The Road to Oxiana

By Robert Byron,

Book cover of The Road to Oxiana

Book description

"The Road to Oxiana" is an account of Robert Byron’s ten-month journey to Iran and Afghanistan in 1933–34 in the company of Christopher Sykes. This travelogue is considered by many modern travel writers to be the first example of great travel writing. Bruce Chatwin has described it as “a sacred…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked The Road to Oxiana as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Moving on from dead characters in novels to dead writers of classic travel literature about Afghanistan. Byron's superb evocation of Afghanistan in the 1930s revolutionized the art of travel writing, as did the equally delightful Eric Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, written in the 1950s.

It was first published in 1937 and the book is an account of a journey Robert Byron made through Persia and Afghanistan in 1933.

The Oxiana he writes about no longer exists having been torn apart by wars and revolutions. I read of his visit to see the Buddhas in Bamian with an ache. I wish they had never been destroyed.

His conversational narrative vividly describes life in towns and villages and the people he meets and their ways of living. He is driven by a love for Islamic architecture that lures him to make this journey.

He attends tea…

From Christopher's list on for travelling vagabonds.

Want books like The Road to Oxiana?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Road to Oxiana.

Browse books like The Road to Oxiana

Book cover of On the Road
Book cover of As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
Book cover of The Way of the World

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Iran, Afghanistan, and presidential biography?

Iran 130 books
Afghanistan 91 books