East From Tunis: A Record of Travels on the Northern Coast of Africa

Travel Book Club, 1000. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. h/b 232 pages, condition is very good. East From Tunis: A Record of Travels on the Northern Coast of Africa. Like Herodotus, who travelled on the northern coast of Africa over 2,000 years ago, Mr. Carrington is an excellent observer and a man of insatiable curiosity. This account of a recent journey from Tunis to Egypt takes in many towns, ancient and modern- Carthage, Kairouan, Sousse, Sfax, Gabes, Tripoli, Leptis Magna. Benghazi, Cyrene, Alexandria. In the author's agreeable company. we visit the troglodytes of Matmata and the former palace of Farouk, the home of the Lotus-Eaters and the Lake of Lethe. We learn about Roman mosaics and modern missionaries, about North African medicine, education and cooking, Arab folk tales, war cemeteries, catacombs, plant-life, pottery, carpet-weaving, sponge-fishing, camels and locusts. Fascinating questions are asked and answered-why is the Sahara all sand? Why have so many Roman statues got broken noses? The palm-tree that died of love, the pin-up girls in the cathedral porch, the amazing story of Sergeant-Major Pledge-these are a few of the many diversions Mr. Carrington gives us on the way.