The Valleys of the Assassins: And Other Persian Travels
Hailed as a classic upon its first publication in 1934, The Valleys
of the Assassins firmly established Freya Stark as one of her
generation's most intrepid explorers. The book chronicles her
travels into Luristan, the mountainous terrain nestled between Iraq
and present-day Iran, often with only a single guide and on a
shoestring budget. Stark writes engagingly of the nomadic peoples
who inhabit the region's valleys and brings to life the stories
of the ancient kingdoms of the Middle East, including that of the
Lords of Alamut, a band of hashish-eating terrorists whose
stronghold in the Elburz Mountains Stark was the first to document
for the Royal Geographical Society. Her account is at once a highly
readable travel narrative and a richly drawn, sympathetic portrait
of a people told from their own compelling point of view. This
edition includes a new Introduction by Jane Fletcher Geniesse,
Stark's biographer.
