4to. 280 pp., profusely illustrated in b/w & colour illustrations, maps, cloth in clipped & slightly rubbed round edges d/w, biblio, index, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1973.

Synopsis

Wilfred Scawen Blunt, Traveller, politician and poet. He travelled extensively with his wife Lady Anne to North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Iran and Islamic Central Asia. This work is not simply about Samarkand, but about the history of the region from the invasion of Alexander the Great, to the spread of Islam, and the great waves of conquerors such as Jenghiz Khan, and Tamerlane. Blunt discusses also the works of European travellers in the area such as Anthony Jenkinson, Joseph Wolf, and Aurel Stein.