In Search of Nomads: An English Obsession from Hester Stanhope to Bruce Chatwin

by John Ure

For centuries, settled peoples have contemplated nomads with fascination and envy, or with disdain and fear. Both Americans and the British have had an obsession with nomadic peoples, stemming from their own wanderlust and admiration for the unfettered life.
In Search of Nomads centers on four regions that are rich in nomadic culture—the Arabian peninsula with its Bedouin, the Sahara with its Moors and Tuareg, the mountain ranges of southern Iran with its migratory pastoral tribes, and the steppes of Central Asia with its Mongol horsemen and Tartar descendants. Author John Ure has traveled with all of these peoples and provides a brief account of the special characteristics and history of each group. However, one of the most appealing aspects of the book is the insight it provides into the often-eccentric British and American observers who chose to seek out and travel with nomads. Some were exiles from nineteenth-century high society, some were footloose adventurers like T. E. Lawrence; some were distinguished literary figures like Vita Sackville-West, while others were notable scholars like Gertrude Bell. In short, the visitors were often odder than the exotic peoples they visited, and John Ure brings both to life with skill and humor.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Adventure

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that covers a lot of ground, tells of the authors travel and interaction with nomads, but for the larger part, reports on other travellers and their interactions and travel with nomads.

Divided into four books, it covers:
1 The migratory tribes of southern Persia - the Bakhtiari & the Qashqui, and with travellers such as Sir Henry Layard, Isabella Bird, Gertrude Bell, Vita Sackville-West & Bruce Chatwin.
2 The Bedouin of Arabia - featuring travellers Lady Hester Stanhope, Jane Digby, Sir Richard Burton, Charles Doughty, Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt, TE Lawrence, Carl Raswan, St John Philby & Wilfred Thesiger.
3 The Mongol Horsemen in Mongolia and Afghanistan - with Miss Cable & Miss French, William Moorcroft, Freya Stark, Bruce Chatwin & Peter Levi.
4 The Tuareg and the Moors of Northern Africa - with Hugh Clapperton, Gordon Laing, Sir Harry Maclean, Geoffrey Moorhouse, Michael Asher & Quentin Crewe.

It is an enjoyable read, simple to dip in and out of, as the short sections on each person break up well. The only real criticism is that it offer a short summary of each adventurer, which of course cannot compare to full coverage.

Of course, this book focuses on the nomads, where not every traveller does, so John Ure does well to pick the relevant parts about nomads from the longer texts.

For me, having read many of the featured authors it was a light recap, and perhaps helped me to put them into choronological sense. There were a few I have not read or heard of which is also good.

An enjoyable 4 stars.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jan 15, noon ~~ Review asap.

Jan 15, 1pm ~~ Although I had this book as one of the titles on my Mongolia list, I had not remembered from my first reading (years before joining GR) that the section about Mongolia is actually quite short, less than thirty pages. If I was being super picky I suppose I would disqualify this book from my challenge list but I'm not quite that fussy about such things. Besides, I have slashed and burned that Mongolia list and have only two more books to read in order to complete this little challenge I set for myself in 2021. (Tiny print in some of the other titles is to blame, by the way. When I was collecting the books from my shelves I did not look into them. But my eyes have gotten much older than the rest of me since I first read some of these books! lol)

Anyway, I was a little disappointed in this book, and not only for the short section on Mongolia. I have found over the years that I get annoyed with people when they seem unable to look at other people as human beings rather than curiosities to be studied. If you read about this or that explorer (or thrill seeker) on their own, you don't get the same overwhelming feeling that this book leaves you with. It is like a roundup of people who (mostly) had all the privileges in life yet were unhappy and felt out of place, but used their privileges to go exploring and play at being something that seemed to fit their psyche better than what they were born to.

And then returned to their 'civilized' lives and wrote books about what they had seen.

There were a few that did not fit that pattern, of course. A few who lived the nomadic life with gusto and respect. But mostly I was shaking my head at the mindsets on display here. And I have to wonder if human beings in general will ever learn to accept each other, to live and let live, not to feel that one way of life is better than another, and above all not to persecute others for being different than we are?

I wonder if there is time left for that. Maybe we should just hope for better the next chance we get.

Sorry to be so down-hearted, but that is how the book left me, it seems. Even with its very cool cover.

[Steve Cran · Rating 4 out of 5]

All across the Middle East, Northern Africa, Iran and Asia there are or were countless tribes of nomads. In parts of North Africa, Arabia and Syria they were Bedouin. In North Africa you have the Tuaregs, Moors and Berbers. In Iran you have the Lurs, Quashkais and Bakhtairi. In Mongolia you have Kirgystan Turks, and Mongol. All through out the years various Europeans and Americans ventured into these nomadic terriritories. The view these Europeans had of these nomads was often times romanticized, other times the view point was one of disdain. Nomad, regardless of their label, made their living hunting, drinking water from wells and sometimes raiding. They disdain the agricultural lifestyle or sedentary lifestyle but can still be territorial of their grazing and water ground.

The Bakhtiaris are located in Southern Iran, they came here with the Mongols back in the 13th century. These nomads have never enjoyed an easy relationship with the governing authority. Often times there were crackdowns in order to confiscate their weapons. They would fight against the governing authorities. These nomads often times travel beyond the Zagros Mountains to herd their sheep. The Quashkai are another set of nomads in Iran.

