Publisher's Synopsis
Johannes Elith ?strup (1867-1938), son of a Danish farmer, philologist of Turkish and Semitic languages, and later Vice Chancellor of Copenhagen University, spent 1891-1893 travelling by horse around Syria, Lebanon, and Anatolia. Unlike most European travellers, his language skills allowed him to chat with locals in caf?s, stay in people's homes, and travel with the Bedouin. His writing offers a vivid account of his time in the region, and dwells with equal interest on both the region's broader political, ethnic, and religious struggles, and the day-to-day concerns of those who lived there. Now, for the first time, this text is available to English-speaking readers thanks to this translation by Cisca Spencer, ?strup's great granddaughter and a former Australian diplomat.