A Winter on the Nile

Anthony Sattin’s study itself has a dreamlike quality … he movingly reminds us of how, in the midst of life, those destined for greatness have no more idea where they are going than the rest of us. * Sunday Times *
It is a tribute to Sattin’s knowledge of Egypt and his skill as a writer that he makes this counterpoint narrative seem so effortless. His protagonists circle without ever touching in a dance through the desert. * Independent *
Running beneath this cavalcade of visionary incidents and skilfully realised tableaux is a subtext about travel as a mystical dislocation. * Telegraph *
In this entertaining book Sattin makes some important points on the intellectual, emotional and spiritual development of his immortal subjects. * Mail on Sunday *
Sattin has written a brilliantly assured experiment in biography, a triumph of the historical imagination. Convincingly researched, informed by an unobtrusive first-hand knowledge of Egyptian places, compellingly skilful in the writing, the whole story is illuminated by Anthony Sattin’s delicately perceptive sense of character in action. * Literary Review *
Remarkable * Scotsman *
Sattin’s account is authoritative, thoroughly researched and pacy … this book is a treat. * Time Out *
Elegant and absorbing, A Winter On The Nile sheds fresh light upon two titans of the age – Tim Butcher, author of BLOOD RIVER
Beguiling and impressively researched … A compelling snapshot of two of the most celebrated figures of the age, before their fame, and of a time when travel was leisurely and scholarly. And it sings with the romance of Egypt * Traveller Magazine *
If this doesn’t win a major book prize, I will eat my sola topi … Beautifully counterpoints the spiritual travel experiences of the soon-to-be-famous nurse fleeing an arranged marriage, with the much more lubricious ones of the then-unpublished novelist. – Giles Foden * Conde Nast Traveller *

Anthony Sattin is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including Lifting the Veil, The Pharaoh’s Shadow, and The Gates of Africa. He discovered and edited two exceptional manuscripts: Harriet Tytler’s unique memoir of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and Florence Nightingale’s letters home from her journey of self-discovery up the Nile in 1849-1850.

For the past decade, he has been a regular reviewer of non-fiction, primarily for the Sunday Times, for whom he wrote a weekly book column for seven years. His journalism and travel writing have also appeared in a range of publications, including the Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent, Guardian, Spectator, and Conde Nast Traveller.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and sits on the editorial board of Geographical Magazine. He was recently named one of ten key influences in travel writing by Conde Nast Traveller and was runner-up in the 2007 Travel Writer of the Year awards.

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