A Thousand Miles up the Nile [Paperback]

Amelia B Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2008

As enthralling as any work of fiction, A Thousand Miles up the Nile is the quintessential Victorian travel book. In 1873, Amelia B. Edwards, an upper-class Victorian spinster, spent the winter visiting the then largely unspoiled splendors of ancient Egypt. An accurate and sympathetic observer, she brings nineteenth-century Egypt to life. A Thousand Miles up the Nile was an instant hit in 1876, and is received with equal enthusiasm by modern readers. Fans of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody Emerson series will see similarities between the two Amelias. More importantly, A Thousand Miles up the Nile provides a wealth of background information and detail that will increase the reader’s understanding and enjoyment of Peters’ novels. This Norton Creek Press edition of A Thousand Miles up the Nile is a reproduction of the illustrated 1890 edition by Routledge and Sons. Look for more of Edwards’ works from Norton Creek Press. Amelia B. Edwards was an author and co-founder of the Egypt Exploration Fund.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) was an English novelist, journalist and travel writer who, after visiting Egypt in 1873-1874, devoted her life to Egyptology and the protection of Egypt's ancient monuments. This volume, first published in 1876, contains Edwards' fascinating description of her life-changing visit to Egypt. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 532 pages
• Publisher: Norton Creek Press (December 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981928420
• ISBN-13: 978-0981928425
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,190,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wondeful book-- incomplete reprint?, August 2, 2008

By 

Sastenio - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Thousand Miles up the Nile - A woman's journey among the treasures of Ancient Egypt PART I (Paperback)

I've been looking for an in-print edition of this book for a long time. My one disappointment with it is that it seems to be incomplete.

The narrative ends abruptly at the end of Chapter XIII, titled "Philae to Korosko". It's obvious that this isn't the end of the book. Very disappointing to come so far and suddenly find one's self teetering on the brink of a literary precipice with nothing ahead! Miss Edwards makes it clear throughout her narrative that her journey goes as far as Aboo-Simbel, but this reprint doesn't go there.

In the preface she writes "It will be seen by those who do not weary of my companionship before reaching the eighteenth Chapter, that I had the great good fortune to be one of a party, which, in the month of February 1874, discovered and excavated an extremely interesting group of ruins at Aboo-Simbel in Nubia. If an apology were needed for the writing of another book about the Nile, this circumstance would alone furnish sufficient reason for the production of the present volumes."

This leads me to believe that several chapters, at least Chapters 14 thru 18, are missing from this reprint. I can find no mention of a second volume or any explanation for the omission of the material referenced in the preface.

Leaving that criticism aside, A Thousand Miles Up the Nile is a delight to read. Amelia Edwards is an engaging travel guide who provides a vivid picture of life in 19th-century Egypt and many colorful descriptions of the personalities she encounters. She also proves to be an excellent historian as she describes the ancient ruins she and her travel party encounter as they sail up the Nile on their dahabeeyah the "Philae". I thoroughly enjoyed every word of the text; however, as I read I continually lamented that there are no illustrations. A glossary and pronunciation guide would also have been helpful. This gem of a travel classic cries out to be updated in a new, annotated and illustrated edition!

Recommended to anyone who enjoys 19th-century travel literature, Egyptian antiquities, or Elizabeth Peters' superlative mystery series featuring the redoubtable Victorian Egyptology sleuth Amelia Peabody Emerson.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, July 16, 2009

By 

M. C. Dunham - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thousand Miles up the Nile (Paperback)

Norton Creek Press has done a public service in reprinting an affordable version of this classic travel adventure. Amelia Edwards conveys her enthusiasm for Egyptian antiquities in a charming narrative that made this reader wish he could have been along for the voyage. Seeing the ruins through her eyes is as close as the modern traveller can come to experiencing the wonders of Egypt in a time when anyone with a shovel could dig for relics. Even readers without previous interest in Egyptology will become fascinated by the subject as they follow Amelia's jouney up the Nile, but be advised that people in Victorian times had much longer attention spans and much better vocabularies than the current norm. A dictionary and Google Earth will contribute greatly to the enjoyment of this book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Norton Creek Press edition is complete, March 15, 2009

By 

Robert Plamondon (Blodgett, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Thousand Miles up the Nile (Paperback)

Another review claims that "A Thousand Miles up the Nile" has neither all of its pages nor all of its illustrations. This isn't true of the Norton Creek Press edition, which is the whole shebang, with all of the engravings from the second edition, and ending on page 499.