This delightful collection of travelogues from the years c. 700 – 1697 catalogues the views of European travelers and pilgrims in the Middle Ages. Wright includes a series of brief accounts from early in this period from Bishop Arculf, Willibald, and Bernard the Wise. Narratives of Saewulf, Sigurd the Crusader, and Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela give the outlook of Christian and Jewish travelers. The work concludes with the lengthier accounts of Sir John Maundeville, Bertandon de le Brocquière, and Henry Maundrell.

This detailed study of the physical layout and traditions of the Holy Land and Syria contains an enormous amount of detailed information. For readers who wish to correct their vision of the actual physical geography of Syro-Palestine, this work remains a recommended source.

This written travelogue of Ella Sykes’ historic first journey across central Asia has been considered a classic of women’s studies as well as a historic travel account. Detailing the impressions of Sykes while traveling with her diplomat brother through central Asia in the nineteenth century, this illustrated volume has a wide appeal to those interested in Iran as it used to be.

Part travelogue and part memoir, this account of Major Sir Hubert Young’s time spent in the Middle East in diplomatic and military roles provides a rare insider’s look at political developments in that part of the world. Sympathetic with the rich Arabic heritage of Mesopotamia, Arabia, and what is now Jordan and Syria, Young writes a lucid narrative spanning the time from his first involvement up to the Iraqi Mandate.

A historic travelogue with an eye toward the medical conditions encountered along the way, this rare book sheds light on western Asia from a unique vantage-point. Wittman describes his journey through Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, noting along the way the diseases suffered by the residents, and brings the world of ancient western Asia to life through his vivid writing.

The remarkable narrative of the Medieval traveler Pero Tafur comes from a single manuscript written before the printing press was invented. Letts presents the journeys of Tafur through Europe and the Holy Land during the years 1435-1439 when the voyager was in his mid-twenties. A wealth of information about pre-modern Europe and Palestine await the reader of this account.

A fascinating travelogue through southern and central Iran, this early nineteenth-century account is written with wit and insight; the polymathic Copley Amory Jr. proves an able tour guide. The reader is taken from Tehran to Kerman and back, along a trail that highlights ancient sites of historical importance. Along the way, the culture of “tribes and tents” is described, as well as a plucky misadventure involving encounters with camel caravans and excessive automobile troubles. Written in a witty and engaging style, this account of a classic journey contains an education in the history and customs of a vanishing way of life.

"Who lives sees much, who travels sees more" . The Arab proverb is an appropriate title for this latest collection of essays published by the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East on its tenth anniversary. The desire to see what lay beyond the familiar landscapes of home shaped the lives of all the travellers discussed here. Their backgrounds and training as artists of one sort or another mean that they responded to what they saw in visual ways - in many cases taking the revelations of their travels home with them to inspire their own work.

In the 1870s, American painter Frederick Bridgman traveled from his home in Paris to Algiers. Although he traveled to paint, his journeys so impressed him that he produced a written account that appeared in “Harpers Monthly.” That account became the basis of this book. His travelogue describes the people and customs, the layout of the towns, the celebration of the Muslim religion, the black community in an Islamic context, and the legends of the people of historic Algeria.

This collection of essays looks beyond the focus of existing works on ancient travel and its documentation, to examine its social and cultural implications. For travel (and the reasons behind it) offers a window on to many features of ancient societies - sense of place, perceptions of space, administration, relations with foreign powers, engagement with other cultures, and representation of homelands. Also of import is the study of ancient geographical knowledge, as well as ancient travel writing (an increasingly popular genre today), its popularity and purpose. All of the papers presented here show that ancient travel was considerably more widespread than is often assumed.

In this personal travelogue, William Seabrook chronicles his adventures in the Middle East in the early part of the twentieth century. Specifically he focuses on his time among four Arabic groups: the Bedouins, Druses, Dervishes, and Yezidees.

This two-volume set gives a detailed and colorful account of Tristram's expeditions to examine the state of the Holy Land (Palestine and Jordan) during the second half of the nineteenth century. The first volume describes the historical land of Moab (Jordan), while the second volume covers the historical land of Israel (Palestine).

This two-volume set gives a detailed and colorful account of Tristram's expeditions to examine the state of the Holy Land (Palestine and Jordan) during the second half of the nineteenth century. The first volume describes the historical land of Moab (Jordan), while the second volume covers the historical land of Israel (Palestine).

This is a modern edition of a richly illustrated travelogue of Austrian painter, Karl L Libay. He visited Egypt in the 1850s and there completed a remarkable set of aquarel paintings, later transposed into lithographs. The lithographs are accompanied with a text by a prominent Austrian scholar of that time, Alfred von Kremer, later the Austrian deputy in the powers' committee governing the Egyptian state debt in the late 1870s. The lively scenes are in part corresponding to the contemporary vogue represented, amongst others, by David Roberts, but in part they have an original setting and mise-en-scéne . The text is a unique testimony to the period's vision of Egypt, her history and especially her inhabitants. Some Oriental stereotypes are mixed with genuine scholarship; the text aimed in its time at a broad audience and the intent to attract various readers makes it fascinating reading even today. The book contains colour reproductions of the complete set of lithographs as once published in 1858, and the original German and French text by Kremer, accompanied by the English, Czech and Slovak translation and commentary.

The Himalaya inspire the notion of Shangri-la and are world renowned for their exquisite mountain scenery and the ancient cultures that tenaciously inhabit this harsh and sublime landscape. Home to all fourteen of the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest, and some of its deepest gorges, the region is a trove of biological and cultural diversity. A sweeping overview of the geography, economics, politics, and culture of this spectacular region, the Illustrated Atlas of the Himalaya is the first full-color, comprehensive atlas of contemporary land and life in the Earth's highest mountains. Drawing from the authors' twenty-five years of scholarship and personal experience in the region, the volume contains a stunning and unique collection of informative maps based on state-of-the-art cartography, exquisite photography, and compelling text to give accurate coverage of the Himalaya. The entire 2,700-kilometer length of the range is covered, from the Indus Valley in northern Pakistan and India, across Nepal and Bhutan, to the hidden realms of northeast India. With over 300 artfully produced four-color maps and photographs, the Illustrated Atlas of the Himalaya is an indispensable reference and a superb collector's volume for anyone interested in the vast mountain panorama that is the Himalaya.

What do we learn from eating? About ourselves? Others? In this unique memoir, Doris Friedensohn takes eating as an occasion for inquiry. Munching on quesadillas and kimchi in her suburban New Jersey neighborhood, she reflects on the meanings of cultural inclusion and what it means to our diverse nation. Enjoying couscous in Tunisia and khatchapuri (cheese bread) in the Republic of Georgia, she explores the ways strangers maintain their differences and come together. Friedensohn's subjects range from Thanksgiving at a Middle Eastern restaurant to fried grasshoppers in Oaxaca. Her wry dramas of the dining room, restaurant, market, and kitchen ripple with geopolitical, economic, psychological, and spiritual tensions. Eating as I Go is Friedensohn's distinctive combination of memoir, traveler's tale, and cultural commentary.