The Danakil Diary
Published on 16. February 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-00-638775-6 (ISBN)
Description
The earliest and most influential expeditions of the man now considered to be the greatest living explorer.
The Danakil Diary is the account of two journeys Thesiger made into the Danakil country in Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, in 1930-34 at the age of 24 - which, today, he still regards as the most dangerous he undertook.
It was an extraordinary journey and a remarkable achievement. Thesiger succeeded in penetrating country that had wiped out two Italian expeditions and an Egyptian army before him, discovered what happened to the Awash River (one of the area's last geographical mysteries to be solved) and managed to survive amongst the Danakil tribesmen, to whom a man's status depended on the number of men he had killed and castrated.
Besides giving early proof of Thesiger's descriptive genius - with his portrayal of the beautiful, savage landscapes, and their varied wildlife - The Danakil Diary reveals youthful evidence of his fierce motivation and uncompromising will, which are familiar hallmarks of his sixty years of travel among primitive peoples in some of the harshest and remotest areas of the world.
The Danakil Diary is the account of two journeys Thesiger made into the Danakil country in Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, in 1930-34 at the age of 24 - which, today, he still regards as the most dangerous he undertook.
It was an extraordinary journey and a remarkable achievement. Thesiger succeeded in penetrating country that had wiped out two Italian expeditions and an Egyptian army before him, discovered what happened to the Awash River (one of the area's last geographical mysteries to be solved) and managed to survive amongst the Danakil tribesmen, to whom a man's status depended on the number of men he had killed and castrated.
Besides giving early proof of Thesiger's descriptive genius - with his portrayal of the beautiful, savage landscapes, and their varied wildlife - The Danakil Diary reveals youthful evidence of his fierce motivation and uncompromising will, which are familiar hallmarks of his sixty years of travel among primitive peoples in some of the harshest and remotest areas of the world.
Reviews / Votes
'These diaries get us as close as we can now come to the camp fire around which Thesiger told his best stories'Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
(mono plates)
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
321 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-638775-6 (9780006387756)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
The Danakil journeys were Thesiger's first major expeditions. He served during the war with the SAS and was awarded the DSO. He has travelled in Southern Arabia, Kurdistan, Iraq, the Hindu Kush, the Karakorams, Morocco, Abyssinia, Kenya and Tanganyika. His journeys have won him many medals, and in 1968 he was made CBE. He was honoured with a KBE in 1995.