VALLEYS OF THE ASSASSINS(ISBN=9780375757532)
First published in 1934, Freya Stark's classic tale of hertravels through Persia has been reprinted once again and is just asmuch a gem now as when first published. At the age of 37, Starkshocked her fellow Brits by moving to Baghdad, befriending thelocals, studying Arabic and the Koran, and then setting out onexpeditions to remote and uncharted areas of the Islamic world byfoot, donkey, camel, and car. With her fascination for secretIslamic societies, she resolved to travel to the former home of theCult of the Assassins and locate an ancient fortress described byMarco Polo. (The founder of the cult inspired his recruits tomurder through the use of hashish, hence their name Hashishin , from which we get assassin .) There wasonly one problem: she couldn't find the valley on her map. Intrepidand indefatigable, she found a guide to lead her across the emptyPersian plains and crested mountain ranges (Stark leaping like amountain goat while her guide huffed behind) into the practicallyimpregnable valley. T
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