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Across the Empty Quarter
Restless, gripped by an overwhelming wish to make a name for himself in a world ever more hemmed in by progress and 'civilization', Thesiger (1910–2003) embarked on his amazing journeys across Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter to test himself and to show what could still be done. The result was a monument both to his resilience and to the Bedu who guided him and who emerge as the book's real heroes.
An extract of Arabian Sands, 1959.
An extract of Arabian Sands, 1959.
90 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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586 people want to read
About the author
Wilfred Thesiger
36 books199 followersSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, KBE, DSO, MA, DLitt, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS, FBA, was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
Thesiger was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford University where he took a third in history. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team.
In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation by Emperor Haile Selassie to attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 in an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.
Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.
In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2500 Italian troops. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.
There is a rare wartime photograph of Thesiger in this period. He appears in a well-known photograph usually used to illustrate the badge of the Greek Sacred Squadron. It is usually captioned 'a Greek officer of the Sacred Band briefing British troops'. The officer is recognisably the famous Tsigantes and one of the crowd is recognisably Thesiger. Thesiger is the tall figure with the distinct nasal profile. Characteristically, he is in Arab headdress. Thesiger was the liaison officer to the Greek Squadron.
In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion, Gavin Maxwell, in A Reed Shaken By The Wind — a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq (Longman, 1959).
Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 25,000 negatives to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
Thesiger was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford University where he took a third in history. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team.
In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation by Emperor Haile Selassie to attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 in an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.
Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.
In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2500 Italian troops. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.
There is a rare wartime photograph of Thesiger in this period. He appears in a well-known photograph usually used to illustrate the badge of the Greek Sacred Squadron. It is usually captioned 'a Greek officer of the Sacred Band briefing British troops'. The officer is recognisably the famous Tsigantes and one of the crowd is recognisably Thesiger. Thesiger is the tall figure with the distinct nasal profile. Characteristically, he is in Arab headdress. Thesiger was the liaison officer to the Greek Squadron.
In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion, Gavin Maxwell, in A Reed Shaken By The Wind — a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq (Longman, 1959).
Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 25,000 negatives to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 31, 2017
Thesiger's description of his own thoughts and his companions' antics, the personalities of the camels, and the forbidding desert, made reading this akin to watching an especially gripping adventure film. I can't agree with the guy who's reviewed this as having flat characters. It's a narrative history of Thesiger's journey into the desert, and as such, is action- and plot- driven. The behaviour of his companions, however, is plausible enough that I never once thought of them as generic or faceless.
September 1, 2009
English infidel traipses across Araby equipped with little more than his boy-scout glee. Amid the deprivations of the desert he learns the secret of the ascetic: abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.
October 17, 2025
an excellent historical account of a journey I took myself recently- albeit in completely different circumstances and conditions. Nevertheless the empty quarter is still the empty quarter, a large area of desert in the south east of Arabian peninsular. It is a magnificent region and i feel privileged to have spent two nights sleeping under those starry skies, checking out Venus and Mars rising and various constellations. My journey is part of a chapter in my own latest book - link here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-A...
it felt so very good to be reading of such an epic adventure and recognising names and regions like Wahiba Sands which I also spent two nights travelling through. Old book, still relevant today
it felt so very good to be reading of such an epic adventure and recognising names and regions like Wahiba Sands which I also spent two nights travelling through. Old book, still relevant today
October 2, 2011
My 2010 bookcrossing review:
Another excerpt from another book. This one is from the 1940s and is about an Englishman travelling about in the Arabian desert with a group of guides. It's never really made clear why they are doing this, although there are occasional hints to photographs and mapping, so maybe it's something to do with this? And maybe the lack of clarity is because this is just a collection of excerpts from a larger book. Compared to the other ones from this series I have read, this one seemed to be badly chosen excerpts, because it ends in a really random place, with Thesiger and his friends waiting to find out if they're in big trouble for travelling around in the desert and waiting to hear what the king has to say. And it just suddenly stops....
It's an interesting enough read, and there's certainly a lot about camels, including a random bit of advice on what to do if a camel is refussing to drop her milk for you and other bits of information should you ever become lost in a desert with a camel to hand. I'd actually like to ride a camel one day, so it was fun to read about the camel trekking. But it never feels as though this is a world that is accessible to women.
It's very tribal in this book, and all the tribes hate each other, so they're all trying to avoid each other in the desert to avoid the fighting, either that or trying to creep up on each other to stab each other in the ribs.
So, all interesting enough, but I felt like there was something lacking, and I don't know whether it's the fault of the writer or the excerpt factor.
Another excerpt from another book. This one is from the 1940s and is about an Englishman travelling about in the Arabian desert with a group of guides. It's never really made clear why they are doing this, although there are occasional hints to photographs and mapping, so maybe it's something to do with this? And maybe the lack of clarity is because this is just a collection of excerpts from a larger book. Compared to the other ones from this series I have read, this one seemed to be badly chosen excerpts, because it ends in a really random place, with Thesiger and his friends waiting to find out if they're in big trouble for travelling around in the desert and waiting to hear what the king has to say. And it just suddenly stops....
It's an interesting enough read, and there's certainly a lot about camels, including a random bit of advice on what to do if a camel is refussing to drop her milk for you and other bits of information should you ever become lost in a desert with a camel to hand. I'd actually like to ride a camel one day, so it was fun to read about the camel trekking. But it never feels as though this is a world that is accessible to women.
It's very tribal in this book, and all the tribes hate each other, so they're all trying to avoid each other in the desert to avoid the fighting, either that or trying to creep up on each other to stab each other in the ribs.
So, all interesting enough, but I felt like there was something lacking, and I don't know whether it's the fault of the writer or the excerpt factor.
March 9, 2021
Reading what Bedouin life consisted of makes you appreciate what have on a daily basis, that’s for sure.
Thesiger has a wonderful eye for detail (particularly when describing animals and landscapes) and an often humourous recollection of anecdotes throughout his journeys, painting an intricate portrait of the Arab Bedouin through an outsider’s lens.
He creates tension by mapping out the political landscape and tribalism of 20th century Arabia, while also emphasising the generosity and hospitality various Bedouins and tribes bestow upon guests and travellers.
It can be funny, it can be tragic. It’s all part of the human condition.
That can also be a slight issue. While the Bedu’s attitudes and mindset may seem, at times, all too alien and preposterous to some, Thesiger treats them like they are primitive beings, and he of a superior trace.
Yes, this was a different time, and he has (even in the very beginning) stated his admiration for their resilience and fortitude in the face of hunger, thirst and uncertainty...but it gets in the way of any objectivity he may have as an explorer and historian. He’s more of a cynical
Anthropologist, frankly speaking.
Even with the ending is left somewhat unresolved (yes, I do realise this is non-fiction), this is still, undeniably, a fascinating read, and Thesiger’s brutal honesty can be both frustrating and refreshing.
Even with the narrator’s xenophobia (the constant dismissive references to “the Arabs”), it is quite interesting to see him detail his more humiliating moments, as well as showing his immaturity that he sometimes shared with his travelling companions.
I could have read this in one sitting but I procrastinated. Perhaps you can do that if you haven’t already.
Thesiger has a wonderful eye for detail (particularly when describing animals and landscapes) and an often humourous recollection of anecdotes throughout his journeys, painting an intricate portrait of the Arab Bedouin through an outsider’s lens.
He creates tension by mapping out the political landscape and tribalism of 20th century Arabia, while also emphasising the generosity and hospitality various Bedouins and tribes bestow upon guests and travellers.
It can be funny, it can be tragic. It’s all part of the human condition.
That can also be a slight issue. While the Bedu’s attitudes and mindset may seem, at times, all too alien and preposterous to some, Thesiger treats them like they are primitive beings, and he of a superior trace.
Yes, this was a different time, and he has (even in the very beginning) stated his admiration for their resilience and fortitude in the face of hunger, thirst and uncertainty...but it gets in the way of any objectivity he may have as an explorer and historian. He’s more of a cynical
Anthropologist, frankly speaking.
Even with the ending is left somewhat unresolved (yes, I do realise this is non-fiction), this is still, undeniably, a fascinating read, and Thesiger’s brutal honesty can be both frustrating and refreshing.
Even with the narrator’s xenophobia (the constant dismissive references to “the Arabs”), it is quite interesting to see him detail his more humiliating moments, as well as showing his immaturity that he sometimes shared with his travelling companions.
I could have read this in one sitting but I procrastinated. Perhaps you can do that if you haven’t already.
September 2, 2025
I liked it, and of all the Great Journeys narratives I’ve read this was the least racist and ignorant and judgmental.. which is not to say it is not racist and ignorant and judgmental.. but Thesiger has a journalist’s approach and a humble way of being with his companions in the narrative that I appreciated very much. It is absolutely insane what they endured. The way the story narrowed in like a spotlight to focus on food during the times when they were starving felt so real to life.
