A Winter in Arabia

Reviews / Votes

A treasure of rare distinction among travel books. * The New York Times Book Review * Here, for once in a very long while, is a book upon which the miser of superlatives may pour out his hoard of praise . . . To read such a book . . . is to be proud and thankful. For here is a lovely clarity and calm courage, vivid gaiety, the strong peace of truth and understanding; and quietness. * The Times Literary Supplement * Her writing has wit and vivacity and no little beauty . . . I found the whole book enthralling. * Christian Science Monitor * It was rare to leave her company without feeling that the world was somehow larger and more promising. Her life was something of a work of art. . . The books in which she recorded her journeys were seductively individual . . . Nomad and social lioness, public servant and private essayist, emotional victim and mythmaker. -- Colin Thubron * The New York Times * Her books make Stark a remarkable figure under any circumstances. Having been a woman whose roamings through Middle Eastern deserts and mountains put her in the top ranks of the fabled Royal Geographical Society makes her more so. -- Richard Bernstein * The New York Times * Few writers have the capacity to do with words what Faberge could do with gems-to fashion them, without violating their quality. It is this extraordinary talent which sets Freya Stark apart from her fellow craftsman in the construction of books on travel. * The Daily Telegraph * Freya Stark remains unexcelled as an interpreter of brief encounters in wild regions against the backdrop of history. * The Observer * One of the finest travel writers of our century. * The New Yorker * A Middle East traveler, an explorer and, above all, a writer, Freya Stark has, with an incomparably clear eye, looked toward the horizon of the past without ever losing sight of the present. Her books are route plans of a perceptive intelligence, traversing time and space with ease. * Saudi Aramco World *