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Tahir Shah

Goodreads Author

Born

in London, The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.tahirshah.com/

Twitter

humanstew

Genre

Travel, Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction

Influences

Doris Lessing, Amina Shah ...more

Member Since

March 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/tahirshahauthor

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Tahir Shah was born in London, and raised primarily at the family’s home, Langton House, in the English countryside – where founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden Powell was also brought up.

Along with his twin and elder sisters, Tahir was continually coaxed to regard the world around him through Oriental eyes. This included being exposed from early childhood to Eastern stories, and to the back-to-front humour of the wise fool, Nasrudin.

Having studied at a leading public school, Bryanston, Tahir took a degree in International Relations, his particular interest being in African dictatorships of the mid-1980s. His research in this area led him to travel alone through a wide number of failing African states, including Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Z Tahir Shah was born in London, and raised primarily at the family’s home, Langton House, in the English countryside – where founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden Powell was also brought up.

Along with his twin and elder sisters, Tahir was continually coaxed to regard the world around him through Oriental eyes. This included being exposed from early childhood to Eastern stories, and to the back-to-front humour of the wise fool, Nasrudin.

Having studied at a leading public school, Bryanston, Tahir took a degree in International Relations, his particular interest being in African dictatorships of the mid-1980s. His research in this area led him to travel alone through a wide number of failing African states, including Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.

After university, Tahir embarked on a plethora of widespread travels through the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and Africa, drawing them together in his first travelogue, Beyond the Devil’s Teeth. In the years that followed, he published more than a dozen works of travel. These quests – for lost cities, treasure, Indian magic, and for the secrets of the so-called Birdmen of Peru – led to what is surely one of the most extraordinary bodies of travel work ever published.

In the early 2000s, with two small children, Tahir moved his young family from an apartment in London’s East End to a supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of a Casablanca shantytown. The tale of the adventure was published in his bestselling book, The Caliph’s House.

In recent years, Tahir Shah has released a cornucopia of work, embracing travel, fiction, and literary criticism. He has also made documentaries for National Geographic TV and the History Channel, and published hundreds of articles in leading magazines, newspapers, and journals. His oeuvre is regarded as exceptionally original and, as an author, he is considered as a champion of the new face of publishing.

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Tahir Shah’s books

Average rating: 4.01 · 16,847 ratings · 1,951 reviews · 156 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca 3.97 avg rating — 8,630 ratings — published 2006 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams 4.08 avg rating — 2,367 ratings — published 2007 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Timbuctoo 3.83 avg rating — 1,572 ratings — published 2012 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sorcerer's Apprentice 4.15 avg rating — 1,263 ratings — published 1998 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Search of King Solomon's Mines 3.80 avg rating — 655 ratings — published 2002 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru 3.92 avg rating — 541 ratings — published 2001 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Travels With Myself 4.15 avg rating — 211 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scorpion Soup 4.30 avg rating — 180 ratings — published 2013 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	House of the Tiger King : The Quest for a Lost City 4.09 avg rating — 143 ratings — published 2004 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eye Spy 4.28 avg rating — 127 ratings — published 2013 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Tahir Shah…

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Tahir Shah's Blog

The future of libraries, Paris Syndrome, and more…

Many thanks to those of you were able to attend my Reddit AMA live. For those who were unable to attend, I’ll be sharing a selection of questions and answers over the next couple of weeks. To view the entire AMA, please click the above link.

Q. Do you have any thoughts about the future of libraries to share?

A. On nights when I cannot sleep, i dream that I’m stepping into a massive, ancient

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Tahir’s Recent Updates

Tahir Shah is now friends with Jordan Nightsage
Jun 19, 2024 01:29AM · like

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Quotes by Tahir Shah (?)

“My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.”
― Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams

tags: culture, heritage, stories, storytelling

443 likes

“Settling into a new country is like getting used to a new pair of shoes. At first they pinch a little, but you like the way they look, so you carry on. The longer you have them, the more comfortable they become. Until one day without realizing it you reach a glorious plateau. Wearing those shoes is like wearing no shoes at all. The more scuffed they get, the more you love them and the more you can't imagine life without them.”
― Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams

tags: culture, moving

70 likes

“A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

tags: endurance, journey, text

46 likes

See all Tahir Shah's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	2785	1208	Nov 30, 2010 09:03PM
The Ultimate ABC ...: ABC Ghost/Zombie Challenge	16	19	May 27, 2011 08:10AM
Cover to Cover Ch...: mehitabels continues to neglect family for fiction	73	58	Dec 23, 2011 08:12AM
Around the World ...: ilona - Never Ending Trekker	26	105	May 08, 2012 02:26PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2297	778	May 31, 2012 09:02PM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2637	933	Aug 31, 2012 09:02PM
2025 & 2026 Readi...: SilverRaindrops' Corner	35	41	Sep 30, 2012 10:36AM
2025 & 2026 Readi...: September's Industry Challenge	168	107	Oct 01, 2012 03:47PM

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Tahir’s Quotes

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― St. Augustine

tags: allegory, books, broad-mindedness, classic, education, imagery, travel, world

8475 likes

“This too shall pass.”
― Hakim Sanai

tags: endurance, proverbs

995 likes

“Everything can be taken from you in a second, but the human spirit is so strong. War can teach you so much about evil, and so much about good.”
― Zainab Salbi

tags: endurance, strength

43 likes

“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.'
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

tags: hope, life, pain, strength, tragedy

2506 likes

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
― Lao Tzu

tags: travel

5312 likes

More of Tahir’s quotes…