Wilfred Thesiger was born in 1910 in Ethiopia. From 1930 he travelled through remote areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. His journeys and his books have won him numerous prestigious awards over the years. In 1968 he was made a CBE; he was honoured with a KBE in 1995.

‘One of the very few people who in our time could be put on the pedestal of the great explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries.’ David Attenborough‘He belongs to an endangered species; he is one of the last, great gentlemen explorer-adventurers of our time.’ Richard Holmes‘He dwells in a Homeric age of exploration and travel writing, an age before sponsorship and television tie-ins. He stands as a monolith against trash consumerist and trash celebrity culture.’ Sara Wheeler

Wilfred Thesiger was born in 1910 in Ethiopia. From 1930 he travelled through remote areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. His journeys and his books have won him numerous prestigious awards over the years. In 1968 he was made a CBE; he was honoured with a KBE in 1995.

‘One of the very few people who in our time could be put on the pedestal of the great explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries.’ David Attenborough‘He belongs to an endangered species; he is one of the last, great gentlemen explorer-adventurers of our time.’ Richard Holmes‘He dwells in a Homeric age of exploration and travel writing, an age before sponsorship and television tie-ins. He stands as a monolith against trash consumerist and trash celebrity culture.’ Sara Wheeler