The Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq were one of the most isolated communities in the world. Few outsiders, let alone Europeans, had been permitted to travel through their homeland, a mass of tiny islands lost in a wilderness of reeds and swamps in southern Iraq. One of the few trusted outsiders was the legendary explorer, Wilfred Thesiger, who was Gavin Maxwell`s guide to the intricate landscape, tribal customs and distinctive architecture of the Marsh Arabs. Thesiger`s skill with a medicine chest and rifle assured them a welcome in every hamlet, and Maxwell`s training as a naturalist and writer has left an invaluable record of a unique community and a vanished way of life. Published in 1983 as part of Penguin Books Travel Library.