Overview

Saints of Sind is an exploration of the mystical Sufi shrines and hereditary saints of Pakistan s Indus valley. Half anthropological quest, it is also half the pilgrimage of an Englishman determined to immerse himself in the ways of a dervish seeking the ultimate truth. Peter Mayne has an antennae-like ear for language, catching the hidden nuances of a phrase, and a rumbunctious delight in responding to chance encounters. He treats each human with dignity but always delights in the bizarre and the eccentric, now and then catching hold of moments of sublimity. He is an addictively inventive and brilliant writer witty, shrewd and wise.

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9781780602103

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Reviews

as funny as Eric Newby, but infinitely more sensitive, self-aware and insightful with his openness to other cultures and other lives, lit up by wry, melancholy-tinged humour. Tim Hannigan

Author Information

Peter Mayne (1908-1979) was an English travel writer, revered for his two books on Pakistan and one on Morocco. He wrote with a rare incisive wit and a perfect memory for dialogue. Born in Wiltshire, he first travelled to India aged two. He worked as a liaison officer with the Pathan tribes of the North West Frontier for the RAF, witnessing what happened in Kashmir after the British forces evacuated. He then served the government of Pakistan as Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Refugees and Rehabilitation. Resigning after the tension of Partition had eased, Peter acquired a flat in Athens in the late 60s, but he was always a traveller living in Spain, Istanbul and Cairo his brilliant social life fuelled by his vivacity and fluency with languages. Eland also publish A Year in Marrakesh and The Narrow Smile: A Journey back to the North-West Frontier.

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