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July 11, 2025Very apt read while travelling with friends, although in a very different context. The observations of companionship and self-reflection remain poignant. However, it’s of course hard to get past the fact that it feels akin to people hiking Everest for self fulfilment. A white man endangering others in order to “find himself”
December 1, 2024
A lot shorter than I expected, was quite interesting a times but not sure why they made this exert into a small book
January 5, 2025
Seemed to be an incomplete excerpt from a larger book. Some good descriptions of the desert and of customs. Needed some maps.
February 8, 2017
Meh... Thesiger is not a storyteller.
June 9, 2025
This is an extract from a much larger book, so it is almost entirely without context, and ends very suddenly at the end of a random paragraph. I'm not at all sure why Penguin edited it that way, but it nevertheless contains some memorable passages.
Theisger describes the call of the desert like this, "Far below me a yellow haze hid the desert to the east. Yet it was there that my fancies ranged, planning new journeys, while I wondered at this strange compulsion which drove me back to a life that was barely possible....I knew instinctively that it was the very hardness of life in the desert which drew me back there - it was the same pull which takes men back to the polar ice, to high mountains, and to the sea. To return to the Empty Quarter would be to answer a challenge, and to remain there for long would be to test myself to the limit....It was one of the very few places where I could satisfy an urge to go where others had not been....in those empty wastes I could find the peace that comes with solitude, and, among the Bedu, comradeship in a hostile world."
After one of his Bedouin companions tells him that he has travelled across the Empty Quarter alone, Theisger captures well the sense of collective endeavour that seems to be so important in exploration: "To have ridden alone through this appalling desolation was an incredible achievement. We were travelling through it now, but we carried our own world with us: a small world of five people, which yet provided each of us with companionship, with talk and laughter and the knowledge that others were there to share the hardship and the danger. I knew that if I travelled here alone the weight of this vast solitude would crush me utterly."
Again, the strange and contradictory feeling of achievement that is the explorers reward is articulated beautifully in this passage: "For years the Empty Quarter had represented to me the final, unattainable challenge which the desert offered. Suddenly it had come within my reach. I remembered my excitement when Lean had casually offered me the chance to go there, the immediate determination to cross it, and then the doubts and fears, the frustrations, and the moments of despair. Now I had crossed it. To others my journey would have little importance. It would produce nothing except a rather inaccurate map which no one was ever likely to use. It was a personal experience, and the reward had been a drink of clean, nearly tasteless water. I was content with that."
Theisger describes the call of the desert like this, "Far below me a yellow haze hid the desert to the east. Yet it was there that my fancies ranged, planning new journeys, while I wondered at this strange compulsion which drove me back to a life that was barely possible....I knew instinctively that it was the very hardness of life in the desert which drew me back there - it was the same pull which takes men back to the polar ice, to high mountains, and to the sea. To return to the Empty Quarter would be to answer a challenge, and to remain there for long would be to test myself to the limit....It was one of the very few places where I could satisfy an urge to go where others had not been....in those empty wastes I could find the peace that comes with solitude, and, among the Bedu, comradeship in a hostile world."
After one of his Bedouin companions tells him that he has travelled across the Empty Quarter alone, Theisger captures well the sense of collective endeavour that seems to be so important in exploration: "To have ridden alone through this appalling desolation was an incredible achievement. We were travelling through it now, but we carried our own world with us: a small world of five people, which yet provided each of us with companionship, with talk and laughter and the knowledge that others were there to share the hardship and the danger. I knew that if I travelled here alone the weight of this vast solitude would crush me utterly."
Again, the strange and contradictory feeling of achievement that is the explorers reward is articulated beautifully in this passage: "For years the Empty Quarter had represented to me the final, unattainable challenge which the desert offered. Suddenly it had come within my reach. I remembered my excitement when Lean had casually offered me the chance to go there, the immediate determination to cross it, and then the doubts and fears, the frustrations, and the moments of despair. Now I had crossed it. To others my journey would have little importance. It would produce nothing except a rather inaccurate map which no one was ever likely to use. It was a personal experience, and the reward had been a drink of clean, nearly tasteless water. I was content with that."
March 20, 2022
With all of the books paying homage to works that are much longer, all of the books in the Penguin series of Great Journeys {each around one hundred - one hundred and fifty pages} offer the reader a glimpse into a much longer, possibly daunting, text that they may well have never considered. I know a few of them even made me want to take a look at the book from which the abridged excerpt had been taken ... others, well, not so much.
One of the books more to my liking ...
Full of bizarre but I'm guessing useful information should one ever find oneself wondering what to do if lost in a desert with one's camel who was refusing to give up her milk. That what I'm putting down to bad editing or perhaps badly chosen excerpts resulted in the book ending unexpectedly and somewhat unresolved, disappointing but, other than that, Thesiger, who, whilst documenting the generosity bestowed upon him by the Bedouins alas comes across as believing himself superior, paints a wonderfully vivid picture of his journey across Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
One of the books more to my liking ...
