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Charles Doughty was one of those Victorians fascinated by Arabia to the point
of obsession. Written after years of wandering among the Arabs and risking his
life by refusing to disguise his Christianity, his book Travels in Arabia
Deserta is a classic, mostly forgotten, as he is himself. Self-taught in
geology and anthropology, he never came to terms with the revolutionary science
of his day. The title of Andrew Taylor’s splendid biography—God’s
Fugitive— is what this remarkable eccentric called himself. Published
by HarperCollins, £17.99, ISBN 0002558157.