Riding to the Tigris

Published in 1959, this short but detailed book describes the two weeks of travel by Freya Stark deep in Turkey - south of Lake Van, near the junction of Turkey, Syria and Iraq. This is the heart of the Assyrian Homeland.

This is not travel non-fiction lite - for a short book it is not straight forward reading, and it seems to assume the reader has prior knowledge of the time. It speaks of battles and international politics that I have no grasp of, yet it also describes perfectly the setting, the people encountered and joys and frustrations of the author.

I own a lot of Freya Stark books, but have read few. Only one other which was a collection of Stark's writing, which I rated at 3 stars, but recall not particularly connecting with. A poor first choice of book by this author I suspect, and have duly noted to re-read.

Stark is a pretty impressive traveller. She doesn't take no for an answer until all avenues are proven closed off, and she can foot it with all comers, in terms of hardship. She certainly displays little in the way of fear in her writing.

Her photographs, while not matching up to modern ideals, are informative and interesting, despite having two rolls confiscated due to a visa notation added by a petty bureaucrat. Luckily the other rolls escaped undetected.

4 Stars.