Winter in Arabia

The renowned explorer recounts her expedition to find a lost Arabian city in this "e;treasure of rare distinction among travel books"e; (The New York Times Book Review).One of the most unconventional and courageous explorers of her time, Freya Stark chronicled her extraordinary Travels in the Near East, establishing herself as a Twentieth Century heroine. A Winter in Arabia recounts her 1937-8 expedition in what is now Yemen, a journey which helped secure her reputation not only as a great travel writer, but also as a first-rate geographer, historian, and archaeologist. There, in the land whose "e;nakedness is clothed in shreds of departed splendor,"e; she and two companions spent a winter in search of an ancient South Arabian city. Offering rare glimpses of life behind the veil-the subtleties of business and social conduct, the elaborate beauty rituals of the women, and the bitter animosities between rival tribes-Freya Stark conveys the "e;perpetual charm of Arabia . . . that the traveler finds his own level there simply as a human being."e;

The renowned explorer recounts her expedition to find a lost Arabian city in this "e;treasure of rare distinction among travel books"e; (The New York Times Book Review).One of the most unconventional and courageous explorers of her time, Freya Stark chronicled her extraordinary Travels in the Near East, establishing herself as a Twentieth Century heroine. A Winter in Arabia recounts her 1937-8 expedition in what is now Yemen, a journey which helped secure her reputation not only as a great travel writer, but also as a first-rate geographer, historian, and archaeologist. There, in the land whose "e;nakedness is clothed in shreds of departed splendor,"e; she and two companions spent a winter in search of an ancient South Arabian city. Offering rare glimpses of life behind the veil-the subtleties of business and social conduct, the elaborate beauty rituals of the women, and the bitter animosities between rival tribes-Freya Stark conveys the "e;perpetual charm of Arabia . . . that the traveler finds his own level there simply as a human being."e;