'It was rare to leave her company without feeling that the world was somehow larger and more promising. Her life was something of a work of art - The books in which she recorded her journeys were seductively individual - Nomad and social lioness, public servant and private essayist, emotional victim and mythmaker.' Colin Thubron, NY Times 'Few writers have the capacity to do with words what Faberge could do with gems--to fashion them, without violating their quality. It is this extraordinary talent which sets Freya Stark apart from her fellow craftsman in the construction of books on travel.' The Daily Telegraph 'Freya Stark remains unexcelled as an interpreter of brief encounters in wild regions against the backdrop of history.' - The Observer 'One of the finest travel writers of our century.' The New Yorker

Freya Stark (1893-1993), 'the poet of travel', was the doyenne of Middle East writers and one of the most courageous and adventurous female travellers in history. She explored Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Southern Arabia, where she became the first western woman to journey through the Hadhramaut. Usually solo, she ventured to places few Europeans had ever been. She received the title of Dame and her many, now classic, books include Travels in the Near East, A Winter in Arabia, The Southern Gates of Arabia, Alexander's Path, Dust in the Lion's Paw, East is West and Valleys of the Assassins.

Preface ix The Foreign Office 'H' 1 Persian Legends 5 Ideas and the Mandate 15 Himyar, the Lizard 23 A Note on Style 33 Exploring with Words 37 Travel for Solitude 43 Saying What One Means 49 My Worst Journey: 1943 55 The Wise Men 61 Round Perim in Wartime 65 Arab Background 71 Musical Interlude 85 The Dead Comrade 89 An Eclogue of War 95 The Bull-fight 105 Royal Tombs at Mycenae 109 The Old-fashioned Spinster 115 Tidiness 119 Greed 123 This I Believe 127 The Travelling Reader 131 On Travelling with a Notebook 137 The Travel Essay 141 Tunisia for the Tourist 149 The Golden Domes of Iraq and Iran 153 Lunch with Homer 161 Passing Fashions 169 In Defence of Smuggling 175 Time 187 On Silence 189 Our Second-rate Security 199 Decadence, or the Bed of Procrustes 205 Montoria 215 Notes 227