THE VALLEYS OF THE ASSASSINS
AND OTHER PERSIAN TALES

FREYA STARK

JOHN MURRAY: LONDON
1947

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.

19 x 11 cm. xv + 319 pp + frontispiece.

Good condition. Backstrip sunned and with a damp stain. Some foxing to the top edge of the boards. Previous owner's details on the front free endpaper. Pages age tanned toward the edges but clean and tidy.