THESIGER, Wilfred.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Arabian Sands. First edition, signed by the author on the title page, of Thesiger's first and, in his opinion, finest work. It describes his experiences in the Rub' al Khali (the so-called "Empty Quarter") of the Arabian Peninsula - these established him as "the greatest 19th-century explorer of the 20th century" (Banks p. 35).Thesiger (1910-2003) was already a seasoned explorer when he set out to cross the Rub' al Khali. After the Second World War, in which he served with the SAS in the Middle East, he undertook two crossings, ostensibly for the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit to investigate locust hotspots. Bertram Thomas had made the first documented crossing by a European in 1930, followed by Philby in 1932, but large and particularly difficult expanses of the desert were yet to be explored by Westerners. Thesiger's route, waterless and consisting almost entirely of mountainous dunes, was more difficult than those of his predecessors. Accompanied by Bedouin guides, he crossed in 1946 and again in 1947, covering more than 2,000 miles.

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