/lit/ - Literature

Next up is Seven Pillars of Wisdom written by T.E. Lawrence and his experience in the Orient. Again, another insightful book about life as an Arab and the war in the middle east

It is non fiction, novel no longer means that in colloquial

Non fiction about an expedition through the Himalayas of Nepal. Some great travel writing and writing on Zen Buddhism.

>>11480452
I'm reading this right now, it is surprisingly difficult, he really does not hold your hand, or concern himself with explaining military concepts to a layman. I will check out the others, thanks.

Another one,

The Phantom Major

This book is about the War in North Africa and the origins of the SAS and their adventures through the Sahara to scout and destroy German air assets.

This book is an easy read and is closer to a movie than reality. It's hard to imagine real people lived through these events and did the things depicted.

Memoir of a woman who grew up in British East Africa. Survived a lion attack, became a thoroughbred horse trainer. Then one of the earliest aviators in Africa. She flew airmail for the colony and later scouted for elephant for Bror Blixen (Isak Dinnesen). Book ends with her becoming the first woman to fly from England to North America. She was trying to be the first woman to fly from England to New York but had to crash land in New Foundland. Hemmingway praised her for her prose style and knowledge of East Africa but also considered her a bitch in heat (probably for stealing Robert Redford from Dinesen.)

>>11480863
Whoops. Bror Blixen was Isak Dinesen’s husband.

I've just downloaded Arabia Felix; thanks in advance for the rec.

Pic related is a great read; it's about the German explorer Barth, who had arguably the greatest adventure of any early European in Africa. It's reasonably well-researched. I was glad to find this book because it's an important story but the dude's original diary is unreadable.

>>11480863
Damn, I saw this title in a used bookstore and passed by it. Sounds like something I'd like.

I prefer autobiographical adventure stories. Some of the best are:
-Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger
>Expedition across the last unexplored (non-Arctic) corner of earth
-Beasts, Men, and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski
>Possibly the greatest adventure story of the modern age, depending on how much of it is true
-The diary of Captain Tuckey's Congo expedition
>Skin-crawling account of ill-fated scientific expedition in 1816
-Mungo Park's Travels in the Interior of Africa
>Racist, murdering, slave-abusing nutcase pursues his death wish across unexplored continent, first European to do so

>>11481620
Forgot to mention The Fearful Void by Geoffrey Moorhouse. About his attempt to cross the Sahara, which failed, but it's interesting reading into the nitty-gritty of logistics, preparation and daily routine when you're just walking across gravel for months on end.

>>11481579
>>11481620
>>11481668
Great recs

Eastern Approaches - Fitzroy Maclean
>Good stuff on central Asia pre-ww2. The other half of the book is him as a commando in Yugoslavia, which might not be as interesting.

Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah - Richard Burton
>In the mid-19th century he pretended to be an Arab and visited Mecca and Medina, at the risk of being killed if found out.

Narrative of a mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843–1845, to ascertain the fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly - Joseph Wolff
>Mid-19th century, Anglican missionary travels alone to Bukhara in central Asia looking for two English explorers who went missing there.

The River War - Winston Churchill
>Account of the Mahdist War in the Sudan, which involved building a railway track through the desert in order to reach Omdurman, the enemy capital.

A Diplomat in Japan - Ernest Mason Satow
>One of the first (junior) diplomats to Japan in the late 1850s after the country ended its official policy of isolation. He gets mixed up in all kinds of intrigues due to his political position and anti-foreigner hatred, and also participates in the bombardments of Kagoshima and Shimonoseki. A very frank account, since he was writing in his old age and didn't have to worry about offending anyone anymore.

Good shit OP, I'll be reading some of these soon.

>>11481858
Also, you should make a chart out of these OP.

>>11481858
>>11481863

That could be fun, I don't have the slightest clue on how to make a chart. It'll be some weeks until I can create it though.

Is it possible to save this thread after it's archived?

Does anyone have any good books on the Czechoslovak Legion?

>>11481941
you can just screenshot the whole thread if you have Mozilla FireFox or some utensil that can do that.

>>11480413
great recs here. I really enjoyed Sot Weed Factor, would that count as Adventure/Expedition. anyone else read it?

Slocum's Sailing Around the World Alone

Surprised nobody mentioned the Anabasis by Xenophon.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo

>>11480413
Seven Years in Tibet

>>11480413
Long Ships. Surprised nobody mentioned it yet.