This is the story of back-country Turkey, an area that even in the 20th century remains stubbornly tied to antiquity. The author traveled through it by truck and horseback, often alone. She reached places little visited and never written about. The country people welcomed her with generosity unrelated to their meager resources.

She was traveling in time as well, and found significance in recalling the life of Alexander the Great. Twenty-two centuries ago he was the first to dream of a united world.

"Magnificent...a brilliant and inspiring account of her journey along the coastline of Turkey and back into time." (The Observer)

"Her books have as their obvious destiny inclusion in the aristocracy of letters." (The Evening Standard)