Arabian Sands is definitely Wilfred Thesiger’s spectacular account of five years spent crossing the Arabian Peninsula on foot and about camels, with nomadic Bedouin tribesmen as guides. Touring between 1945 and 1950, the English explorer treks through Yemen, The Empty One fourth, Oman and elements of the then Trucial States, crossing and re-crossing around 250,000 mls of this most inhospitable ground. He was the initial European ever to set eyes over the dunes and wadis of the deserts. Faced with continuous challenges and trials under the punishing sun, his journey is also religious and enriching, as it requires the most courage, persistence, generosity and laughter. In obvious and evocative prose, Thesiger files a journey of unimaginable hardship and startling beauty, as well as a period, place and people over the cusp of transformation.