Yemen

Did not know that much about Yemen until I read this; obviously written before the recent troubles, although it appears to have been a troubled area for a long time. Two downsides -1. The descriptions of landscapes are very good, but pictures as well would have been great.2. The author hops around a bit and sometimes, I had to re-read to be sure what time frame I was now in.Otherwise concise, well written book, revealed lots of things I didn't know even existed, funny in places, and especially liked the stories of the walks he did in the Wadis.As a child Aden was also on the radio a lot, and his history of this put all that trouble in perspective, plus his descriptions of his journey across the island of Suqutra (and the voyage there) was excellent.This is definitely a land of contrasts, coast and immense desert, rich and poor, great hospitality, little infrastructure and masses of archaeology.

I bought both titles, not sure if they were different but can confirm that 'Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land' is same as 'Yemen: The Unknown Arabia'. Seems that the first is the UK version and the latter is the US publication. Book is very good.

The most eloquent, most respectful, most genuine, most educated writing about the world's most fascinating, most stunning and most misunderstood country, culture & people. A treasure of a book (and author) especially considering Yemen's troubled recent history and troubling current state.

You can see Tim Mackintosh-Smith's style emerging, but not the equal of his Ibn Battuta trilogy, which I loved and am even re-reading in parts.