King of the Orient
Arabia by Camper Van in 1952
By Max Reisch, translated from the original German by Alison Falls.
ISBN 9781916919228
MAX REISCH (1912–1985) was a pioneer international motorist and writer of the 1930s. He became a celebrity in his native Austria for his overland journey with a fellow student on a light motorcycle from Vienna to Mumbai (Bombay) in 1933 (see India – The Shimmering Dream).
Soon after the Second World War, he planned a trip with a prototype camper van from Beirut to Kuwait. However, his unspoken aim was to make a detour to the ‘forbidden kingdom’ of Saudi Arabia and its capital Riyadh. This he achieved despite a failure to obtain visas or permits at the outset. His account provides a truly remarkable glimpse, not only of Saudi Arabia but of the other countries he visited along the way: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, and Iraq. The colossal wealth of the modern oil states was only beginning to be tapped, literally, by construction teams in the desert.
Reisch was always drawn to desert regions and had a lively sympathy for the people and places of the Middle East. His vivid narrative from 1952 and the accompanying photographs can inspire us to learn more of the area’s history and its problems which concern us so urgently today.
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