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Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East — David Hume — John Shaqi

Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East

David Hume · en

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made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

              BEHIND THE VEIL IN PERSIA AND TURKISH ARABIA

   An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the
                           Women of the East

                                   By
                          M. E. HUME-GRIFFITH

            With Narratives of Experiences in Both Countries
                                   By
                     A. Hume-Griffith, M.D., D.P.H.

                    With 37 Illustrations and a Map

                              Philadelphia
                        J. B. Lippincott Company
                       London: Seeley & Co. Ltd.

                                  1909

                               I DEDICATE
                               THIS BOOK
                                   TO
                               MY HUSBAND
                        IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF
                           EIGHT HAPPY YEARS
                               1900-1908

PREFACE

I have endeavoured in this book to give some account of that inner life
of the East of which a traveller, however keen-sighted and intelligent,
seldom gains more than a passing glimpse. In a residence of eight years
in Persia and Turkish Arabia I have become intimate with a large circle
of friends whose life is passed behind the veil, and as the wife of
a medical missionary I have had unusual opportunities of winning
their confidence and becoming acquainted with their thoughts. Of
direct missionary effort I have said very little, but I hope that
the picture I have given may arouse interest in lives spent amongst
surroundings so different from our own.

It is impossible for any one, however unversed in politics, who has
lived so long in Mesopotamia, not to be deeply interested in the future
of the country. While all Europe has been filled with astonishment at
the bloodless revolution in Turkey, we who have become familiar with
its inner life are touched with a feeling of admiration and something
akin to awe. Whatever misgivings there may be as to the permanence
of this reformation we hope and trust that it will endure.