The Life of My Choice

The book arrived promptly, well packaged, and in good condition.

Wilfred Thesiger, I'm ashamed to admit, is a new discovery to me. After reading "Arabian Sands" a few days ago, I felt I had to learn more of his life. "The Life of My Choice" has many parallels to "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and was so captivating that I had to read it in one sitting. T.E. Lawrence noted that "self-knowledge unfitted me for leadership." Thesiger puts that same sharp sword of introspection to his life. His observations on Lieutenant Colonel Orde Wingate and his thoughts on T.E. Lawrence are among the highlights of this book, as are his thoughts on Islam and Christianity. A son of privilege, son of the Minister of the British Legation in Addis Ababa, the author fell in love with the people of the wilderness, and always found his heroes and soul mates among the harshest tribes in the most forbidding territories. He acknowledges that some of his big game hunting exploits don't go over well 50 years afterwards, but takes care to explain the realities of the situation. He obviously has a strong feeling for the underdog in any fight, not something to be taken for granted in a highly decorated battlefield veteran. Thesiger's detailed account of the League of Nations standing by and watching the Italians brazenly use mustard gas on tens of thousands of Ethiopian soldiers and civilians reminds us of our own cowardice during more recent crimes against humanity. In this age when we are in such great need of heroic figures, I have no knowledge of a single leader of Wilfred Thesiger's caliber alive among us. Then again, Thesiger insisted on not living inside his own society, not seeking to be known by anyone other than himself. No doubt he must serve as the model for more than a few yet to be discovered British and American heroes now posted in remote and dangerous places. Surely one lesson to be taken from Mr. Thesiger's life is that we should live the lives our souls demand of us, consequences be damned. Mr. Thesiger realized as a young man that his path was a lonely one. I highly recommend "Fire and the Sword in the Sudan" by Colonels Rudolph Slatin and F.R. Wingate to any reader of Wilfred Thesiger. Slatin was held prisoner for 12 years in the Sudan during the 1880s and early 1890s.

An amazing life story a totally unique man. One of my treasured books for many years

After reading Arabian Sands and The Marsh Arabs, this is the obvious place to go. Thesiger is (or sadly was) a remarkable individual. And individual he was. His physical toughness and deeply inquiring mind took him beyond what one might call safe or, indeed, sane. Yet he would survive slender odds by his own wits and the help of others to undertake another challenge. It wasn't hubris or being the first that drove him; he was simply deeply inquisitive. And focussed. He was at the same time a sensitive and compassionate man. His own achievements take a back seat. Not a false modesty, mind you; he states what needs to be said and leaves it at that. The best measure of Thesiger is to be found not in his own account of himself, but from the regard in which he was quite evidently held by those around him. I'm not about to list examples - read the books. His books are more than accounts of peripatetic adventures. They ascribe a world view. What is that view? Well, read his books. Oh, and the writing. Read Thesiger at your peril - he casts a long shadow.

Great book

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of Africa or any just interested in reading stories that seem too amazing to be true. I met Wilfred Thesiger by accident in Kenya in the 1980s before I ever knew about him or his books. He was warm and genuine. Very modest but straight forward. He covers history of Africa like no one else. He explored the last uncharted part of Africa. Many other fascinating stories and they are all real.

Exceptional book and author

Thesiger's "Life" has the primary benefit of any well-written story by a not-quite-native person who was privileged to be accepted in a strange land -- it takes you someplace new and mysterious. On that basis, I found the book to be very good, an insider view of a place, culture, and terrain I'll never experience myself. As with so many wandering sons of the British Empire, such as T. E. Lawrence and Sir Richard Burton, you get a good feel for the place and time, albeit inevitably filtered through the author's personal prejudices and social values. Thesiger is less a scholar than either Lawrence or Burton, and less able to stand back and place his experiences of Africa in historical, religious, and artistic contexts. Still, he was present at a time when colonialism was fading and new nations were being formed, living out the old Chinese curse/blessing, "may you live in interesting times." Anyone with an interest in Africa as it is in modern times can't help but be curious as to how things got the way they are, at least in the areas he was familiar with. My only real quibble may be unfair. I'm no scholar of exploration writings, but none I've read that were written by men give particular insight into the lives of African women, certainly not to nearly the degree they do of African men. I realize Thesiger, like any male, would not have much access to the lives of women in cultures where women's existences were so restricted to hearth and home. Still, it's sad to only get half the story of this vanished past, especially since a handful of female explorers did manage to penetrate the life of the veil. Sadly, their books are much less read, although often better written. It must be said, though, that Thesiger in particular shows an astounding lack of interest in women in general, reserving all his descriptive powers and personal observations for the pageantry and color of warrior displays. However, I did finish the book with a better understanding of fundamental differences between Arab north Africa and the rest of the continent. I recommend this book as worthwhile, but best read in context with others written both before Thesiger's time and since. Thesiger's views alone strike me as a little crotchety, a bit too much of an old man resenting how much the world has changed. It never seems to occur to him that the land he so enjoyed, and in which he was privileged to come and go as he pleased as a white sahib, had a cost to it's less fortunate inhabitants. The life he regrets losing is, in some ways, a better life for larger numbers of people than it was in his time.

Amazing book, from the first page to l the last page.Hewas an amazing man so self contained and content with his Spartan life and his interaction with the local tribes and to finish the book joined the SAS. His style of writing was a pleasure to read and enjoy

A fascinating account of this remarkable man's life in a bygone era.

Received well, thank you

This is Thesiger's best book in my opinion. In addition to his well documented exploits in Arabia, it details his life as a representative of the British government in Sudan and his boyhood in what is now Ethiopia, He gives a graphic account of his experiences with African tribes, big game hunting and camel safaris to remote places as well as his time at private school and university. Although he had a privileged upbringing he never shirks hardship, discomfort and adventure. Widely regarded as the last of the great explorers, Thesiger provides a great read for the armchair explorer and an insight into a life no longer possible in this day and age. Can't wait to read it again!

A wonderful book by an extraordinary man on a fascinating life truthfully told with old world style, values warts and all , with an absolute passion for adventure by living and exploring with indigenous peoples whose lifestyles are sadly fast disappearing with the onrush of the modern world and materialism. A wonderful and insightful book well worth reading. A treasure! There is unlikely to be another life like Thesinger's.