The Road to Oxiana

First published in 1937, this travel narrative follows Robert Byron from Venice through Cyprus, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Persia into Afghanistan, with the Oxus country as the far aim. He records buses, visas, and inns, but the centre is Islamic architecture: mosques, tombs, and brick towers that he measures and argues over, especially at monuments such as the tomb tower of Gumbad-i-Kabus. Companions, officials, and local guides appear in diary entries dated on the road. The book is a journey in search of buildings, not a political history of the interwar Middle East.

Bound in blue cloth blocked on all sides with a black and gold design. Dark blue slipcase.