{"product_id":"arabia-felix-the-danish-expedition-of-1761-1767-paperback","title":"Arabia Felix: The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eThorkild Hansen\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eColin Thubron\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by), \u003cb\u003eJames McFarlane\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting account of a landmark expedition that left only one survivor, now back in print for the first time in decades.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eArabia Felix\u003c\/i\u003e is the spellbinding true story of a scientific expedition gone disastrously awry. On a winter morning in 1761 six men leave Copenhagen by sea--a botanist, a philologist, an astronomer, a doctor, an artist, and their manservant--an ill-assorted band of men who dislike and distrust one another from the start. These are the members of the Danish expedition to Arabia Felix, as Yemen was then known, the first organized foray into a corner of the world unknown to Europeans. The expedition made its way to Turkey and Egypt, by which time its members were already actively seeking to undercut and even kill one another, before disappearing into the harsh desert that was their destination. Nearly seven years later a single survivor returned to Denmark to find himself forgotten and all the specimens that had been sent back ruined by neglect. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBased on diaries, notebooks, and sketches that lay unread in Danish archives until the twentieth century, \u003ci\u003eArabia Felix \u003c\/i\u003eis a tale of intellectual rivalry and a comedy of very bad manners, as well as an utterly absorbing adventure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eArabia Felix\u003c\/i\u003e includes 33 line drawings and maps.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThorkild Hansen \u003c\/b\u003e(1927-1989) was born in Ordrup, Denmark, and studied literature at the University of Copenhagen for two years before moving to Paris in 1947. In France, Hansen supported himself by writing dispatches for the Copenhagen-based tabloid \u003ci\u003eEkstra Bladet\u003c\/i\u003e. He returned to Denmark in 1952 and published his first full-length novel, \u003ci\u003eResten er Stilhed\u003c\/i\u003e (The Rest Is Silence) in 1953. Hansen would go on to write more than two dozen books, many of which drew on the historical record to interrogate Denmark's record of imperialism, including \u003ci\u003ePausesignaler\u003c\/i\u003e (Pause Signals, 1959); \u003ci\u003eJens Munk\u003c\/i\u003e (1965), which won the Golden Laurel Award; a trilogy about the Danish slave trade (1967-1970), the final volume of which won the Nordic Council Prize; and \u003ci\u003eProcessen mod Hamsun\u003c\/i\u003e (The Case Against Hamsun, 1978). He died aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean in 1989. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames McFarlane\u003c\/b\u003e (1920-1999) studied modern languages at Oxford and was the first dean of the school of European studies at the University of East Anglia. Britain's preeminent Ibsen scholar, he edited the eight-volume \u003ci\u003eThe Oxford Ibsen\u003c\/i\u003e, translating a number of the books himself. He and Kathleen Crouch were married in 1944. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eKathleen McFarlane\u003c\/b\u003e (1922-2008) was a translator and a celebrated weaver and artist from Sunderland. One of her fabric sculptures hung in Norwich Castle for thirty years. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eColin Thubron\u003c\/b\u003e is the president of the Royal Society of Literature. Among his books are \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Heart of Asia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShadow of the Silk Road\u003c\/i\u003e, and most recently, \u003ci\u003eNight of Fire\u003c\/i\u003e. He is also, with Artemis Cooper, the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Broken Road\u003c\/i\u003e, the final volume of Patrick Leigh Fermor's Walking Trilogy.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 400\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8 x 5.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 13, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51770376913184,"sku":"9781681370729","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/f1eafb643089e1916831d13d08bd25ee.webp?v=1780370440","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/arabia-felix-the-danish-expedition-of-1761-1767-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}