G.W.Curzon read nearly 300 books on the territory over which he would travel before setting out on his journey through Persia. The journey itself lasted six months and he covered almost 2000 miles, from the Turkish border to the Gulf, on horseback, a painful experience as he suffered from a spinal complaint and had to wear a steel corset beneath his Norfolk jacket and stout breeches. Curzon chose Persia because he was absorbed by the problems of British political interests in the East. However, this selection of chapters from the book concentrates on the travel rather than the politics and is illustrated with the pictures Curzon took himself. Peter King has edited two previous collections of Lord Curzon"s writings ; "A Viceroy"s India" and "Travels with a Superior Person".