3.5 out of 5 stars
The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.
The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was untroubled by foreigners and travellers for years and years. This all changed in 1970 when the promise of oil revenues opened the country up a little.
Ian Skeet was one of the very few who managed to get access to the country before that change happened and the oil money began to pour in.
This book is a record of his time spent in the country from 1966 to 1968. He was there to see first-hand how a pretty much medieval kingdom had survived most of the way through the 20th century without changing at all.
He worked for an oil company and was fortunate that he had access to all parts of the country. He sees the beauty in the arid and desolate landscapes that he travels through, recounting journeys with a sympathetic eye.
I thought that the most interesting parts of his travels were in the walled cities and the small desert villages. There he sees life as it really is for the inhabitants of the countries. He sees the daily rituals and habits of the people and captures a picture of them with his observations. He isn’t scared to write about the poverty and oppression of a people that have been living under a strong autocratic leader and show how things really are.
His prose is not lyrical and evocative. Rather this is a pragmatic and inquiring view of a country and its people before they have change imposed on them by a wider world and petro-dollars. Their way of life, tough as it is will never be the same again. Worth reading though, and a fine addition to the Eland library.
That does look interesting. Eland never put a foot wrong, do they!
Very rarely, but they do have the luxury of picking the best travel books that are out of print.