Product Description

Wilfred Thesiger is the last of the great British eccentric explorers, renowned for his travels through some of the most inaccessible places on earth. As a child in Abyssinia he watched the glorious armies of Ras Tafari returning from hand-to-hand battle, their prisoners in chains; at the age of 23 he made his first expedition into the country of the Danakil, a murderous race among whom a man's status in the tribe depended on the number of men he had killed and castrated. His books, "Arabian Sands" and "The Marsh Arabs", tell of his two sojourns in the Empty Quarter and the Marshes of Southern Iraq. In this autobiography, Wilfred Thesiger highlights the people who most profoundly influenced him and the events which enabled him to lead the life of his choice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21375 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Customer Reviews

The greatest 20th Century explorer
Thesiger is without doubt one of the 20th Centuries greatest explorers. Never content with the luxury of the known he was always looking over the next hill, mountain or desert horizon. The perceptive, incisive comments on those he meets along the way, their customs and rituals make this and all his books a joy to read. All the more so when you remember that he was the first Western observer to record these again and again, from the deserts of Africa to the hills of the Hindu Kush.

Some years ago I was fortunate to meet this great author and explorer in his home - a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life. His every sentence littered with words of wisdom interspersed with tales of a different world.

Just in Time
Thesiger was the last in the line of English explorers. Men such as Cook and Livingstone. He came from a priviledged background related to key establishment figures of the time. He was fascinated by tales he'd read as a child of big game hunting and exploration. His early life in Abyssinia had shown him a wealth of savage colour which he savoured throughout his life.
It is a book full of adventure...from his exploits killing lions ( he realised the shock this would cause his modern day readers) to his wartime adventures with Wingate (of Burma fame) and in the Western Desert with the SAS. It is a book almost devoid of women. Thesiger seemed to have no close associations with females save his mother. He craved meaningful, intense male companionship. He found it with a succession of young men. There is no reference at all to homosexuality. Thesiger gives the impression of not needing physical sex.
He cared nothing for the 'sanctity of life' something which shocks the liberal sensibility. The native people he so admired often took human life on an almost casual basis. He took many lives himself both animal and human.
The places Thesiger lived in and visited are changed beyond recognition now. The ready access to modern weapons has turned Darfur into a killing field. Ethiopia is a strife-torn wasteland compared to 60 years ago. The marshes of Iraq have disappeared and the Bedouin life is no more... the immense wealth of Saudi Arabia has seen to that. The wildlife so prevalent across Sudan and Abyssinia has almost gone. Thesiger expresses a little remorse at the part he played in that. In a few years in his twenties he killed more than 50 lions. Thesiger appreciated he had seen these areas 'just in time' before the ancient ways disappeared for ever. We owe him a debt of gratitude for giving us a glimpse of the colour and spectacle of that time.

The book of my choice
Thesiger writes candidly of times and places certainly now all but lost to the 20th Century. An inspirational life that any true closet or real life explorer should have and read. I suggest that any man should buy two, one for himself and one for his son. An involving biography that evokes mystery and adventure - not to be missed or put down.