Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260396 in Books
• Published on: 1992-04-30
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
This travel book was written in 1933-4 when the author travelled to Persia and Afghanistan. It is a record of his journeys, full of observation of people and places, and funny dialogue.

Customer Reviews

inspiring
Byron captures a particular type of traveller at a very particular time. This book is at once witty, eccentric and learned. It reads like a diary, with the throw away lines that you or I would insert for our own amusement sitting perfectly by the frustrations of uncomfortable journeys and frustrated plans in a very foreign place, along with intellectual discussions surrounding Persian architecture and its place as an equal alongside the great European masterpieces. The author, however, saves his most poisonous (and therefore hilarious) barbs for the ridiculously pompous and arrogant Europeans whom he comes across, in particular the rude and self-important Herzfeld, the archeologist chosen by the University of Chicago to excavate Persepolis, who treats this marvel of the ancient world as his own private preserve.

The story goes that Byron wrote this "diary" on his return, re-jigging events and dialogues with the luxury of time in the comfort of England. This would explain the book's sharp wit and canny construction. Recently, however, I heard that his diaries from the trip had been unearthed, revealing that everything in the book is taken verbatim from his diaries, only with some editorial pruning after the event rather than rewriting everything de-novo. Whilst altering the myth, this in my eyes makes his achievement even more remarkable, making his stories even more entertaining with the certainty of their verity.

A great book. I never thought I would want to visit Iran, but this book has changed that.

A truly precious book
I found it a bit difficult to get into "The Road to Oxiana" to begin with, despite a deep fascination with all things Persian, Afghan and Central Asian. I concluded, after a couple of false starts, that it was simply because I am not used to reading travel books, because once I got past the first few pages I found it hard to put down.

Byron was extremely witty and his observations acute. Considering he was travelling in the area in 1933-4, it is fascinating to read his opinions on Hitler, the situation in Bolshevik Russia, and European opinions. At times his descriptions of life in the Middle East are startlingly contemporary - clearly not much has changed in the last 70 years.

I laughed out loud at his habit of calling the Shah "Marjoribanks", because it was safer not to refer to him by name; and his description of his ill-fated visit to the toilet when in the grip of dysentry was hilarious (believe it or not).

"The Road to Oxiana" is a great book. Persevere through the first 10-15 pages and your patience will be rewarded.

Fabulous
Byron travelled through what was Persia and Afghanistan, between the wars, when apparently nobody from England stayed at home.

The depth and wit of Byron's writing is marvellous. He very efficiently balances a travelogue interwoven with his own observations and opinions. Most of the architectural descriptions are stunning and leave you envious. His cultural observations and some of the more ridiculous encounters he had with the locals had me laughing out loud. Based upon the current world situation if you really want to know something about the region I urge you to read this book.

It's a shame his life was cut short. I can only assume any further books he could have written would have at least equalled this one.