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East Is West
. John Murray, with chipped dustjacket, 1st ed, stamp to end paper, clean copy, feint age toning to pages, binding tight, Professional booksellers since 1981
1000 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1945
About the author
Freya Stark
133 books177 followersFreya Stark was born in Paris, where her parents were studying art. Her mother, Flora, was an Italian of Polish/German descent; her father, Robert, an English painter from Devon.
In her lifetime she was famous for her experiences in the Middle East, her writing and her cartography. Freya Stark was not only one of the first Western women to travel through the Arabian deserts (Hadhramaut), she often travelled solo into areas where few Europeans, let alone women, had ever been.
She spent much of her childhood in North Italy, helped by the fact that Pen Browning, a friend of her father, had bought three houses in Asolo. She also had a grandmother in Genoa. For her 9th birthday she received a copy of the One Thousand and One Nights, and became fascinated with the Orient. She was often ill while young, and confined to the house, so found an outlet in reading. She delighted in reading French, in particular Dumas, and taught herself Latin. When she was 13 she had an accident in a factory in Italy, when her hair got caught in a machine, and she had to spend four months getting skin grafts in hospital, which left her face slightly disfigured.
She later learned Arabic and Persian, studied history in London and during World War I worked as a nurse in Italy, where her mother had remained and taken a share in a business. Her sister, Vera, married the co-owner.
In November 1927 she visited Asolo for the first time in years, and later that month boarded a ship for Beirut, where her travels in the East began. She based herself first at the home of James Elroy Flecker in Lebanon and then in Baghdad, where she met the British high commissioner.
By 1931 she had completed three dangerous treks into the wilderness of western Iran, in parts of which no Westerner had ever been before, and had located the long-fabled Valleys of the Assassins (hashish-eaters). During the 1930s she penetrated the hinterland of southern Arabia, where only a handful of Western explorers had previously ventured and then never as far or as widely as she went.
During World War II, she joined the British Ministry of Information and contributed to the creation of a propaganda network aimed at persuading Arabs to support the Allies or at least remain neutral. She wrote more than two dozen books based on her travels, almost all of which were published by John Murray in London, with whom she had a successful and long-standing working relationship.
In her lifetime she was famous for her experiences in the Middle East, her writing and her cartography. Freya Stark was not only one of the first Western women to travel through the Arabian deserts (Hadhramaut), she often travelled solo into areas where few Europeans, let alone women, had ever been.
She spent much of her childhood in North Italy, helped by the fact that Pen Browning, a friend of her father, had bought three houses in Asolo. She also had a grandmother in Genoa. For her 9th birthday she received a copy of the One Thousand and One Nights, and became fascinated with the Orient. She was often ill while young, and confined to the house, so found an outlet in reading. She delighted in reading French, in particular Dumas, and taught herself Latin. When she was 13 she had an accident in a factory in Italy, when her hair got caught in a machine, and she had to spend four months getting skin grafts in hospital, which left her face slightly disfigured.
She later learned Arabic and Persian, studied history in London and during World War I worked as a nurse in Italy, where her mother had remained and taken a share in a business. Her sister, Vera, married the co-owner.
In November 1927 she visited Asolo for the first time in years, and later that month boarded a ship for Beirut, where her travels in the East began. She based herself first at the home of James Elroy Flecker in Lebanon and then in Baghdad, where she met the British high commissioner.
By 1931 she had completed three dangerous treks into the wilderness of western Iran, in parts of which no Westerner had ever been before, and had located the long-fabled Valleys of the Assassins (hashish-eaters). During the 1930s she penetrated the hinterland of southern Arabia, where only a handful of Western explorers had previously ventured and then never as far or as widely as she went.
During World War II, she joined the British Ministry of Information and contributed to the creation of a propaganda network aimed at persuading Arabs to support the Allies or at least remain neutral. She wrote more than two dozen books based on her travels, almost all of which were published by John Murray in London, with whom she had a successful and long-standing working relationship.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 14, 2018
This is Stark's memoir of WWII in the Middle East. She worked as an information officer for the British Diplomatic Corps, organizing anti-fascist societies and propaganda among Arabs in Cairo, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere. She was well qualified for this since she spoke fluent Arabic and knew the people and the region well, having written many books about her explorations and experiences in these areas. Among her adventures described in this book: after learning to drive she took an old car from Beirut to Baghdad, much of this through untracked desert; she was in Aden during Italian air raids (they were preparing for an invasion that never happened); and she was besieged in the British Embassy for a month when a military coup installed a pro-Nazi government in Iraq.
As always, she writes brilliantly.
I recommend Stark's books to anyone interested in the Middle East. A brave, adventurous person, she lived to be 100 years old.
As always, she writes brilliantly.
I recommend Stark's books to anyone interested in the Middle East. A brave, adventurous person, she lived to be 100 years old.
September 18, 2008
One of many books that offer insights into the ongoing disputes in the Middle East.
January 20, 2024
A mesmerising description of Freya Stark's time in the middle East during the second world war. Travelling through Egypt, Yemen, Palestine and Iraq it tells of the mood in these countries towards the war. Also with such technical advancements in recent years you get a sense of a middle east that is holding onto it's heritage whilst also stepping into the future at this time. A great read with beautiful descriptions of the people and places to transport you to a different time and place.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews