A Winter in Arabia

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 *