Arabian Sands

Written by Wilfred Thesiger

Narrated by Laurence Kennedy

Arabian Sands is Wilfred Thesiger’s stunning account of five years spent crossing the Arabian Peninsula by foot and on camels, with nomadic Bedouin tribesmen as guides. Traveling between 1945 and 1950, the British explorer treks through Yemen, The Empty Quarter, Oman and parts of the then Trucial States, crossing and re-crossing around 250,000 miles of this most inhospitable terrain. He was the first European ever to set eyes on the dunes and wadis of these deserts. Faced with constant challenges and trials beneath the punishing sun, his journey is also spiritual and enriching, as it requires the utmost courage, patience, generosity and humor. In clear and evocative prose, Thesiger documents a journey of unimaginable hardship and startling beauty, as well as a time, place and people on the cusp of change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
• Release date: Jun 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781781981894

Reviews for Arabian Sands

[Caitlin Scanlon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great memoir of the Arabian Desert and the Bedouin people. He met so many interesting characters

[Hrishikesh Sagar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book on travel , this I have read 3 times & every time , it gives me same pleasure as first reading .

[Craig Martin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Incredible man and journey for its time. Interesting account of the tribes of the area before the oil boom. Re-readable!

[Basspa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Incredible journey of the author in the 1940s. It's astonishing to see the backwardness and how dangerous countries that are now tourist destinations, like the United Arab Emirates or Oman, were. The adventure this man experienced is worthy of a movie (perhaps one has been made, and I am not aware of it). I discovered this book thanks to the excellent review by Guillo Herrera, and I recommend it to all travel book lovers. (Translated from Spanish)

[GuilloHerrera · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wilfred Thesiger (Addis Ababa, June 3, 1910 - August 24, 2003) was a British writer and explorer who traveled through the "Empty Quarter" (the Rub' al Khali region) of the Arabian Desert between 1945 and 1950, which occupies about a quarter of the peninsula and covers areas of Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and much of Saudi Arabia. It is a place where only a few tribes were able to venture, cross it, and come out alive from the adventure. The book was published in 1959 and is EXCELLENT, describing the fading world of the bedouins. It was a surprise because I didn't know the author, and the title caught my attention, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. "Arenas de Arabia" describes the way of life of the bedouins, their customs, and on more than one occasion, he had problems since some tribes did not tolerate the presence of the "infidel." Bin Kabina and Bin Ghabaisha, his inseparable travel companions, deserve a paragraph of their own. Wilfred Thesiger was not only an explorer who mapped an unknown territory but also an excellent photographer. I have gazed upon some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and have lived among interesting and little-known tribes. None of these places have moved me as much as the deserts of Arabia." (Wilfred Thesiger) (Translated from Spanish)