added considerably to our knowledge of the history and culture of Arabia.

The acclaimed author of Walking the Americas shares his epic journey through the war-torn Arabian Peninsula in this fascinating travelogue. Following in the footsteps of famed explorers such as Lawrence of Arabia and Wilfred Thesiger, British explorer Levison Wood brings us along on his most complex expedition yet: a circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula. Starting in September 2017 in a city in Northern Syria, a stone’s throw away from Turkey and amidst a deadly war, Wood set forth on a 5,000-mile trek through the most contested region on the planet. Wood moved through the Middle East for six months, from ISIS-occupied Iraq through Kuwait and along the jagged coastlines of the Emirates and Oman; across Yemen—in the midst of civil war—and on to Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and Israel, before ending on the shores of the Mediterranean in Lebanon. Like his predecessors, Wood travelled through some of the harshest and most beautiful environments on earth, seeking to challenge our perceptions of this part of the world. Through the people he meets—and the personal histories and local mythologies they share—Wood examines how the region has changed over thousands of years and what it means to its people today.

The Silk Road first brought Europeans to Asia for trade and changed the course of history. Readers will learn who explored the Asian peninsula and about the exploits of famous explorers such as Marco Polo and Ferdinand Magellan. Full-color photographs show the interesting landscapes and history in stunning detail. Fact boxes add depth to every expedition and journey, while glossary terms and further information give readers an in-depth examination of this exciting topic.

Robin Bidwell tells the story of the great explorers of Arabia. The exploits of Niebuhr, who made the first intrepid exploration into the interior of southern Arabia in the 1760s, of Burton and Philby (the greatest of Arabian explorers), of Charles Montagu Doughty, Wilfred Thesiger, Freya Stark and many others are recounted -not only their adventures but also the contributions they made to Western knowledge and understanding of Arabia. This is a fascinating account by the late Robin Bidwell who spent many years in Arabia and was Secretary of the Middle East Centre in the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge.

Discover the riveting true story of the 18th-century expedition that left only one survivor in this lost classic of adventure and travel writing—with 33 drawings and maps. Arabia Felix is the spellbinding true story of a scientific expedition gone disastrously awry. On a winter morning in 1761 6 men leave Copenhagen by sea—a botanist, a philologist, an astronomer, a doctor, an artist, and their manservant—an ill-assorted band of men who dislike and distrust one another from the start. These are the members of the Danish expedition to Arabia Felix, as Yemen was then known, the first organized foray into a corner of the world unknown to Europeans. The expedition made its way to Turkey and Egypt, by which time its members were already actively seeking to undercut and even kill one another, before disappearing into the harsh desert that was their destination. Nearly 7 years later a single survivor returned to Denmark to find himself forgotten and all the specimens that had been sent back ruined by neglect. Based on diaries, notebooks, and sketches that lay unread in Danish archives until the twentieth century, Arabia Felix is a tale of intellectual rivalry and a comedy of very bad manners, as well as an utterly absorbing adventure.