Full of bizarre but I'm guessing useful information should one ever find oneself wondering what to do if lost in a desert with one's camel who was refusing to give up her milk. That what I'm putting down to bad editing or perhaps badly chosen excerpts resulted in the book ending unexpectedly and somewhat unresolved, disappointing but, other than that, Thesiger, who, whilst documenting the generosity bestowed upon him by the Bedouins alas comes across as believing himself superior, paints a wonderfully vivid picture of his journey across Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
August 31, 2010
Never quite understood the romance of the deesrt, etc - hot, scorching winds, freezng nights, and sand, sand, sand. It's a puzzle the way so many young public school types, working in government departments like the Foreign Office seem to fall for it hook line and sinker though. There's obviously something deep in the psyche of the English ruling class - or at least the genuinely aristocratic ones - which draws them to sado-masochistic tests of endurance in the company of unfathomable men from mysterious triibes....
Thesiger castes his Bedu companions in a human enough manner, though in tis short selection of his writings they don't acquire any real identity as individuals. Also a drawback to this series of Penguin Great Journeys is that the selections are stripped down to just travel part of it. This is a shame in Thesiger's case because there was obviously a lot of pretty dense FCO politics going on that drove him to male these epic desert crossing back in 1947. Wasn't quite drawn into the account enough to feel compelled to find out more though...
Thesiger castes his Bedu companions in a human enough manner, though in tis short selection of his writings they don't acquire any real identity as individuals. Also a drawback to this series of Penguin Great Journeys is that the selections are stripped down to just travel part of it. This is a shame in Thesiger's case because there was obviously a lot of pretty dense FCO politics going on that drove him to male these epic desert crossing back in 1947. Wasn't quite drawn into the account enough to feel compelled to find out more though...
February 4, 2022
Thesiger was a British military officer, explorer, and writer, who, in the second half of the 20th century, traveled on foot, horse, and by camel across Arabia, the Middle East, and Africa. Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter, is the largest sand desert in the world, a desolate, dangerous plane of rolling dunes, with a very limited number of waterholes. At the time of Thesiger’s travels in the late 1940s, this desert had been traveled exclusively by the local Bedu. What makes this book intriguing is the description of the harsh landscape and the people that live in it. Thesiger traveled the desert with a purpose (he wanted to find out more about a locust with some ecological relevance), so he and his guides voyaged huge distances. As the reader turns the pages, the overwhelming sense of adventure and Thesiger’s lust for the unknown become contagious. Many books have been written about travels through Arabia, but this one stands out as an adventure book that is both very personal and wide in scope.
August 24, 2012
An engaging and exciting tale, well told but quite obviously an extract from a larger work (Arabian Sands); it ends on a cliffhanger and refers frequently to people, places and events that have obviously been expanded upon in earlier parts of the original. I only knew Thesiger from his brief, gruff and hilarious appearance at the end of Newby's Walk in the Hundu Kush, where he comes across as a potential hard-man travel-wanker but this short piece shows a more thoughtful and interesting character and I'm now keen to read the original in full.
July 5, 2016
I bought the book as it was highly recommended by a social media figure . It is an extract from this traveler's journaling. It depicts an earlier era of Saudi Arabia. I found it interesting what this guy put him self through and his fascination with the Arabian desert.
The traveler is British so many times the vocabulary wasn't very familiar to me. Also I felt that there was no climax to the book's story. A suggestion to the publisher would be to add a map of the trip and places that he mentions .
The traveler is British so many times the vocabulary wasn't very familiar to me. Also I felt that there was no climax to the book's story. A suggestion to the publisher would be to add a map of the trip and places that he mentions .
February 4, 2015
An interesting and fairly entertaining expedition across the Arabian desert by Wilfred Thesiger - a Christian amidst a Muslim, tribal people. Vivid writing and description but hobbled by the fact that this is an excerpt - the motive and context are occasionally unclear, and it ends abruptly.
December 2, 2011
Sacrilegious perhaps, but this little version suffices over the whapping and dragging Arabian Sands (though I still love that book).
A good Thesiger taster...
A good Thesiger taster...
September 6, 2015
A bit awkward because it is only an excerpt. It mentions things that don't occur in this book, and ends abruptly. Fantastic writing and descriptions, but stick with 'Arabian Sands'.
June 21, 2015
Thesiger's lucid writing style and observant, sympathetic eye made this an enjoyable read. This excerpt left me wanting to read more.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews