Sultan in Oman
Book description
In 1955 the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, southeast of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Sea, was a truly medieval Islamic State, shuttered against all progress under the aegis of its traditionalist and autocratic ruler. But it was also nearly the end of an imperial line, for in those days…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Sultan in Oman as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In this entertaining book Jan Morris crosses the Oman desert travelling as one of the Sultan’s entourage.
I know Oman well, having visited long before the country was ‘open’ to tourism. I have slept on just a blanked on the sand with the huge bowl of Arabian stars sliding across a black sky above me so the delightful prose brings this all to life again. The early days of the oil business, whilst unfashionable these days are historic, the descriptions are vivid and highly amusing.
Desert life, campfires, camels, and Bedouin are all colourfully brought to life, with descriptions of…
From Amelia's list on the lives of those who pushed the boundaries.
In 1955 famed travel writer Jan Morris (then James) accompanied Sultan Said bin Taimur on the first crossing of Oman by motorcar.
They start in the southern region of Dhofar, travel north through desert and mountains, and end in the capital of Muscat. The Oman that Morris describes—one of powerful tribes and enslaved Africans—is no more, and his descriptions are at times tinged with racism.
Nonetheless, they are extraordinary: “…there was a loud insistent blare of the Sultan’s horn. The trucks leapt away like dogs from the leash…” This book made me yearn for the romance (but not the cruelties)…
From Christiane's list on the intriguing country of Oman.
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