Journey to the Arab East

Book Journey to the East 1834 – 1835 – A. W. Kinglake The reality is that it is not possible to read Western travel texts to the Holy Land in Palestine and Jordan, or to the neighboring regions and provinces, and the East in general, in isolation from the series of developments witnessed by European history in its relations with Arabs and Easterners. The British traveler Kinglake undertook his famous journey to the Arab East in 1834-1835 when travels to these lands were a dream that haunted every European youth, but tourism there was fraught with dangers and only those who were attracted to risks and hazards could undertake it, with the availability of travel expenses. His tour lasted about a full year, and he sent news of it in letters to his friend Eliot Warburton, who was planning to travel to the East, and he benefited from these in his travel book which he called “The Crescent of the Cross.” The journey is rich with valuable information, in which Kinglake recorded the influences and impressions that it left on him, from the customs of the people of the lands he visited, interacted with, and learned about their ideas and traditions, in an engaging narrative and descriptive style that captivates hearts.