{"product_id":"passionate-nomad-the-life-of-freya-stark-paperback","title":"Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJane Fletcher Geniesse\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eNotable Book - Finalist for the PEN\/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Highly readable biography . . . The woman who emerges from these pages is a complex figure--heroic, driven . . . and entirely human.\"--Richard Bernstein, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003ePassionate Nomad\u003c\/i\u003e captures the momentous life and times of Freya Stark with precision, compassion, and marvelous detail. Hailed by \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e of London as \"the last of the Romantic Travellers\" upon her death in 1993, Freya Stark combined unflappable bravery, formidable charm, fearsome intellect, and ferocious ambition to become the twentieth century's best-known woman traveler. Digging beneath the mythology, Geniesse uncovers a complex, controversial, and quixotic woman whose indomitable spirit was forged by contradictions: a child of privilege, Stark grew up in near poverty; yearning for formal education, she was largely self-taught; longing for love, she consistently focused on the wrong men. Despite these hardships, Stark's astonishing career spanned more than sixty years, during which she produced twenty-two books that sealed her reputation as a consummate woman of letters. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis edition includes a new Epilogue by the author that, citing newly discovered evidence, calls into question the circumstances of Stark's birth and adds new insight into this adventurous and lively personality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePassionate Nomad\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"\u003ci\u003ePassionate Nomad\u003c\/i\u003e is a work of nonfiction that reads and sings with the drama and lilt of a fine novel. The story of Freya Stark is stunning, inspiring, sad, funny, unique, and moving. Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells it straight, but with a care for delicious detail and a sympathy for the characters that make this a truly special book.\"\u003cb\u003e--Jim Lehrer \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"\u003ci\u003ePassionate Nomad\u003c\/i\u003e supplies a fascinating individual thread in the tapestry of twentiethcentury Middle Eastern history. . . .  Geniesse] has achieved, in the end, an admirable focus, at once critical and sympathetic. . . . For all Stark's unresolved contradictions, . . . her distinction as a latter-day woman of letters survives.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Compulsively readable . . .  Geniesse] has done a thorough job re-creating the life of a woman many consider to be the last of the great romantic travelers.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Plain Dealer\u003c\/i\u003e (Cleveland)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFreya Stark--traveler, explorer, Arabist, and woman of letters--began the extraordinary adventures that would glamorize her--and would catapult her into public life for the next sixty years--in 1927. And with the publication of The Valley of the Assassins in 1934, her legend was launched. \u003cbr\u003eLeaving behind a miserable family life, Freya set out, at the age of thirty-four, to explore remote and dangerous regions of the Middle East. She was captured in 1927 by the French military police after penetrating their cordon around the rebellious Druze. She explored the mountainous territory of the mysterious Assassins of Persia, became the first woman to explore Luristan in western Iran, and followed ancient frankincense routes to locate a lost city. Admired by British officialdom, her knowledge of Middle Eastern languages and culture aided the military and diplomatic corps, for whom she conceived an effective propaganda network during WWII. \u003cbr\u003eBut Stark's indomitable spirit was forged by contradictions, her high-profile wanderings often masking deep insecurities. A child of privilege, she grew up in near poverty; she longed for love, but consistently focused on the wrong men. This is a brilliant and balanced biography--filled with sheikhs, diplomats, nomad warriors and chieftains, generals, would be lovers, and luminaries. Author Jane Geniesse digs beneath the mythology to uncover a complex, quixotic, and controversial woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJane Fletcher Geniesse\u003c\/b\u003e is a former reporter for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e whose writing has been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post, New York\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, and \u003ci\u003eTown \u0026amp; Country\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. She is the author of a novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Riches of Life\u003c\/i\u003e, and lives in Washington, D.C.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 448\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.93 x 8.06 x 5.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 24, 2001\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47467919147261,"sku":"9780375757464","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/8JamdfGw9780375757464.webp?v=1777281459","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/passionate-nomad-the-life-of-freya-stark-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}