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    Yemen: The Unknown Arabia
    Unavailable
    Yemen: The Unknown Arabia
    Unavailable
    Yemen: The Unknown Arabia
    Ebook380 pages7 hours

    Yemen: The Unknown Arabia

    By Tim Mackintosh-Smith

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This New York Times Notable Book is “a vigorous, humorous debut that paints a delightful portrait of a distant land” (Kirkus Reviews).
     
    Yemen is arguably the most fascinating and least known country in the Arab world. Located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, it has been long regarded by classical geographers as a fabulous land where flying serpents guard sacred incense groves. But our current ideas of Yemen have been hijacked by images of terrorist strongholds, drone attacks, and diplomatic tensions.
     
    After living thirteen years among the Yemenis, Tim Mackintosh-Smith reminds us there is another Arabia. “His characters are not the mustachioed bandidos of old, but men who have worked oil rigs, fought civil wars, harvested frankincense and myrrh . . . The places he visits do not serve as mere backdrops for the author’s ruminations on the ills of modern life; rather, they are celebrated and assessed for their specific qualities: hot, dusty, endlessly fascinating places with histories that cry out for attention” (Kirkus Reviews).
     
    “[Mackintosh-Smith] seems incapable of writing a dull sentence, and in him the scholar, the linguist and the storyteller swap hats with marvelous speed.” —The New York Times Book Review
     
    “This is no ordinary travelogue, but an impressionistic exploration of a non-Western land by an experienced observer . . . Offers an opportunity for dedicated armchair travelers to delight in a land few Westerners will actually visit.” —Publishers Weekly
     
    “His book is a delightful literary exercise that at the same time spoon-feeds a great deal of information about his adopted country.” —Middle East Quarterly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJun 3, 2014
    ISBN9781468309980
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Yemen

    4/5

    48 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really enjoy Tim Macintosh-Smith's books (a number about Ibn Battutah - Moroccan traveller in the 14th C) and this was no exception. Yemen was a closed book to me before, and now I feel I have a little understanding of the stories and culture and history of a country central to the development of Islam.
    • 4/5
      Travel books written by people who have a literary command of English are always really enjoyable and this is why Tim Mackintosh-Smith's books lend an added dimension to the travel genre. He lives in Yemen which means he is familiar with nuances of local life that the tourist traveller would miss and he speaks Arabic giving him a depth of local knowledge which makes his story even more fascinating. His visit to the isolated island of Suqutra was a highlight. I love his evocative writing and his wit.
    • 5/5
      Tim Mackintosh-Smith's first book, a charming, modest and erudite account of his adopted homeland, the anomalous bit at the bottom end of the Arabian peninsula. A well-balanced mixture of first-hand description, travel, history and anecdote. Probably outdated by the events of the last couple of years, but that doesn't really matter: this is classic, unpractical travel writing in the best traditions of Paddy Leigh Fermor.
    • 4/5
      A marvellously erudite account of Mackintosh-Smith's time in Yemen. So full to bursting with facts and information and historical digressions that it took me a few months to read - but I'm glad I did.