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Tim Severin
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The Sindbad Voyage Paperback – January 1, 1998

by Timothy Severin (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 179 ratings
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Investigating the historical background of the Arabian Nights voyages of Sinbad, a noted explorer follows the ancient Arab sea routes to the Orient aboard a replica of an early Arabian wooden ship
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Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 6
    Voyage
  2. Print length
    239 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Abacus
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 1998
  6. ISBN-10
    0349109958
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0349109954
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abacus (January 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 239 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0349109958
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0349109954
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 179 ratings

About the author

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Tim Severin

Tim Severin

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TIM SEVERIN has made a career of retracing the storied journeys of mythical and historical figures. He has sailed a leather boat across the Atlantic in the wake of the Irish monk Saint Brendan, captained an Arab sailing ship from Muscat to China, steered the replica of a Bronze Age galley to seek the landfalls of Jason and the Argonauts and Ulysses, ridden the route of the First Crusade from a castle in Belgium to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, travelled on horseback with the nomads of Mongolia to explore the heritage of Genghis Khan, sailed the Pacific on a bamboo raft to test the theory that ancient Chinese mariners could have travelled to the Americas, retraced the journeys of Alfred Russel Wallace, Victorian pioneer naturalist, through the Spice Islands of Indonesia aboard a native sailing vessel, identified the facts behind the story of Moby Dick the fighting white whale among the native peoples of the Pacific islands, and discovered the origins of the ‘real’ Robinson Crusoe in the adventures of a castaway stranded 300 years ago on a desert island off the coast of Venezuela.

As a historical novelist he has written the best-selling VIKING and HECTOR LYNCH trilogies. The Book of Dreams, the first volume of his SAXON trilogy was published in August 2012

His travels have been the subject of award winning documentary films and a major BBC documentary series, and are collected under the title TIME TRAVELLER. They have been screened on Discovery Channel, Sky Television, and National Geographic TV, and he has written regularly about his expeditions in the National Geographic Magazine. He has won the Thomas Cook Travel Book award, The Book of the Sea Award, a Christopher Prize, the Sykes Medal of the Society of Asian Affairs, and the literary Medal of the Academie de Marine. His replica boats have become museum exhibits. In l986 he was awarded the Gold Medal (Founder's Medal) of the Royal Geographical Society for his research into early voyages, and in 1987 the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. In 1996 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by Trinity College, Dublin, and in 2003 received an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of Ireland.

He lives in Co. Cork, Ireland.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
179 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Isabel Stevens
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written story of an amazing project
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013
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The writer has shared the story of his re-creation of the early voyages from Oman to China. For me, the best part of the book was his ability to make a type of boat that no longer exists. Every part from finding the wood to making the sails took research and finding the people with the exact skills needed and the raw materials necessary. Anyone with a love of adventure or an interest in sailing should enjoy this book.
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Red Boat Bill
4.0 out of 5 stars A mixture of history, sociology, and sailing craft
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016
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This is a great adventure story, made better by being non-fiction. It has a description of the entire process of organising the project, building the boat, learning how to sail it, and the oddities of the mixed culture crew sailing the voyage. An interesting mixture of new problems based on modern culture and timeless problems that could have happened centuries ago. I originally read this when it was a new release on paper, and picked up a Kindle copy because I'm planning a lateen rigged boat, and remembered this covers issues on sailing that rig.
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JudyAnn Lorenz
5.0 out of 5 stars Voyaging with Sindbad the Sailor
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2013
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Reading the account of Tim Severin's adventure with Sohar, the authentically designed and constructed ancient Arabian ship was an absolute pleasure. I'm so glad it was made available for Kindle.

Built on the beaches of Oman, Sohar was built using an unusual method of sewing instead of nailing. The planning — pitching the plan, rounding up the materials from all over the southern world, recruiting green shirts to ply their skills at building the boat and stocking it for the first leg of the journey toward China was sufficiently intriguing for me.

I didn't put the Kindle Fire down while I read the action adventure of the actual sail as the crew lived the life of the ancients both in discomfort and awe. Severin was, of course, into his tale and is a good writer. There were a few formatting blips that distracted, but not enough to lower my enjoyment levels. Readers are transported through the days as the crew proved the locations and situations that were the meat of the tales in The Thousand and One Nights around Sindbad's adventures.

I especially enjoyed the parts that described how the crew, from different cultures, learned to work so smoothly together. Well,possibly with the exception of "Reechard" the photographer! I remember reading about this voyage in the news, but this was the first time I had an opportunity to read all of the little 'bits' that make the story so special. That being said, I'm glad it was them and not me.

This is not a new book, but it is close to a classic that I highly recommend. It is a 'clean' read..readers are spared any abuse of taboo language that might have occurred in a situation which should certainly be expected.
5 people found this helpful
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Danny Boyle
5.0 out of 5 stars Great info into ancient seafaring from Arabia to India and China
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2014
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The Book of Mormon says that a group of people left Jerusalem and ended up on the southern coast of Arabia where they built a sailing ship and sailed it all the way to the American shores. This book by Tim Severin shows that such a trip is possible. I think that the ship he had built and the adventures he had was very similar to the Book of Mormon people. I found it very enlightening, and am reading it for a second time!
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D. Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2014
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Very much enjoyed this book, only disappointment was the lack of great pictures of the ship in the Kindle edition. Anyone who enjoys reading about wooden ships will find this a wonderful true story.
One person found this helpful
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Ken Suetterlin
5.0 out of 5 stars Book was delivered on time, in impressive condition; far above the description. THANKS!
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2021
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i had not realized how many 'research adventures' that Tim Severin had documented -- totally astounding! He, his crews, the people he has involved, and the connections that were established between them all that still endure? --- totally amazing. