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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... followed Theodore's death he was able to overcome his rivals . In 1872 he was crowned at Aksum as John IV . Like Theodore he was a brave and skilful general ; unlike him he was patient , self - controlled and temperate in his habits ...
... followed by three lion which had then killed a horse in an Arab encampment close by . I sent out men to locate them ; they did so and one came back in the afternoon with news . Idris and I immediately set off with a party from the ...
... followed elephant into the swamps where the papyrus grew close together to a height of twelve feet or more . In so doing we faced the possibility of having to shoot an unwanted small - tusked elephant in self - defence . One morning a ...
Contents
List of Maps | 7 |
Introduction | 15 |
Arrival in Addis Ababa | 23 |
Copyright | |
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