Reviews (25)

Best travel book I've read
The author has written an engaging, entertaining, beautifully discriptive book of Yemen.I visited Sana'a about 15 years ago and his book really hits the mark.I particularly enjoy how Mr. Hansen captures the culture and attitudes of the Yemen.He knows that that that culture is 180 degrees from Western culture and he treats Yemeni religion, customs and attitudes with respect and openness - yet does not patronize as do many other travel books.
Yemen, Beneath the Veil
I second the views of several reviewers that this is one of the best travel books they've ever read.Hansen takes us through Yemen as if we were riding (or sailing) with him.I never gave much thought to or knew much about Yemen but, thanks to Hansen, I have a new and positive view of it.His willingness to get out and experience many facets of this country enriches his descriptions.His good humor and sensitivity to its people are gratifying. But this is more than just a travelogue.Hansen's quest for his buried notebooks is a compelling story in itself.That plot and this venue combine to make this an irresistible and meritorious book. I look forward to reading more from this intrepid and gifted writer.

Perhaps, one of the best travel books I have ever read.
Having read literally hundreds of travelogues, I must say this is simply one of the finest I have ever run into. Eric's experiences are unusually wonderful, and his writing is magical. His focus on the Yemeni people and their lives and experiences make this book far more engaging than travelogues that focus on personal experiences, interpretations or places visited and described.
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Subjects:  1. (Eric K.)    2. Asia - China    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Description    5. Description and travel    6. Essays & Travelogues    7. Hansen, Eric    8. Special Interest - Adventure    9. Travel    10. Travel - General    11. Yemen    12. Journeys    13. Red Sea    14. Travel / Adventure    15. Travel writing   

Editorial Review

In 1934, a 42-year-old Englishwoman named Freya Stark arrived in the British-governed Protectorate of Aden on a singular mission: to locate the fabled, long-lost city of Shabwa.Read more

Reviews (4)

Fascinating Tale of a Time of Adventure, Lost Forever
I found this book absolutely fascinating as it described a time, only 70-odd years ago, when there truly were unexplored reaches, where legend and history still co-existed, and where a culturally sensitive and aware, and properly respectful traveler could find peaceful and fulfilling adventure.This book is even more interesting now, given the changes in the Middle East in the past ten years.Can one imagine making the same kind of journey in Yemen now?Of course not; it would almost be suicide.That time has long since been destroyed, everything about this book but its pure physical setting gone, so this memoir is even more poignant and compelling.
existentialist trek through Hadhramaut
Trekking over the desolate, rocky plateau that lies between the coast and the interior valleys of Hadhramaut, Freya Stark travelled in 1935 with a group of Bedu and a government slave-soldier.The area has been known as Aden Protectorate,the Qu'aiti State of Shihr and Makalla, South Arabia, the People's Democratic Republic of South Yemen, and is now part of united Yemen.She visited several of the interior towns, almost never seen by Europeans at that time (though the RAF did maintain a presence), and has written beautiful descriptions of the unusual physical environment as well as a kind and sympathetic treatment of the people she met.She talked in Arabic with the ladies of the harim as well as with the rulers, scholars, and ordinary men of the communities.Stark aimed to travel to Shabwa, a long-lost ancient city much further in the interior of the Arabian peninsula, to an area then contested between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.Illness prevented her from doing so.This book then, is an account of her curtailed trip.She was evacuated by airplane from the interior, lucky to be alive.I always like travellers who respect the people they visit and who do not condescend.Freya Stark is certainly among them.For a travel book that describes a time long gone and a place still far from the beaten track-do you know many people who have been to Shibam, Makalla, Tarim, or al Qatn ?---you cannot do much better.You might use it as a guide as to how you could get along with people of a very different culture to your own---step number one, don't try to force them to adhere to your value system. a woman adept at cross-cultural encounters
As a Christian worker in China, I had first-hand opportunity to see how we "foreigners" interacted cross-culturally. (Usually, the most successful of us were those who were not on a Mission from God.) Having seen people badly suited to live abroad and admiring those who were very able to do so, the joy of this book by Freya Stark was reading about a woman operating cross-culturally with a world-class ability to encounter persons with a much different backround than her own. Her sheer delight in her Bedouin companions is vicariously enjoyable.Read more

Subjects:  1. Description And Travel    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. History    4. History: World    5. Middle East - General    6. Middle East - History    7. Travel - General    8. Arabian peninsula    9. Classic travel writing    10. History / Middle East    11. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. Middle East - General    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. ASIA    5. Asian / Middle Eastern history    6. Cultural studies    7. Places & peoples: general interest    8. Yemen   

Reviews (2)

