Overview
Yemen is arguably the most fascinating and least known country in the Arab world. Classical geographers described it as a fabulous land where flying serpents guarded sacred incense groves. Medieval Arab visitors told of disappearing islands and menstruating mountains. Our current ideas of this country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula have been overrun by images of the desert, by oil, by the Gulf War. but as Tim Mackintosh-Smith reminds us in his brilliant book, there is another Arabia.Writing with an intimacy and a depth of knowledge gained through thirteen years among the Yemenis. Mackintosh-Smith proves himself a traveling companion of the best sort -- erudite, witty, and eccentric. Crossing mountain, desert, ocean, and three millennia of history, he portrays a land that, in the words of a contemporary poet, has become the dictionary of its people. In Yemen: The Unknown Arabia, we witness the extraordinary in the ordinary: men who chew leaves and camels that live on fish; a city that seems to have been baked, not built, of iced gingerbread; not to speak of shepherdesses who tend their flocks in gold sequinned dresses. Yemen is a part of Arabia, but it is like no place else on earth.
Often calling up aspects of the best of Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban, Gavin Young, and Pico Iyer, Tim Mackintosh-Smith stakes a large claim alongside them on the back of a very special Arabian Grand Tour. With thirty-two etchings by Martin Yeoman of life and landscapes, Yemen is a book in which every page is filled -- like the land it describes -- with the marvelous.
Synopsis
Yemen is arguably the most fascinating and least known country in the Arab world. Classical geographers described it as a fabulous land where flying serpents guarded sacred incense groves. Medieval Arab visitors told of disappearing islands and menstruating mountains. Our current ideas of this country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula have been overrun by images of the desert, by oil, by the Gulf War. but as Tim Mackintosh-Smith reminds us in his brilliant book, there is another Arabia.
Writing with an intimacy and a depth of knowledge gained through thirteen years among the Yemenis. Mackintosh-Smith proves himself a traveling companion of the best sort -- erudite, witty, and eccentric. Crossing mountain, desert, ocean, and three millennia of history, he portrays a land that, in the words of a contemporary poet, has become the dictionary of its people. In Yemen: The Unknown Arabia, we witness the extraordinary in the ordinary: men who chew leaves and camels that live on fish; a city that seems to have been baked, not built, of iced gingerbread; not to speak of shepherdesses who tend their flocks in gold sequinned dresses. Yemen is a part of Arabia, but it is like no place else on earth.
Often calling up aspects of the best of Paul Theroux, Jonathan Raban, Gavin Young, and Pico Iyer, Tim Mackintosh-Smith stakes a large claim alongside them on the back of a very special Arabian Grand Tour. With thirty-two etchings by Martin Yeoman of life and landscapes, Yemen is a book in which every page is filled -- like the land it describes -- with the marvelous.
Publishers Weekly
Against the advice of his Arabic teacher ("Why don't you go somewhere respectable?"), Mackintosh-Smith decided to go to Yemen in 1982 and has "been there ever since." As a result, this is no ordinary travelogue, but an impressionistic exploration of a non-Western land by an experienced observer. A latter-day Lawrence of Arabia without the military exploits, the author has taken up many of the customs of his adoptive land: he's become addicted to qat, a plant that is chewed, often in groups, for its calming effects. The book, a bestseller in Britain, takes the reader on Mackintosh-Smith's travels throughout this south Arabian land, introducing the reader to both wizened Yemenis and the perils of roughing it--even in the late 20th century--throughout a mainly unexplored land. Sleepless nights on rocky inclines mix with desert heat and scorpions on one trip through the countryside, while an odd visit to a Yemeni dancing club highlights his trip to the city of Aden. An engaging writer with a journalist's eye for detail, Mackintosh-Smith never loses his sense of humor: his description of his visit to an English class, where the teacher asks the students, "How many noses does Professor Tim have?" is sidesplitting. The book offers an opportunity for dedicated armchair travelers to delight in a land few Westerners will actually visit. One warning: the author intersperses some history and politics among his travels, but the lay reader is advised to keep a reference source handy. Etchings by Martin Yeoman. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.