--- product_id: 25688131 title: "Sons of Sindbad: The Photographs" price: "R620" currency: ZAR in_stock: false reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/25688131-sons-of-sindbad-the-photographs store_origin: ZA region: South Africa --- # Sons of Sindbad: The Photographs **Price:** R620 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Sons of Sindbad: The Photographs - **How much does it cost?** R620 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/25688131-sons-of-sindbad-the-photographs) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Alan Villiers (1903–82) was a renowned sailor, writer and photographer. Originally published in 1940, Sons of Sindbad is his account of sailing with the Arabs in their dhows in southern Arabia, along the East African coast and in the Arabian Gulf, to record a nautical and cultural tradition that even then was disappearing. Arabian Publishing, in association with the National Maritime Museum, has now republished this sailing and adventure classic in an abridged form and a large format, and with many more photographs, previously unpublished, from the Museum’s Villiers Collection. The book establishes Villiers’s reputation as a photographer to compare with Wilfred Thesiger. Villiers’s lifelong fascination for traditional sailing techniques led to him to embark on his remarkable voyage in 1938. Joining the crew of a large Kuwaiti boom, the Triumph of Righteousness, he sailed with them on the monsoon winds from Aden, down the East African coast, to Mombasa, Zanzibar and the Rufiji Delta. He then made the homeward voyage to Oman, Bahrain and finally Kuwait. Here he spent four months in the summer of 1939, including a month among the pearl divers of the northern Gulf. This book depicts the experiences of the sailors and divers and the hardships they faced in their perilous environment. Villiers’ powerful photographs and words form a fine tribute to the skills and endurance of the Arab sailors, and a fitting valediction to the age of sail before the onset of oil and modernization. Review: A Vanished World in Pictures, a world treasure - Hard to believe this book waa used. As good as new, with magnificent photos and tales of a the vanished world of dhows in the Indian Ocean. The seller was very reliable, I got my money's worth @185.00 CDN and it waa delivered on time. Thank you! Review: A superb complement to two other books by Captain Villiers - This is a large-format book containing magnificent, high-quality reproductions of photographs by the Australian captain Alan Villiers from his voyages on Arab dhows in the Indian Ocean. This book complements two other books by Villiers about ancient trade in the Indian Ocean, "Sons of Sindbad" and "Monsoon Seas: The Story of the Indian Ocean". Villiers was a talented, self-taught author and photographer, and his photographic skill is showcased in this book. His photographs document the look and feel of open-deck dhows, of the work of sailors on those ships, and of shore-side Arab towns from the Red sea to the southern coast of East Africa. All of these photographs document a lost age, before oil and modernity changed these ships and places forever. Especially astounding are the photographs of sailors climbing the masts of dhows and working those ships' sails without assistance from ratlines or other rigging. We are fortunate that these photographs have been archivally preserved and printed in this book. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #6,836,310 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2,876 in Ship History (Books) #14,029 in Travel Writing Reference #19,632 in Middle East History | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 Reviews | ## Images ![Sons of Sindbad: The Photographs - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61oFb93azDL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Vanished World in Pictures, a world treasure *by L***A on October 4, 2025* Hard to believe this book waa used. As good as new, with magnificent photos and tales of a the vanished world of dhows in the Indian Ocean. The seller was very reliable, I got my money's worth @185.00 CDN and it waa delivered on time. Thank you! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A superb complement to two other books by Captain Villiers *by F***S on December 15, 2012* This is a large-format book containing magnificent, high-quality reproductions of photographs by the Australian captain Alan Villiers from his voyages on Arab dhows in the Indian Ocean. This book complements two other books by Villiers about ancient trade in the Indian Ocean, "Sons of Sindbad" and "Monsoon Seas: The Story of the Indian Ocean". Villiers was a talented, self-taught author and photographer, and his photographic skill is showcased in this book. His photographs document the look and feel of open-deck dhows, of the work of sailors on those ships, and of shore-side Arab towns from the Red sea to the southern coast of East Africa. All of these photographs document a lost age, before oil and modernity changed these ships and places forever. Especially astounding are the photographs of sailors climbing the masts of dhows and working those ships' sails without assistance from ratlines or other rigging. We are fortunate that these photographs have been archivally preserved and printed in this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pictures from the Maritime Past *by C***Y on February 7, 2014* Author and scholar Grace Pundyk was researching for her masters thesis at Exeter University when she found these previously uncatalogued Alan Villiers photographs at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. Her academic work eventually resulted in this wonderful publication, a large heavy volume which opens a window on the past era of Arab sail trading (Facey, Al-Hijji and Pundyk, Sons of Sindbad the photographs of Alan Villiers, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2006). In 1938, Villiers lifelong fascination with traditional sailing techniques led to him embarking on a remarkable journey by dhow down the East African coast and back to the Arabian Gulf. Joining the Kuwaiti crew of the Triumph of Righteousness at Aden, he sailed to Mombasa, Zanzibar and the Rufiji Delta, and from there back to Oman and Bahrain, ending in Kuwait in 1939. Alan Villiers' photographs of his voyages aboard the Arabian dhows record what he saw as the 'last days of sail' in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the coasts of Arabia and north-east Africa. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/25688131-sons-of-sindbad-the-photographs](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/25688131-sons-of-sindbad-the-photographs) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Africa* *Store origin: ZA* *Last updated: 2026-09-18*