A Cure for Leftist Lunacy Concerning Islam
About this book, Daniel Pipes wrote: In her mid-40s, a successful executive just placed in charge of Xerox's Color Solutions Business Unit, Quin had a taste for exotic travel that took her in late 1998 to Yemen with a group of eighteen other Western tourists. She and they had the misfortune to have their Land Cruisers driven directly into a war between the government and an Islamist outfit called the Aden Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA). The entire tourist group was taken hostage on December 28 and held for more than a day before Yemeni military forces attacked the AAIA, leading to the deaths of four tourists, two terrorists, and one soldier. Quin herself had a close brush with death, but the terrorist holding the gun in her back was hit before he could do damage to her; in an act of daring-do, she managed to pull from his still-live hands his AK-47, an act which left her a changed person. (The mild-mannered, liberal feminist admits that as she exultantly fought for the gun, she had a revelation: "So this is why men like war.")
How life changes in one AK-47 moment.
Quin has an appealing writing style and writes on issues of great import.They say you should write what you know, and write real characters.Quin does both.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Kidnapping    6. Middle East - General    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Terrorism    9. Travelers    10. United States    11. Women    12. Yemen    13. History / Middle East   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    6. Travel / Africa    7. Yemen   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Middle East - General    3. Pictorials    4. Travel    5. Travel - General    6. History / Middle East    7. Places & peoples: general interest    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. YEMEN   

Reviews (2)

Who is Kathleen Guillaume?
I want to know more about the translator before buying the book.
Intimate study of the forms, styles and colours
This book is unlike other photographic books on Yemen, it oes not attempt to tell the whole story but rather examines in closeup the details that form the whole such as the styles, patterns and forms that together distinguish Yemen as a bridge between Arabia and Africa.Similary it looks at the way the Yemenis have sculpted their environment from houses to faces.Remarkable in its detail.This book keeps Yemen's secrets but exposes it's character. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. History    3. History - Specific Styles    4. International Architecture - Middle Eastern    5. Middle East - General    6. Middle East - History    7. Pictorial works    8. Travel    9. Yemen    10. Yemen (Republic)    11. History / General    12. Photography / Travel    13. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (8)

Kevin Rushbylied
In this book, he said it doesn't take very much Qat to get a high. Kevin Sites documents that he tried the leaves and he said it would take a huge bundle of qat to feel even anything.

Taking the high road to Qat'land
Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to visit Yemen.Like author Kevin Rushby, I didn't want to do research there, earn money there,. or take anything away from Yemen.I just wanted to see, hear, feel, and know what that faroff land was like.Thanks to my dear President and his warloving cronies, I now have a snowball's chance in hell of ever achieving my dream.Keep on shootin' George, you'll definitely solve all problems that way.I must say, though, that the next best thing to a Yemen trip could be reading EATING THE FLOWERS OF PARADISE.Though the story of the author's voyage centers around qat, a leaf from a tree which grows in Ethiopia and Yemen, whose leaves are chewed to induce a feeling of dreamy well-being and melancholy happiness, this is a travel book par excellence.While Rushby starts his solo voyage in Ethiopia, his lack of local language, and the general lack of information about Ethiopia other than what he sees and does himself, do not entrance the reader. (Nor does he travel in the more interesting parts of the country.)He meets some wild characters [a Nigerian gem smuggler named Cedric or Arthur or...?] and has a few strange adventures in Djibouti, on the Red Sea coast.It is when he lands in Yemen that the book really gets good.Rushby speaks some Arabic.Yemeni rural people come alive in this book, their villages, the hospitality of all, the terraced mountains where qat, coffee, and other crops are grown, the magnificent, rugged scenery of remote parts of the country.Readers may pick up some recent history, some facts about former times, and details of qat growing and use, but this is a very existential travel book, not given to long-winded explanations.Rushby makes no bones about it.He wandered the Yemeni "outback" looking for good highs.He found plenty.Chewing qat with the locals was an excellent way to integrate himself in Yemeni society, where large numbers of people chew qat every afternoon.Rushby records all sorts of bizarre or culturally fascinating incidents.Some of the bizarre ones have to do with his own behavior and qat-induced dreams. When I finished the book, if someone had offered me a ticket to Yemen, I would have flown out that very evening.Sadly, this colorful, fascinating book is as close as I'll ever get.Two other books on Yemen that make a great trio with Rushby's book are "Motoring with Mohammed" by Eric Hansen, and Steven Caton's "Peaks of Yemen I Summon".
A Fantastic Trip
Kevin is a good artist.He vividly describes his travels, and you feel that you are there.For those places in Yemen where I have been, I felt like I was there again.He is accurate in his descriptions, as well as poetic- a rare art.His book is focused on a destination- traveling the old qat route, and this helps give more cohesiveness then you find in most travelogues.There is a rare vivid description of demonic manifestation and folk Islamic exorcism, in great detail.As an added bonus, the ubiquitous Tim Makintosh-Smith shows up again, as he seems to do in every book about Yemen.We can see some of the same journeys Tim reports in Yemen, but from the perspective of his fellow traveler.And there is even an oblique reference to the boat of Eric Hansen from Motoring with Mohammed.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Ethnic Studies - General    4. Social Science    5. Sociology    6. Substance Abuse & Addictions - Drug Dependence    7. Travel - General    8. Travel / Essays & Travelogues   

