Peter Mayne (1908–1979) was an English

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

who wrote about his experiences in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. His father, C. Mayne, was Principal of Rajkumar College in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

, India from 1903 to 1923, and later became guardian of the young

Maharajah Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. After attending school in England, Mayne returned to India. Following Partition, he served as deputy secretary to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

's Ministry of Refugees and Rehabilitation. In 1949, he moved to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

; four years later, his first and probably best-known book, an account of his residence in the city's Medina, was published as ''The Alleys of Marrakesh'' in England and the United States. Since the 1982 Eland edition, new editions of the book have appeared under the alternative title ''A Year in Marrakesh''. In ''The Narrow Smile: A Journey Back to the North-West Frontier'' Mayne's subject was a journey through the Paktun tribal lands lying between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

; the book is currently available for free download in different formats from

the Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. ''The Saints of Sind'', about the "pirs" or saints and dervishes of Pakistan's Sind region was followed two years later, after Mayne moved to Greece, by ''The Private Sea'', a seemingly rambling but enchanting book about a visit of a few weeks to the island of

Poros Poros (; ) is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about south of the port of Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surf ...

. This spate of creativity (four books in six years) was followed by a long period of silence, broken only by the publication in 1975 of ''Friends in High Places : a Season in the Himalayas'';

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

, London 1975 the "friends" in question were Jagut and Mussoorie, sons of the exiled Rana Maharajah Marshal of Nepal, and Mayne's account of his visit to the two very different men, one living on an estate by the River Jumna in India and one in Kathmandu, is interspersed with his research into the

Kot Massacre The Kot massacre () took place on 14 September 1846 when then Kaji Jang Bahadur Kunwar and his brothers killed about 30-40 civil officials, military officers and palace guards of the Nepalese palace court including the Prime Minister of Nepal ...

of 1846 which changed the course of Himalayan history. Peter Mayne died four years after the publication of ''Friends in High Places''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne, Peter English travel writers 1979 deaths 1908 births English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers