From time immemorial "the tradition of the camp-fire has faced that of the pyramid": settled communities have contemplated nomads with fascination and envy, or with disdain and fear. English-speaking peoples seem to have had a particular obsession with certain nomadic peoples, stemming often from their own wanderlust and admiration for the unfettered life of those who roam the deserts and mountains of the world's remotest corners. John Ure has chosen four regions that are rich in nomadic culture: the Arabian peninsula with its Bedouin, the Sahara with its Moors and Tuareg, the mountain ranges of southern Iran with their migratory pastoral tribes, and the steppes of Central Asia with their Mongol horsemen and Tartar descendants. He has travelled with all of them and introduces the different sections of his book with a brief account of the special characteristics and history of each nomadic group. One of the most appealing aspects of this book is the insight it provides into the eccentric Britons and Americans who chose to seek out and travel with nomads. Some were exiles from nineteenth-century high society -- like Lady Hester Stanhope and Jane Digby (Lady Ellenborough); some were foot-loose adventurers like Richard Burton and T. E. Lawrence; some were distinguished literary figures like Vita Sackville-West, Freya Stark and Bruce Chatwin; some were notable scholars like Gertrude Bell and Owen Lattimore (who became so close to the Mongolians that he was accused of being a traitor to the US); and others were original characters about whom little or nothing has been written before -- like the tetchy Consul Abbot in Persia, or those dedicated missionary ladies Miss Cable and Miss French in the Gobi Desert. The visitors were often odder than the exotic peoples they visited, and John Ure brings both to life with long-practised skill and humor.