LAND WITHOUT LAUGHTER

by Ahmad Kamal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 1940

Of Tatar (yes, that's the way he spells it) lineage, the author recounts his experiences in the land of his fathers....and an exciting record he makes of it. He approached Turkestan by way of India and Tibet; he crossed high Himalaya passes at the wrong season with native guides; he finally achieved a meeting with General Ma Hal Jung, warrior lord harrying the Soviet; he is impressed into service with the Tungan army, fighting now with modern equipment, now hand to hand; he took French leave so that he might reach farther horizons, and reached Aksu by truck, where he was jailed as a spy, and it took a hunger strike to convince them he was an American, and only then escaped by a fluke, getting out via Mongolia and China. Primarily his interest is ethnology, and his picture of Tataristan and the various races is highlighted by the remnants of brutality, feudalism and barbarism, carried over into the present. Grim, lusty, exciting, this is a good choice for the masculine reading public.

Pub Date: March 25, 1940

ISBN: 0595010059

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1940

Categories: NONFICTION