Sir Wilfred Thesiger

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Ruby Slippers
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Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Ruby Slippers »

I have been reading 'The Marsh Arabs' and from there I have reserved 'Arabian Sands'! I can't wait for it to come into my local library. Has anyone else here had the pleasure of reading this great man's books? Very much in the style of 'Lawrence of Arabia'.


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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Horus »

Unfortunately I do very little reading nowadays as I find it tires my eyes to read for longish periods, I assume it is about the Marsh Arabs in the context of Iraq?, sounds like a good read though and I would probably listen to it on an audio book if it were available at the library. I have just checked our local library and they seem to have nothing on e-books by that particular author.
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Ruby Slippers »

Horus, you are correct in The Marsh Arabs being Iraq. The other one is an account of his time with the Bedouin in the empty quarter in Arabia amongst other places. The books were published some 60 years ago, which is probably why your library doesn't have them, but they are well worth reading.
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Au contraire - in that sometimes if books are written a while ago they might be on Amazon for downloading for FREE. Gotta check this one out to see if it IS available. :) :)
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Horus »

I did not realise the books were so old RS although the authors name should have given it away. A bit of checking out shows him to have been a well known explorer in his day and sure enough the Marsh Arabs is available from Amazon, but only as a paperback version, nothing for Kindle, here is the link:


Here is an overview of the book:
During the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. Travelling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicines and treating the sick. In this account of his time there he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage and endurance of the people, describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy and moments of pure comedy, all in vivid, engaging detail. Untouched by the modern world until recently, these independent people, their way of life and their surroundings have suffered widespread destruction under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Wilfred Thesiger's magnificent account of his time spent among them is a moving testament to their now threatened culture and the landscape they inhabit.

And the good news is that your other book Arabian Sands is available as a Kindle download for £7.99 if you cannot wait, here is the link:
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I looked up Marsh Arabs on Kindle and, yes, it is not available on Kindle - however - on Amazon.com you can send a memo to the Publisher advising you'd like to read it on kindle. I think if they get enough requests they'll look to re-publishing it for Kindle.

Many of the older books are getting put into electronic version as this is almost like re-advertising them as 'new' again when they're introduced to the electronic market. I think many of the classics are already in electronic format and are essentially free for your Kindle.

Hopefully enough people will make the request of the publisher and it will become available in electronic format. :)
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Ruby Slippers »

I did actually read 'The Marsh Arabs' in digital form but downloaded from my library. Unfortunately, 'Arabian Sands' has yet to be in digital form there yet, but they do have a hard copy which I have duly reserved - at the grand cost of 35p! (I'm not really tight, I just squeak when I walk!:-))
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Horus »

:lol: :lol: @ Ruby S
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I did actually read 'The Marsh Arabs' in digital form but downloaded from my library. Unfortunately, 'Arabian Sands' has yet to be in digital form there yet, but they do have a hard copy which I have duly reserved - at the grand cost of 35p! (I'm not really tight, I just squeak when I walk!:-))
Ok - let me understand this ............ when you reserve a hard cover book in your library you have to PAY 35p to do this?

I don't squeak when I want but I can be incredibly (big emphasis on incredible) TIGHT about things that strike me as not appropriate even if the cost is 1p.

Why do you have to pay to reserve a book in a public library paid for out of tax dollars?
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Ruby Slippers »

Probably towards the cost of transporting the book from one library branch to another, LLL. If the copy is in your library then you can just go in and take it from the shelf, but if it's in another branch, you reserve it and your local library will get it for you. I don't begrudge this small sum because our libraries are really struggling with the recession and digital books. :)
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Ok - I can understand that and that would justify 35p to me. I thought you were talking about just reserving a book in your library and they were charging 35p to do this.

Personally since I've been able to get electronic books from my library I rarely go to the library anymore AND since I can get tons of free novels from Amazon.com I don't even read the number of library books I used to read.
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Re: Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Post by Ruby Slippers »

I agree with you on digital downloads, LLL! I don't think a day goes by where I don't download at least one free book from Amazon! :lol: With our local library, even if the book is available but is out on loan, it will still cost 35p to reserve it when it is returned. Some popular books can be doing the rounds for years, so you can wait a long time, and as I've already stated on the 'Hobbies' thread - patience isn't my strong point! :D
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