The Lycian Shore: A Turkish Odyssey

by Freya Stark

Overview

'There are not so many places left where magic reigns without interruption and of all those I know, the coast of Lycia was the most magical.' Lycia, on the southwestern coast of Turkey, is an ancient land steeped in mystery, myth and legend. Home to the fiery chimera and to the great heroes Sarpedon and Penderus; heartland of worship for the goddess Leto and her children Apollo and Artemis; old ally of Troy, lure to conquering Cyrus and Alexander and to centuries of travellers, artists and writers - Lycia, part of the 'Turquoise Coast' now attracts more tourists to her glimmering shores than any other part of Turkey. In the early 1950s, following the trail of ancient Persian and Greek traders, Freya Stark set out by boat to explore the Lycian coast. She was guided by the traces of Lycia's rich history and cultural heritage. For all those who now follow in her wake, there can be no better, more evocative or knowledgeable guide to this, Turkey's most enchanting coast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848853126
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/30/2011
Series:	Tauris Parke Paperbacks Series
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Freya Stark (1893-1993), 'the poet of travel', was the doyenne of Middle East writers and one of the most courageous and adventurous female travellers in history. She explored Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Southern Arabia, where she became the first western woman to journey through the Hadhramaut. Usually solo, she ventured to places few Europeans had ever been. She received the title of Dame and her many, now classic, books include Travels in the Near East, A Winter in Arabia, The Southern Gates of Arabia, Alexander's Path, Dust in the Lion's Paw, East is West and Valleys of the Assassins.

Table of Contents

Illustrations

Maps

Foreword by Colin Thubron

1. The Voyage of Elfin

2. Chios: The Defeat of Athens

3. Samos: The Double Code

4. Patmos to Calymos: Time

5. Island Pirates: Adventure

6. Cos to Halicarnassus: Captivity

7. Cnidus: The Persian Governor

8. The Doric Peninsula: Decadence or Transition

9. Loryma: The Persia Gold

10. The Rhodian Peraea: Civilisation and the Middle Class

11. Caunus: Alexander's Road

12. Xanthus: The Lycian Federation

13. Aperlae: Loyalty and the Mercenaries

14. Myra: The Fold

15. The Chelidonian Cape: Magic

16. Chimaera to Phaselis: The Pool of Time

Dates

References

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

She has written the best travel books of her generation and her name will survive as an artist in prose.” —The Observer

From the Publisher

It's hard to think of a writer in the travel game who most closely demonstrates the merits of Flaubert’s three rules for good writing: clarity, clarity and finally clarity. Re-reading her now, her restrained powers of description shine as brightly as they ever did, and they will continue to shine until the next Ice Age... Her books are more relevant than ever. Besides sheer enjoyment, one should read her for a fresh perspective on the intractable issues dogging Christian-Muslim relations. She was able to see both sides and what she found was similarity, not difference. The greatest woman traveller of the 20th century? I think so.

Sara Wheeler

"[Freya Stark] writes angelically in the great tradition of Charles Doughty and T. E. Lawrence. The pulse quickens as you read, because she can bring the sights and sounds of incredible countries before you in the twinkling of an eye."

The New York Times Book Review

Dame Freya’s was a passionate imagination, and her embrace of landscape was fierce... [She] was often called a “travel writer”. The adjective, however, limits the accomplishment.

The New York Times

It was rare to leave her company without feeling that the world was somehow larger and more promising. Her life was something of a work of art… The books in which she recorded her journeys were seductively individual… Nomad and social lioness, public servant and private essayist, emotional victim and mythmaker.

Colin Thubron

Her books make Stark a remarkable figure under any circumstances. Having been a woman whose roamings through Middle Eastern deserts and mountains put her in the top ranks of the fabled Royal Geographical Society makes her more so.

Richard Bernstein

Readers of Stark’s reissued works...will find a writer who endows everyone in her field of vision with the heightened interest that she felt herself.”

The New Yorker

She has written the best travel books of her generation and her name will survive as an artist in prose.

The Observer