Research Catalog

Title

The Marsh Arabs / Wilfred Thesiger ; with an introduction by Jon Lee Anderson.

Author

Thesiger, Wilfred, 1910-2003

Publication

London ; New York : Penguin, 2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

233 p., [48] p. of plates : ill., maps; 20 cm.

Summary

"Between 1951 and 1958 Wilfred Thesiger spent several months of each year living among the tribal Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq. As he travelled from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicines and treating the sick and soon came to understand and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. This account of his experiences describes a people who until recently were untouched by the modern world, living completely water-dominated lives: fishing with spears, drinking water-buffalo milk, building islands and intricate stilt houses from the gigantic reeds. The Marsh Arabs pays tribute to their hospitality, loyalty, courage and endurance and is a moving testament to their threatened culture." "This edition includes an introduction by Jon Lee Anderson discussing Thesiger's views of the places and people he visited, Saddam Hussein's destruction of the marshlands and the possibilities for their restoration."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

Penguin classics

Uniform Title

Penguin classics

Subject

• Thesiger, Wilfred, 1910-2003
• Iraq > Description and travel
• Tigris River Valley > Social life and customs
• Euphrates River Valley > Social life and customs

Genre/Form

• Travel writing
• Récits de voyages.

Note

• Originally published: London : Longmans, 1964.
• Includes index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. A glimpse of the Marshes -- 2. Back on the edge of the Marshes -- 3. Hunting wild boar -- 4. Arrival at Qabab -- 5. First impressions of the Madan -- 6. In Sadam's guest house -- 7. Bu Mughaifat: a Marsh village -- 8. Crossing the Central Marshes -- 9. In the heart of the Marshes -- 10. The historical background -- 11. Winning acceptance -- 12. Among the Fartus -- 13. Feuds in the Marshes -- 14. Return to Qabab -- 15. Falih Bin Majid -- 16. Falih's death -- 17. The mourning ceremony -- 18. The Eastern Marshes -- 19. Among the Sudan and the Suaid -- 20. Amara's family -- 21. 1954: the Flood -- 22. 1955: the Drought -- 23. Berbera and Mudhifs -- 24. Amara's blood feud -- 25. My last year in the Marshes.

ISBN

• 9780141442082 (pbk.)
• 0141442085 (pbk.)

OCLC

• 141379777
• SCSB-11675868

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library