The Prester Quest [Idioma Inglés] - Hardcover

In 1177, Pope Alexander III - keen to secure a Christian ally from the other side of the Dar al-Islam whose reputed wealth would prove invaluable to the Crusades - wrote a letter to the elusive King of the Indies, otherwise known as Prester John. The person the Pope personally selected to deliver this letter into the hand of Prester John was a physician called Master Philip. He was never heard of again... Eight hundred and twenty-four years later, armed with a copy of Pope Alexander's letter and with a redoubtable travelling companion from his university days, Nick Jubber set out with the express intention of somewhat belatedly completing Master Philip's mission. Over the next four months he would travel - by bus, boat and barouche, train, tractor and pick-up truck - from the Vatican and the churches of Venice, via the Crusader castles of Syria, to the Ethiopian highlands and a mysterious subterranean tomb of a medieval king which legend links to the mythical, mystical Prester John. From insights into medieval history and mysticism, through observations on politics and religious tensions, to accounts of eccentric customs (ranging from the different names for the Middle Eastern water pipe to the unusual nature of Ethiopian time-keeping) and the day-to-day hurdles encountered while travelling through strange, sometimes, alien lands, THE PRESTER QUEST is an ebullient (and often very funny), erudite, enlightening and extremely readable account of an extraordinary journey.. NOTA: El libro no está en español, sino en inglés.

In 1177 Pope Alexander III – eager to secure a Christian ally whose reputed wealth would prove invaluable to the Crusades – wrote a letter to the legendary Priest-King of the Indies, Prester John. As his emissary, the pope chose a physician called Master Philip. However, no one really knew where the elusive monarch’s kingdom lay – or whether he even existed. Undeterred, Master Philip set out from Rome ... and was never heard of again.   In October 2000, Nicholas Jubber came across a copy of Alexander’s original letter and conceived a plan: to complete Master Philip’s mission – to find Prester John and deliver the letter – albeit eight hundred and twenty-four years later. Exciting, erudite, intelligent (not to mention arcane, funny and ever-so-slightly eccentric), The Prester Quest is Nick Jubber’s account of his remarkable journey, by foot, ferry, bus, tractor, train and horse-drawn cart, from Italy via Turkey and the Middle East and Sudan to Ethiopia and the mysterious subterranean tomb of a medieval king. Crammed full of curious charts, historical footnotes and fascinating trivia, both medieval and modern – from the engineering secrets of the Templar knights and the mystic origins of the whirling dervish to the different names for the Middle Eastern water pipe and the unusual nature of Ethiopian time-keeping – it is a winning combination of a young man’s enthusiasm and sense of adventure, an historian’s awareness of time and place, and a true traveller’s eye for his surroundings and the people he meets on the way. One of the most entertaining debuts since William Dalrymple’s In Xanadu, The Prester Quest is a classic in the making.