Mad Dogs and an Englishman

This book was written forty years after the actual happenings, which may lead one to think that the memories would be fudged and faded with the passage of time. However, I can assure the reader this is not so for one very good reason. At the time of the travels I kept a diary and I also wrote letters regularly back home to my parents in England. My mother carefully kept every dated despatch, which she tied up neatly in a bundle and I discovered these when clearing her home thirty five years later. Reading the letters again brought back vivid memories of people and places, some of which I had partially or completely forgotten. Others of course were indelibly etched on my memory and will never fade. This led me to think perhaps I should record these experiences in a narrative to make easy reading for family and friends, some of whom I know are curious of my youthful escapades.

In1964 this expedition was a dangerous adventure with a high degree of risk that perhaps only a young person with health and vigour could undertake. Today in 2007 it would be impossible to travel in some of these countries and survive. Forty years ago one could see the seeds developing of today’s troubles in what is currently one of the worlds most horrific war zones. The experiences I gained of the character and culture of these peoples has had a big impact throughout the course of my life.

The western world is only just realising what a sensitive powder keg the Middle East has become. Our continued existence is really dependant on finding a solution to the Palestinian problem and how we all react and handle the resurgence of radical Islam.