Editorial Review

Englishman Tim Mackintosh-Smith was studying Arabic at Oxford when he visited Yemen, a forgotten country at the heel of the Arabian peninsula, and became obsessed with the place and its language. He's lived there since 1982, and this book--marketed as travel writing but more a blend of personal memoir and national history--is the result. There are certainly travel episodes, such as a trip to the remote island of Susqatra where the Gulf of Aden meets the Indian Ocean. Yet Read more

Reviews (7)

eh
I suppose I expected a bit more with this book, I mean, it was okay...the author provided a concise conveyance of the history and culture, but I have a hard time believing that the Yemenis are steeped in such ridiculous superstition (mostly because I'm of Yemenite descent myself.)I further was deeply annoyed by his generalist comments not only concerning the Yemeni people, but particularly the Hadramis; for me it bordered on rascist.I also which he spoke more about the people and customs of Socotra, and what the indigenous Socotri language sounded like as opposed to Arabic.But obviously the author loves his adopted homeland or he would've left it a long time ago.

Entertaining travelogue about Yemen
This is a travelogue of a Brit's visit to and exploration of Yemen.The author paints a beautiful and romantic picture of Yemen with text that is both easy and enjoyable to read.I knew virtually nothing about Yemen before reading this book, and I purchased it from Amazon on a whim.I was not disappointed.Although there is some discussion of history and politics in this book, the author's primary emphasis is describing the scenery, the people, and the culture that he has experienced on his travels.If the author's goal was to convey a bit of the complexity of Yemeni culture, some of the natural beauty of the Yemeni landscape to a Western audience, and a part of the rich history of Yemen, he has succeeded.I found the author's description of a sailing trip to Suqutra, an island off the coast of Yemen, to be particularly evocative.The `ritual' of qat was also surprising and interesting.I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about Yemen from a Westerner's viewpoint, particularly if one looking for an entertaining, not scholarly, account.Some of the less enthusiastic reviews of this book state that the account is too idealistic.This is probably a fair criticism, but I do not view this as a drawback in this type of book.

decent book at best
Apparently a reprinted version of Travels in Dictionary Land (if it was different i didn't notice) it gives a good historical and social look at Yemen but mostly in an overly exotic manner. The book and its many anecdotes, however, are very useful as a basis for further research.The chapter on traveling to Socotra is fascinating as well.At times, the reading seemed difficult to an American who is not accustomed to British humor or idioms, but rarely is the meaning lost.While this book is good for light reading or to get an idea of some of the historical, geographical and social aspects of Yemen, the idealistic vision of traditionalism grows tiring.If you're looking for serious commentary on what it is like to live and work as a foreigner in modern day Yemen, look elsewhere. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Mackintosh-Smith, Tim    2. History - General History    3. Yemen    4. Travel    5. Middle East - General    6. Description    7. History / Military / General    8. Description and travel    9. 1961-    10. Middle East - History    11. History    12. History: World   

Reviews (1)

old, outdated
this really isn't too useful since travelling in Yemen now has changed significantly. one can tell that it was originally written quite well and written will solutions and approaches to many of the annoyances particular to Yemen in mind.i didn't find a single thing mentioned in this book to be up to date either.the only redeeming feature was the extras on Yemeni culture, history, architecture, etc.maps are mediocre. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Guidebooks    3. Middle East - General    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. Yemen    2. Travel    3. Travel writing    4. Red Sea   

Subjects:  1. Customs & Traditions    2. History - General    3. History - General History    4. Middle East - General    5. Travel    6. Iconography, subjects depicted in art    7. Places & peoples: general interest    8. Prints & printmaking    9. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. Travel / road maps & atlases    2. Yemen   

Reviews (1)

great travel writing
This is what travel writing should be. One travels to see places and meet people.Ms. Stark's descriptions of places and travel thereto are always informed and interesting. The encounters with people are the little jewels studding her books, though. She brings a worldly but sympatheticattitude to her encounters with everyone she meets, from potentates to brigands.Read it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Description and travel    2. General    3. Hadramawt (Yemen : Province)    4. Middle East - General    5. Stark, Freya    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Yemen    9. Yemen (Republic)    10. Ã²Haòdramawt (Province)    11. Ã²Haòdramawt (Yemen : Province)    12. Hadramawt (Province)    13. Journeys    14. Travel / Middle East / General   

Subjects:  1. Ethiopia    2. Travel writing    3. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Far East    2. Geography (General)    3. Middle East - Israel    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Travel & holiday guides    2. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. Arabian Peninsula    2. Description and travel    3. Middle East    4. Politics and government    5. Yemen   

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Middle East - General