This is a gorgeous book. Hichens' descriptions of Egypt's most famous monuments are painterly and poetic. More of a romantic evocation than a 'mere' travel book, he takes you back to a more relaxed and serene era of gentle exploration in which it was still possible to commune with the Great Pyramid or the Temple of Hathor without an accompanying horde of camera-weilding tourists, souvenir-sellers and loudly-declaiming tour-guides.
Robert Smythe Hichens was a satirist and critic, having studied at Clifton College, the Royal College of Music, and the London School of Journalism. He was a friend of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas.
