"Between 1951 and 1958 Wilfred Thesiger spent several months of each year living among the tribal Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq. As he travelled from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicines and treating the sick and soon came to understand and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. This account of his experiences describes a people who until recently were untouched by the modern world, living completely water-dominated lives: fishing with spears, drinking water-buffalo milk, building islands and intricate stilt houses from the gigantic reeds. The Marsh Arabs pays tribute to their hospitality, loyalty, courage and endurance and is a moving testament to their threatened culture." "This edition includes an introduction by Jon Lee Anderson discussing Thesiger's views of the places and people he visited, Saddam Hussein's destruction of the marshlands and the possibilities for their restoration."--BOOK JACKET.