About the book and author (from Wikipedia):
Charles M. Doughts is best known for his 1888 travel book Travels in Arabia Deserta, a work in two volumes which, though it had little immediate influence upon its publication, slowly became a kind of touchstone of ambitious travel writing, one valued as much for its language as for its content. T. E. Lawrence rediscovered the book and caused it to be republished in the 1920s, contributing an admiring introduction of his own. Since then the book has gone in and out of print. Our edition contains selected passages from the large work.
The book is a vast recounting of Doughty’s treks through the Arabian deserts, and his discoveries there. It is written in an extravagant and mannered style, but constantly surprising with verbal turns and odd inventiveness.
