In 1950 Idries Shah began a quest to observe and record some of the East’s most unusual people and places. His aristocratic Afghan family and openness to experience helped him access extraordinary people and places throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Shah met with the Kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the secret Imam of the “New Arabian Knights” and the son of the Mahdi of the Sudan. He served as a sorcerer’s apprentice and travelled with cigarette smugglers and locust hunters. He visited King Solomon’s lost mines, the Rock of Paradise and a hidden city carved from living rock. More than an armchair travel book or record of the East in the 1950’s, Destination Mecca provides an atmosphere and a feel and background information that can help us better understand the Middle East of today. It may even awaken an impulse to follow your heart, enrich your life and learn from it. Highly recommended.