This book is the story of the author's cosmopolitan upbringing that shaped her destiny as a travel writer. She was born in Paris and started travelling at an early age when she was carried over the Pelmo Pass at the age of two. By the time she was five she could speak three languages and had lived in several European countries. She became a nurse in the Frist World War and was caught up in the retreat from Caporetto. Afterwards she learned Arabic and mountaineering in Europe. Dame Freya Start has written a second volume of autobiography, Beyond Euphrates, as well as many travel books including The Coast of Incense, Dust in the Lion's Paw, East is West and The Southern Gates of Arabia.