About this title: Wilfred Thesiger charts the time he spent living with the Bedu, including his legendary traverses of the Empty Quarter. Wilfred Thesiger is the last of the great British eccentric explorers, a legendary figure renowned for his travels though some of the most inaccessible places on earth. Arabian Sands was his widely acclaimed first book and is ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: 347pp. illus. paperback: near Very Good [text is age browned; else nrVG] A modern classic of life among the nomadic Arabs living in the "Empty Quarter" of the Arabian peninsula, originally published in 1959. Sir Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003), grandson of the Lord Chelmsford whose forces were defeated at Isandlwana in the Zulu War of 1879, was one of the great English explorers of the 20th century. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2008-01-02
ISBN-13:9780141442075ISBN:0141442077
Description: Very Good. Nice clean copy with light all-around wear. First few pages slightly yellowing near front edge. Text is unmarked and spine without creases. Feels like book has not been read. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton
Date Published: 1959
Description: Good. No folded pages or writing. Some cover wear, including rubbing & edgewear, plus corner bumps. No dustcover. Stated first edition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Motivate Publishing
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9781873544754ISBN:1873544758
Description: Good. Previous owner's name written in the book. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780141442075ISBN:0141442077
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2008-01-02
ISBN-13:9780141442075ISBN:0141442077
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780141442075. read more
Description: Penguin 1980. No marks except owner inscription on inside of front cover. Binding good. Cover shows wear: rubbing to sides, a crease on front page. read more
Edition: Sixth Impression
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Book Club Associates, London
Date Published: 1971
Description: Good in Good jacket. Good condition, clean pages, dust jacket slightly worn and with small tear. For all who love travel and for whom the desert preserves its mystique this splendid book, magnificently illustrated with the author's photographs, is a feast, also includes a fold out map.326 Pages. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Longmans, London
Date Published: 1965
Description: Used-Good. Good hardback (no dust jacket) Lacks folding map in rear pocket. A little light foxing; binding tight; cream cloth slightly soiled. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton, New York
Date Published: 1959
Description: Fair. No dust jacket. staining to cover, egde wear to cover/corners, binding bumped/worn top and bottom, b&w illus. throughout, some pages dog-eared at bottom, text is clean and well bound. 326 p. : ill.; 23 cm. Includes Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Book Club Associates
Date Published: 1971
Description: Good. Sixth impression 1971; Hardback complete with dustcover, unclipped but slightly worn and torn around the edges, internally text is clean and binding tight; includes map; rest All in good condition; read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Book Club Associates
Date Published: 1971
Description: Good. Minor edgewear to dustjacket, yellowing to front caused by taped down protective plastic cover, boards appear clean and sound, internally clean, bright and tight. UK dispatch. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780141442075ISBN:0141442077
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 400 pages. Wilfred thesiger was born in addis ababa and educated at eton and oxford. in the spirit of te lawrence, thesiger spent five years exploring the deserts of arabia. this book narrates his stories, including two crossings of the empty quarter, among peoples who had never seen a european and considered it their duty to kill christian infidels. illustrations (Paperback) read more
Description: G. Good condition with covers in adhesive plastic, pages a little browned, owner details on flyleaf, annotations. pp. 347. Illustrated with maps and black and white photographs. 18 cm. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Readers Union, Longmans, Green & Co, London
Date Published: 1960
Description: 8vo. original burgundy textured paper boards (prev. owner's name to front pastedown, a few slight marks to cloth, else crisp & bright); pp. xiv (last blank), 270, with 36 plates + 8 maps. A near fine copy. read more
Description: Good. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
""Love" is the word that best expresses the tone of this book. Thesiger is as incisive and insightful as St. Antony of the desert. His depiction of human dignity, expressed by the Rashid, puts "civilized society" to shame. Anyone who has crossed the desert of his own troubled soul will truly appreciate this man's achievement."
"The greatest travel book of them all. What I learnt was - you need to lock yourself away in a hotel room in a country far away from where you travelled, in order to see the story in all its pure condensed radiance and so be able to place it clear and fresh on the page"
"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 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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