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Located on the high Hadramaut plateau in what is now Yemen, Shabwa was renowned in antiquity as the source of frankincense. Little visited even then, it was also thought to be a particularly forbidding place; Genesis mentions it as the "enclosure of death," and the Roman geographer Pliny reported that it contained 60 great temples and wealth beyond measure. That was good enough for Stark, who, having not long before made a difficult passage across the badlands of Iran, thrived on improbable adventures. And so, by burro and whatever mechanical conveyances she could find, she ascended the high mountains into a world that was sometimes perilous, but that also sometimes approached fairy-tale dimensions, as when, climbing the Hadramaut, she writes, "The path kept high and open, until gradually the valley clefts narrowed again upon us, and shut us in walls whose luxuriant green made a romantic landscape of the kind usually only invented in pictures."
Stark never reached Shabwa; laid low by measles, she had to be evacuated from territory overrun in any event by warring religious factions and gangs of bandits. Though cut short, her time in the Yemeni highlands yielded this superb travel narrative, full of uncommon vistas and milieus (harems, bazaars, and Bedouin camps among them). Anyone who values tales of adventure well told will find Stark's body of work--and this book in particular--to be full of treasures. --Gregory McNamee
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Book Description hardcover, 6¼" x 9½", with illustrated board covers 346 pages In 1935 Freya Stark travelled by herself into South Arabia, to the Hadhramaut, a country which at that time was still partly unexplored and unmapped. In early times it had been the centre of the lucrative incense trade, but few Europeans had penetrated it, owing to the chronic state of warfare among the tribes that had given it an evil reputation with travellers. It was living with the people of the Hadhramaut and by travelling with them that Freya Stark achieved the seemingly impossible. Ours is an ex-library copy in transparent protective covering, with usual stamps, stickers, and barcode. Large print book in VERY GOOD condition. Seller Inventory # 39579
Book Description Laminated Hard Boards. Condition: Near Fine. 346pp. Published in large print. Fresh, clean and tight. Minimal shelf wear with the slightest of bumps to one corner. A near fine copy. Seller Inventory # 212632
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Thus (Large Print Edition). In the original publisher's glossy pictorial laminated boards. No d/j as issued. A near 'As New' copy - looks unread. Clean page fore-edges. (20 pp) + 346 pp + 2pp (Advert for ISIS Large print titles). NO Inscriptions or marks. Unused - NOT Ex Library. Gift Quality. See Images; ISIS Large Print Series. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall, Seller Inventory # 119742
Book Description Hardback. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Unread to inside with no inscriptions. Laminated hardback like new. Large print edition. The travels through land few Europeans dared the extraordinary traveller and linguist Freya Stark tells of what she saw and who she met. POSTAGE OVERSEAS is by AIR and should extra be needed this will be requested. Broadleaf Books is a second hand independent bookshop in Abergavenny, South Wales. Enquiries and visits are very welcome. trv. Seller Inventory # 191970