About this book
Insightful descriptions of an enchanting country and its people
In 2014, a coup d’état in Sanaa paved the way for a devastating conflict in Yemen. Andrew Moscrop, a physician, cancelled plans to return to the country that he had once called home. Instead, he returned to his diaries and delved into memories of a time when he lived in a rambling old tower house in Sanaa. As the war unfolded, he re-read the accounts of past travelers to the country. And while working in Greece, treating refugees from other Middle Eastern war zones, he began writing a book set in Yemen.
Both a personal travelogue and a reflection on travel and travelers in Yemen, The Camel’s Neighbor offers a unique window into the country and provides a context and alternative to the often dehumanizing stories of conflict and crisis. Examining the impressions of adventurers, merchants, and scientists, as well as travel writers, Moscrop explores how Yemen has been seen and understood by foreigners from Europe and the US. These visitors include blundering missionaries, aristocratic Englishmen, and unlikely spies such as Norman Lewis and Freya Stark.
Moscrop delivers an intriguing perspective on Western encounters with the Islamic world, examining the imagery and clichés by which Yemen has been represented from the sixteenth century to the present. Evocative descriptions of Sanaa and its unique cityscape, as well as empathetic portrayals of people encountered and events experienced, all create a narrative by turns thoughtful and unexpected.