Books about nomads?

July 13, 2006 8:15 AM

I have an idle craving for knowledge. Specifically, I'd like to read some books about nomadic cultures - the Bedouin, Mongolian, Gypsies, Train-riding... any group really. Any suggestions?
posted by deadtrouble to Society & Culture (13 answers total)

Hobo by Eddy Joe Cotton - about train-riding
posted by Happy Dave at 8:40 AM on July 13, 2006

You might keep an eye on this AskMe question.
posted by mattbucher at 8:55 AM on July 13, 2006

Try The Tuareg by Jeremy Keenan and I also enjoy reading the tales of the late Wilfred Thesiger.
posted by Nugget at 9:00 AM on July 13, 2006

William Langewiesche's Sahara Unveiled: A Journey Across the Desert has some good stuff on the Tuareg, and was a great read on the whole.
posted by BT at 9:22 AM on July 13, 2006

I second the Langewiesche recommendation. "Sahara Unveiled" is an uncommonly good piece of travel writing.
posted by Mars Saxman at 9:30 AM on July 13, 2006

The best thing I've read on nomadic life—from a real-world, "here's what it feels like" point of view rather than a scholarly one—is Charles Doughty's Travels in Arabia Deserta (1888). It's long (don't read an abridgment!) and written in an archaic style that takes a little getting used to, but by the time you've finished it, you know in your gut what life in Arabian nomad tents is like. (I have the two-volume Dover edition, which is excellent but seems to be unavailable at the moment.)
posted by languagehat at 9:45 AM on July 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Bruce Chatwin^, Songlines is about a semi-nomadic group.
posted by ejaned8 at 10:06 AM on July 13, 2006

I would suggest "The Devil's Horsemen" by James Chambers, but it appears to be out of print.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:40 AM on July 13, 2006

Read "The secret history of the Mongols : the origin of Chinghis Khan" It's an adaptation of the Yuan chʾao pi shih, a history written by the mongols themselves just after Chinghis died.

It is an (very biased, naturally) account of Chinghis' rule, and the expansion of the mongolian empire. It will teach you quite a bit about that nation.
posted by Galen at 10:52 AM on July 13, 2006

Between books you might want to watch a couple movies. Grass (1924) and People of the Wind are both fascinating. They focus on the Persian Bakhtiari tribe.
posted by booth at 10:55 AM on July 13, 2006

Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca. Read it. Great book on gypsies (Roma).
posted by Amizu at 1:17 PM on July 13, 2006

I've just finished reading Skeletons on the Zahara. It gives an excellent insight into Saharan culture in the early 1800's and is a rollicking good (true) adventure too.
posted by tellurian at 5:33 PM on July 13, 2006

Probably not the sort of book you're after, but Josef Koudelka's Gypsies (yeah...expensive) will show you a lot about the culture. I assume that you may not be interested, though, because it's a photo book (and one of the best, at that); the photos can be seen at his agency's website. Incidentally, New York Times assistant managing editor for photography Michele McNally just recently named this body of work as a primary reason for her getting involved in photojournalism (scroll down; also the link seems like it could soon point to another editor...). It's one of the best examples of documentary photography around. Let me also put in a plug for Koudelka's Exiles. It's another of the masterpieces of photojournalism and close enough to the topic at hand. A copy of that will be equally expensive and hard to find.
posted by msbrauer at 9:35 PM on July 20, 2006