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Author: Michael Welland Publisher: Reaktion Books ISBN: 1780233892 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 400
Book Description
From endless sand dunes and prickly cacti to shimmering mirages and green oases, deserts evoke contradictory images in us. They are lands of desolation, but also of romance, of blistering Mojave heat and biting Gobi cold. Covering a quarter of the earth’s land mass and providing a home to half a billion people, they are both a physical reality and landscapes of the mind. The idea of the desert has long captured Western imagination, put on display in films and literature, but these portrayals often fail to capture the true scope and diversity of the people living there. Bridging the scientific and cultural gaps between perception and reality, The Desert celebrates our fascination with these arid lands and their inhabitants, as well as their importance both throughout history and in the world today. Covering an immense geographical range, Michael Welland wanders from the Sahara to the Atacama, depicting the often bizarre adaptations of plants and animals to these hostile environments. He also looks at these seemingly infertile landscapes in the context of their place in history—as the birthplaces not only of critical evolutionary adaptations, civilizations, and social progress, but also of ideologies. Telling the stories of the diverse peoples who call the desert home, he describes how people have survived there, their contributions to agricultural development, and their emphasis on water and its scarcity. He also delves into the allure of deserts and how they have been used in literature and film and their influence on fashion, art, and architecture. As Welland reveals, deserts may be difficult to define, but they play an active role in the evolution of our global climate and society at large, and their future is of the utmost importance. Entertaining, informative, and surprising, The Desert is an intriguing new look at these seemingly harsh and inhospitable landscapes.
Author: Michael Welland Publisher: Reaktion Books ISBN: 1780233892 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 400
Book Description
From endless sand dunes and prickly cacti to shimmering mirages and green oases, deserts evoke contradictory images in us. They are lands of desolation, but also of romance, of blistering Mojave heat and biting Gobi cold. Covering a quarter of the earth’s land mass and providing a home to half a billion people, they are both a physical reality and landscapes of the mind. The idea of the desert has long captured Western imagination, put on display in films and literature, but these portrayals often fail to capture the true scope and diversity of the people living there. Bridging the scientific and cultural gaps between perception and reality, The Desert celebrates our fascination with these arid lands and their inhabitants, as well as their importance both throughout history and in the world today. Covering an immense geographical range, Michael Welland wanders from the Sahara to the Atacama, depicting the often bizarre adaptations of plants and animals to these hostile environments. He also looks at these seemingly infertile landscapes in the context of their place in history—as the birthplaces not only of critical evolutionary adaptations, civilizations, and social progress, but also of ideologies. Telling the stories of the diverse peoples who call the desert home, he describes how people have survived there, their contributions to agricultural development, and their emphasis on water and its scarcity. He also delves into the allure of deserts and how they have been used in literature and film and their influence on fashion, art, and architecture. As Welland reveals, deserts may be difficult to define, but they play an active role in the evolution of our global climate and society at large, and their future is of the utmost importance. Entertaining, informative, and surprising, The Desert is an intriguing new look at these seemingly harsh and inhospitable landscapes.
Author: Owen Lattimore Publisher: Kodansha ISBN: 9781568360706 Category : Asia, Central Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In inner Mongolia in 1927, when travel by rail had all but eclipsed the traditional camel caravan, Owen Lattimore embarked on the journey that would establish him as a legendary adventurer and leader among Asian scholars. THE DESERT ROAD TO TURKESTAN is Lattimore's elegant and spirited account of his harrowing expedition across the famous "Winding Road." Setting off to rejoin his wife for their honeymoon in Chinese Turkestan, Lattimore was forced to contend with marauding troops, a lack of maps, scheming travel companions, and blinding blizzard. Luckily he had with him not only his father's retainer, Moses, but a team of camel pullers and Chinese traders he had assembled to teach him the ropes about their mysterious and now extinct way of life. Lattimore's gifts as a linguist and his remarkable powers of observation lend his chronicle an immediacy and force that has lost now of its impact in the decades since its original publication.
Author: Reuven Aharoni Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134268211 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 286
Book Description
Providing a new perspective on tribal life in Egypt under Mehmet Ali's rule, this book looks at the social and conceptual aspects of the Bedouin tribes during this period.
Author: Christina Phelps Grant Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1136192719 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 471
Book Description
First Published in 2007, This historical survey written by a scholar and traveller gives the reader a well informed and readable account of an area of the world which has held and still holds a most significant geographical location in the Middle East - both culturally and commercially. Topics covered include - the bedouin trouble in the area, their origins and organization, ancient and medieval trade, early travellers, accounts of the important Altar of Damascus, Aleppo, Baghdad, Al Wasera, the caravan, state, the 'hajj', and much more.
Author: John Marlowe Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1000805980 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
First Published in 1966 Four Aspects of Egypt provides a picturesque tour of Egypt for visitors and new arrivals in the country. John Marlowe takes us on a journey by discussing the splendour and durability of the remains of Egypt’s ancient civilization; the mosques, tombs, khans (inns) and sibilas (fountains) of mediaeval Cairo; the total dependence of Egypt upon the Nile and its life-giving waters; and with efforts of modernization in the country, to capture its enchantment through descriptions of the land and its history. This book will be an interesting read for general readers interested in history of Egypt and travelogues.
Author: Michael Welland
Author: Michael Welland
Author: Owen Lattimore
Author: Andrew Hopkins
Author: Frederick Dixon
Author: Reuven Aharoni
Author: 
Author: Christina Phelps Grant
Author: Sven Anders Hedin
Author: Adam Clarke
Author: John Marlowe