In Search of the Nomads by John Ure

In Search of the Nomads by John Ure

From time immemorial the tradition of the campfire has faced that of the pyramid: settled peoples have contemplated nomads with a mixture of fascination, envy, disdain and fear. The English-speaking world seems to have had a particular obsession with certain nomadic peoples, stemming often from their own wanderlust and admiration for the unfettered life of those who roam the deserts and mountains of the world's remotest corners. Jon Ure looks at four regions that are rich in nomadic culture: the Arabian peninsular with its Bedouin; the Sahara with its Moors and Tuareg; the mountains of Southern Iran with their migratory pastoral tribes; and the steppes of Central Asia with their Mongol horsemen and Tartar descendants. He has travelled with all these peoples and here observes their special characteristics and what he learnt about their past. But most appealing are his insights into the array of eccentric Britons and Americans who also chose to seek them out, sometimes even to travel with them. Many of them, as he discovered, were often odder than the exotic peoples they sought. Some, like Lady Hester Stanhope and the Hon. Jane Digby, were exiles from 19th-century high society; others were footloose adventurers, like Richard Burton and T.E. Lawrence. There were distinguished literary figures like Vita Sackville-West, Freya Stark and Bruce Chatwin; and notable scholars like Gertrude Bell and Owen Lattimore. Whoever they are, John Ure has found them and brings them all to life here with skill and humour.

Sir John Ure, career diplomat who became British Ambassador to a variety of countries, spent an intrepid honeymoon in 1972 in a Saharan sandstorm searching for the legendary TuaregsNever forgotten, not least by his wife, this has inspired his scintillating exploration of nomads and the cavalcade of Anglo-American eccentrics who have been drawn to their way of life. Ure focuses on four groups: the Bedouin of Arabia, the Tuaregs, the Mongol-descended horsemen of the Central Asian Steppes and the migratory tribes of the Persian plains. Their history and habits are engagingly told and enlivened by the disparate western misfits who followed their nomadic footsteps. A feast of anecdotes and an adventure into a vanishing freedom on the nomad trail.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781841193083
ISBN 10	1841193089
Title	In Search of the Nomads
Author	John Ure
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Little, Brown Book Group
Year published	2003-11-14
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable