In 1939 when war broke out, Dame Freya Stark was already established as a traveller and writer. Her knowledge of the Middle East and her genius for friendship made her ideally suited to the task of influencing public opinion for the Allied cause. Interspersed with letters dealing with her private feelings and preoccupations - Freya Stark faced her share of danger during the siege of the British embassy at Bagdad. This book is a memoir of seven years spent in distant and dangerous lands. The author also wrote "The Southern Gates of Arabia" and "The Coast of Incense".