Travels in Arabia Deserta

In the late 1870's Charles M. Doughty embraced the Victorian fascination with all things Oriental and decided he would explore Arabia. He learned Arabic while living in Damascus, then embedded himself among nomad and Bedouin tribes and traveled the north and west portions of the Arabian peninsula for nearly two years. He wrote an exhaustive account of his travels, running to 1,000 pages in the first edition. This is Edward Garnett's heavily edited version which is still a hefty 450 pages. The book is written in an archaic style, a combination of Chaucerian and Old Testament English that can be tedious to work through but serves to evoke the simplicity and traditional formality of desert Arab life.

"Every man leans upon his own hand in show more the open desert, and there will none for nought take upon him a public service."

The landscape changes little from day to day: sand, gravel, and rock outcrops blasted by wind and distorted in the searing heat. He travels "at an ant's pace" from one watering place to another, sometimes resting a few days in settlements near oases, drinking coffee and keeping his head intact on his shoulders . Though generally courteous to him, his Arab hosts he describes as "cheerless" and petulant. Living only on dates and camel's milk, they are perpetually hungry. Few of them have ever seen a European. They have no knowledge of Western life apart from rumors and exaggerations told to them by traveling merchants.

"The Arabs are barren-minded in the emptiness of desert life," he writes, " and retchless of all that pertains not to their living." They think him a spy and a blasphemer (Christian), and nurture "a treacherous malice which is the natural condition of Bedouins". He is threatened almost daily with violence, sometimes abandoned mid-journey by faithless guides, deceived,robbed, and beaten. He has no choice but to continue. Toward the end of his travels his already fragile constitution has broken down, and he rides to Jidda propped up in the saddle by a man riding behind.

Doughty seems a bit cheerless himself -- plodding, humorless, obstinate and argumentative. Nevertheless, if you persevere in your reading, the arcane style will gradually become familiar, and you'll be able to absorb and appreciate his descriptions of Arab culture. The conversations he has with his Arab friends (and sometimes captors) ,which he meticulously transcribes, are the real gems in the book - the at times tense and tortured negotiations to keep his head on his shoulders and make it to the next water hole.

One reviewer here admits to having read less than half the book, yet leaves a one-half star rating. This is misleading and dishonest. The book wasn't read; therefore the reviewer's opinion is worthless. show less

A remarkable account by Charles Doughty of his travels in 1876-78, in the deserts of what is modern day Saudi Arabia. T E Lawrence called it "The book has no date and can never grow old". The incidents recounted, both dramatic and mundane, give a vivid picture of the travails of living in this arid, sparsely settled region. However, the overriding theme is the considerable danger that Doughty lived with, simply by being there, a 'Nasrany' (Christian) in a Muslim country.

I really tried but found "Travels in Arabia Deserta" to be impossible to get through -- I gave up 200 pages in. The book is extremely dry and consists of Doughty mostly wandering around, describing the artifacts and landscape while dropping tons and tons of Arabic words into the mix. Apologies to T.E. Lawrence, who loved this work, but this book just hasn't aged well.

I hit the big 50 back in January and my wife gave me the folio society limited edition as a gift knowing that it is in my top 5 books of all time. I have to say its a wonderful thing to behold. If you love this book as I do or if you collect folio editions..get one

Facsimile reprint of the 'definitive version' of the third edition (London : Jonathan Cape, 1936, c1921). The first ed. was published by Cambridge University Press, 1888. 2 v.