Description
The Spell of Egypt by Robert Smythe Hichens is one of the most amazing novel-like travelogues ever written about Egypt. First published in 1911, the book provides a vivid and engaging account of all the well-known monuments of Egypt and it also adds intriguing depictions of how people lived in this magical country.The book takes the reader back to times when Egypt was still unknown for mass tourism and Hitchens is an extraordinary narrator, able not only to tell about his adventures in the North African country, but also to convey the atmosphere of his journeys. Many have criticized Hitchens for focusing more on what it felt like to visit the most famous monuments of Egypt than on describing the monuments themselves as well as for providing very little historical background, but even so, the book makes an excellent read for anyone being more about emotions than about events or sights, the reader feels how fascinated the author was by the land he was visiting and how much he loved Egypt, so the book is best read more as a short poetic account than a fact-based travel book.Robert Smythe Hichens was one of the most celebrated English writers of short stories and novels of the first half of the 20th century and a well-known music critic, travel writer and journalist as well. The Spell of Egypt is the second version of another book by Hitchens, Egypt and Its Monuments, first published in 1908. Both the original book and this somewhat shortened version feature the same love and enthusiasm for Egypt, the same adoration for its art, its history, its people and for its barren, but certainly fascinating landscape, so if you want to get an idea of what travelling through Egypt used to feel like, The Spell of Egypt is your go-to book.