The Life of My ChoiceWilfred Thesiger is the last of the great British eccentric explorers, a legendary figure, renowned for his travels through some of the most inaccessible places on earth. As a child in Abyssinia he watched the victorious armies of Ras Tafari returning from hand-to-hand battle, their prisoners in chains; at the age of twenty-three 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 widely acclaimed books, 'Arabian Sands' and 'The Marsh Arabs' tell of his two famous sojourns in the Empty Quarter and the Marshes of southern Iraq. But Thesiger's true character and motives have until now remained an enigma. In this, his autobiography, he highlights the people who most profoundly influenced him and the events which enabled him to lead the life of his choice. "One of the very few people who in our time could be put on the pedestal of the great explorers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." "A treasure galleon built to the same specifications as 'Arabian Sands' and 'The Marsh Arabs' ... it is the record of a man magnificently and unabashedly out of step with his times." "He is, unquestionably, one of the greatest travellers the British have ever produced, the last of our recognizable primitives. He also writes with much distinction and honesty." |
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... felt no desire to see them administered and civilized . Dupuis paid us a farewell visit ; Philip Ingleson , his successor , was with him . I had felt drawn to Dupuis as soon as I met him . An individualist with a wealth of experience of ...
... felt in harmony with the past , travelling as men had travelled for untold generations across deserts , dependent for their survival on the endurance of their camels and their own inherited skills . The pattern of some camel droppings ...
... felt that the Germans , having searched the place once , would probably not come back another day ; meanwhile I stayed under the blanket in case they came back now . I had Doughty's Arabia Deserta in my haversack but felt little ...
Contents
List of Maps | 7 |
Introduction | 15 |
Arrival in Addis Ababa | 23 |
Copyright | |
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