The Road to Oxiana
A real-life adventure that inspired countless travellers in fact and fiction, the Penguin Classics edition of Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana includes an introduction by Colin Thubron.
In 1933 Robert Byron began a journey through the Middle East via Beirut, Jerusalem, Baghdad, and Teheran to Oxiana - the country of the Oxus, the ancient name for the river Amu Darya which forms part of the border between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. The Road to Oxiana offers not only a wonderful record of his adventures, but also a rare account of the architectural treasures of a region now inaccessible to most Western travelers. Robert Byron (1905-41) was born in 1905, and educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford. He died during the Second World War, when the ship he was serving on was torpedoed by a U-Boat off Cape Wrath. Byron's The Road to Oxiana is considered by many modern travel writers to be the first example of great travel writing.
If you enjoyed The Road to Oxiana you might like Charles Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle, also available in Penguin Classics.
'The greatest of all pre-war travel books'William Dalrymple'What Ulysses is to the novel between the wars, and what 'The Waste Land' is to poetry, The Road to Oxiana is to the travel book'Paul Fussell'In any list of the great travel books of the 20th century, Robert Byron's account of his travels in Persia and Afghanistan, The Road to Oxiana, must be put somewhere near the very top'Telegraph
Shipping
Please note that orders placed after 2pm on a Saturday will not be processed until the following Tuesday.
Local delivery
If your order is £35 or over and you live within 10 miles of our bookshop, then we offer free local delivery on all orders, just choose this option at the checkout.
Store pickup
You can also choose to pick up your order for FREE from our shop at:
1 Chaldicott Barns
Semley
SP7 9AW
Delivery Enquiries
If you're not sure which delivery option to select, please feel free to contact us at:
Email: anna@thetravelbookcompany.co.uk
Telephone: 01747898247
Opening Hours:
Tuesday: 10am-4pm
Wednesday: 10am-4pm
Thursday: 10am-4pm
Friday: 10am-4pm
Saturday : 10am-2pm
We would be delighted to hear from you so please do drop us a line using the form below or alternatively, give us a call on 01747 898247