A. H. Franks

Exhausting - but worth it, 25 Dec 2013

Like a marathon this is a long, hard slog with a great pay-off. Unlike a marathon, you will want to start again immediately you have finished. Buy it; read it; enjoy it.

Humbling, 16 May 2013

I lay in bed reading this on my iPad in a warm, dry, safe room in Bucks. Nothing could be more different to their journey. I finished the book, and to paraphrase Wilfred Thesiger on meeting Eric Newby, thought to myself about myself "God, what a pansy." Epic read. Respect.

Hooked....., 11 Aug 2007

I loved this book, which I read in a single day in between digging spuds and plaiting onions. This would be the perfect read to devour while lying on a hot beach somewhere, well, hot; or lying in a hammock in an English summer idyll while bees hum and warm wind blows across the sweet grass. Critics will be able to find faults if they wish, but I am a glass half-full man personally. I have also spent much time in the Middle East and happily recognised the authoritative tone of another well-travelled author who has soaked up the atmosphere like a sponge, and then gently squeezed it out -- spices, smells, heat and dust alike -- over his manuscript. Each page made me want to turn to the next,… Read more