THE CAMELS: Ships of the Desert

by George Laycock ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 1975

You'd think that anyone who traveled all the way to Africa to see and ride camels as Laycock did would come up with more than this--roughly 25 pages of loosely strung together fact, first hand observation and anecdote (a camel drive strike in Egypt, camel fights in Turkey, the Oklahoma City zoo's India who predicted rain). Camel anatomy is covered in short order and its place in the economy and culture of various desert peoples reduced to a few passing references. For all that, Laycock's black and white portraits are merely unexceptional; technically they leave a lot to be desired though it's hard to go completely wrong with such an endearingly ugly subject. It might have made an amusing article; between hard covers the ""ships of the desert"" become an expensive ride indeed.

Pub Date: May 9, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 59

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION