Arabian Sands.

THESIGER, Wilfred.

$1,400.00

Item Number: 144385

London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1959.

First edition of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, illustrated, map in the inside pocket, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

Though educated at Eton and Oxford, Wilfred Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life-"the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets." In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels. His now-classic account is invaluable to understanding the modern Middle East. "Following worthily in the tradition of Burton, Lawrence, Philby and Thomas, [Arabian Sands] is, very likely, the book about Arabia to end all books about Arabia" (The Daily Telegraph, London).