Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Books: Shiftless Sands
ARABIA FELIX — Bertram Thomas — Scribner ($5). Last large geographical blind spot in world cartographers' eyes was the great desert Rub' al Khali, "empty quarter" of Arabia. After skirting its southern fringe for more than two months, on Jan. 10, 1931, Explorer Thomas and 13 Arabs made tracks across; on Feb. 4 they emerged at Doha, on the Persian Gulf. The journey emptied geography of ignorance, emptied also any hopes of discovering a better world on Planet Earth. The cartographical blind spot had been filled in with 600 miles of burning sand....
To read the entire article, you must be a TIME subscriber. Already registered? Sign in below
Current print subscribers to register
Subscribe now to get TIME All Access
Email, Password or Region is incorrect
A required form parameter was missing.
The System is currently down. Please try again in a few minutes.
Email Address is invalid
Password is blank
Most Popular »
- The 2012 World Press Photo of the Year
- Top 10 Celebrity Restaurants
- Jimmy Stewart: A Hero Home From the War
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?
- Facing the Challenge of China, Should India Embrace the U.S.?
- A Record of China’s Changing Coastlines
- The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel's Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann
- Oscars 2012: Great Performances
- The Foreclosure Deal: Obama and the Banks Win Big While Homeowners See Modest Reward
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)
- The Second Coming of Warren Jeffs: The Jailed Polygamist Leader Prepares His Flock for Doomsday
- Why Mario Monti Is the Most Important Man in Europe
- Lessons Unlearned: Why Another Gigantic Famine Looms in Africa
- Social Issues Overtake U.S. Politics
- The Brain: How The Brain Rewires Itself
- Can Israel Stop Iran's Nuke Effort?
- I Hope I Die Before I Have to Live with Old People
- A Monk's Struggle
More News from Our Partners
Top Stories on TIME.com
Quotes of the Day »
MUKHTAR ABU AL-ZUBAIR, leader of the Somali al-Shabaab rebel movement, pledging their allegiance to al-Qaeda in an audio message posted on the al-Shabaab website
