Arabian Sands

New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1959 WYSIWYG pricing--no added shipping charge for standard shipping within USA. Quarter blue cloth, blue paper-covered boards, white & gilt titles on spine and decoration on front board, xvi, 326 pp, 24 ff b&w photo plates, 9 maps, index. Spine slightly cocked, bottom edge rubbed, one bumped corner repaired, folding map of The Empty Quarter on rear board is in fine condition. DJ has a large chip at base of spine, corners & head of spine chipped, closed tears to 3 cm with some creasing; in Brodart archival cover. From the DJ: "Wilfred Thesiger came to Arabia in 1945 when the head of the Locust Control for the Middle East asked him to survey and collect information on locust movements in the mysterious Empty Quarter of the Arabian desert. First traveling by camel inland through the coastal mountains, Thesiger then carried out a long journey of exploration westward along the southern edge of the great desert.... By dressing, eating, almost thinking like a native, Thesiger came as close to living the life of a Bedu Arab as a Westerner ever will. His descriptions of the fantastic privations they endure without complaint, of their strange customs, of their innate loyalty and generosity as well as their fierce fighting, form a magnificent picture of these little-known people and provide invaluable reference and source material." By the time this book was published, oil-field development had already changed the lives of the Bedu beyond recognition. Shipping weight 3 lbs.. First US Edition. . VG/G+. 23 X 15½ cm.