Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan (2008)
Read: April-May 2011
Picked up who knows when in a charity shop most likely. It wasn't just the 'sand' in the title that attracted us to this, but that it was about Lawrence of Arabia. We've become fascinated with Lawrence of Arabia since watching a brilliant documentary by Rory Stewart (who we've become equally fascinated with since too) where he looked at what Lawrence actually did in the Africa campaign, his words of advice and how these are used (or not) now with current conflict / western presence in the area. Really really interesting struff!
The book is a fictional account, but I did check a few things with Scotty as some of them rang true - there are a few real events and characters it seems, but the story is a ficticious account and does include some untruths (there is a theme in the book that Lawrence might not be his name, but according to Scotty this hasn't come up before). I really liked the first half of the book which is set in Cairo and includes trips out on his bike to Maadi, some ancient sites and small villages. Great colonialism scenes in the city and then TE trying to fit in and do things his way. The second half sees him travelling through the desert and so reminded me of Fienees and the Ubur hunt. The great thing about TE's desert travel is them trying to work out how to get their rolls desert-proof! I figured ahead a few of the twists around Wassmuss and his precious cargo and the bloodshed probably did compare to the bloodshed at the time.
I really want Scotty to read this one now so that I can ask him more about where the balance lies between accepted history and fictional account.
Read: April-May 2011
Picked up who knows when in a charity shop most likely. It wasn't just the 'sand' in the title that attracted us to this, but that it was about Lawrence of Arabia. We've become fascinated with Lawrence of Arabia since watching a brilliant documentary by Rory Stewart (who we've become equally fascinated with since too) where he looked at what Lawrence actually did in the Africa campaign, his words of advice and how these are used (or not) now with current conflict / western presence in the area. Really really interesting struff!
The book is a fictional account, but I did check a few things with Scotty as some of them rang true - there are a few real events and characters it seems, but the story is a ficticious account and does include some untruths (there is a theme in the book that Lawrence might not be his name, but according to Scotty this hasn't come up before). I really liked the first half of the book which is set in Cairo and includes trips out on his bike to Maadi, some ancient sites and small villages. Great colonialism scenes in the city and then TE trying to fit in and do things his way. The second half sees him travelling through the desert and so reminded me of Fienees and the Ubur hunt. The great thing about TE's desert travel is them trying to work out how to get their rolls desert-proof! I figured ahead a few of the twists around Wassmuss and his precious cargo and the bloodshed probably did compare to the bloodshed at the time.
I really want Scotty to read this one now so that I can ask him more about where the balance lies between accepted history and fictional account.
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