The Bedouin of Arabia are probably the most famous. TE Lawrence and Pasha Glubb were two famous British military officers who worked extensively with the Arabian Bedouin. Both helped form Bedouin military units to fight against the Germans and the Turks during World War One. Glubb Pasha helped form the Jordanian Army but issues with King Hussein caused his departure. Lawrence felt that nomadic lifestyles were pushed onto the weaker tribes as stronger tribes would come and push them off the choicest of land.

Going further into Asia the nomads are very prevalent in Afghanistan. There are Hazars, Pashtun, Afghans etc. Nomads are also in Mongolia and Kirystan. The Mongols use Camels to move around the desert and tend not o be as smart and flashy as the Turks of Kyrgistan. Mongols and Turks both live in Yurts. The turks use horses and tend to have nicer accommodation.

Finally the journey goes back to North Africa where the Tuaregs reign supreme. They are a mighty nation consisting of tribes. They are normally dressed in blue and are very protective of their domains. They have resentment against foreigners. They guard their pathways and water walls quite jealously. The Moors tend to be more individualistic and settle in smaller settlement.

Over the years, Europeans have been fascinated with nomads, it has been going on since the Crusades. The explorers mentioned in the book are numerous I cannot remember them all. Read the book it is fun, enlightening and enjoyable.

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Search of Nomads
By John Ure
4 stars
pp. 225

According to the dictionary nomads are people who have no permanent abode and travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock and it seems we are intrigued with their unfettered way of life and have gone to great lengths to find out about them as John Ure documents in his book In Search of Nomads. Ure's work is a history of primarily English explorers who have searched for nomads through the ages in four parts of the world. He examines the Nomads of Iran, Arabia and Levant, Central Asia, which includes Mongolia and Afghanistan and the Sahara.

Glory, country, excitement and adventure have all been reasons to search out nomads and it is an occupation often fraught with danger. As nomads have no permanent homes and many live in remote areas of the world or using the term Eugene Linden coined the ragged edge, they often feel free to pillage those who traverse their territory. Not all of them follow the Muslim rule of hospitality, so being invited into their tents and care did not insure safety and proved to be the demise of some explorers.

I was pleased to read of so many female explorers in Ure's book. They include Lady Hester Stanhope, Jane Digby, Beatrix Bulstrode and Freya Stark among others. It seems that women were not immune to the adventure bug and many of their tales are quite intriguing.

I love a book which provides interesting historical information and In Search of Nomads certainly does that. If you feel the same way it may be a book which would appeal to you.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is interesting, but for readers of other travelogues based on Middle Eastern travels, it will seem like you read it too late. For those who haven't read them, this is a good start. It includes descriptions of various Westerners and their motivations for traveling throughout the Middle East. It left me, personally, wanting more. But no matter. It has provided me names and places for further research and more in-depth reading, as well as the books these Westerners wrote - I know I'll enjoy reading them. I've read Motoring with Mohammed, which is the penultimate of travelogues; I am therefore biased toward that kind of travelogue.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ponderous. But I learned a lot.

[Kathy Leland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book as a result of my undying admiration for Bruce Chatwin's work, including his idea to write an epic book on Nomads that just never really worked out for him, although ideas from it show up in The Songlines and other works. This is a fascinating book about intrepid travelers and seekers after nomadic peoples of the Middle East, Africa and Siberia, including several Victorian and Edwardian women who were quite extraordinary for their time as adventurers. This old school British author, who died in 2000, occasionally shows some of the old wealthy white guy biases in his accounts, but for the most part the book is fair, honest and creditable. He documents a long gone era, before it became completely impossible to travel in beautiful, remote locales like Afghanistan, before Islamic fundamentalist and Communist Russian regimes managed to destroy thousand year old cultures and ways of life.

[Wayne Jordaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about people who choose, because of their environments and livelihoods (to a large extent determined by the latter) but significantly also by a desire to be free from the demands of authorities, a migratory lifestyle. Due to their main livelihood stream being dependent upon livestock their seasonal migrations are often referred to as "following the grass". A limitation of the book is that the author gleans his insights from other travellers or "adventurers", who sought out the nomads, so the narrative suffers from the lack of a first person voice. Fortunately, the majority of the the original travellers left renderings of their encounters with the nomads, and based on the samplings here, might be worth pursuing.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, witty overview of eccentric Brits and Americans and the nomads they have pursued. Divided into five parts we meet the nomads of Iran, Arabian Peninsula, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and the Sahara. The author seems to fit the mold of the people he writes about (eccentric Brits) having gone on his honeymoon in the company of a tribe of nomads while he was a diplomat. He's also been knighted so he has some gravitas. The book refers you to even more great books by some of the explorers and it ends with a compelling and appropriate quote: "you can not travel on the path until you have become the Path itself."

[Dovofthegalilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book exposing nomads and the explorers who followed after them. To be honest if you took out the quirky idioms of the traveler/explorers the book would not be much of a read. It's central stage is set in the Stans and N. Africa.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book, the reading of which is a rich rewarding experience as it provides a painstakingly gathered and vivid account of some of the last free souls on the planet, as well as those who had the privilege to spend some time with them