Eothen: Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East

Eothen , which means 'news from the east' started out asa few notes scribbled on the back of a map, to amuse a friend who wanted some advicefor his own youthful 'year off' travels, but it became one of the most influential,witty and idiosyncratic of travel books. It took Kinglake seven years before hehad finished crafting this 'lively, brilliant and rather insolent' tale. The physicaldetails of the journey, undertaken in 1834 across the Balkan frontiers of the OttomanEmpire, through Constantinople, Smyrna, Cyprus into the Near eastern cities of Jerusalem,Cairo and Damascus, are never as significant as the conversations, chance encountersand attitudes of the author. Packed full of an infectious charm and a youthfuldelight at the world, it is above all things funny as it lampoons the pomposityof earnest, middle-agedtravellers seeking to establish themselves as professional authorities. 'One of the most deliciously nasty booksin English literature.' - Jonathan Raban 'One of the most original, graceful and creativeof all travel books...sparkling, ironic and terrific fun.' - Jan Morris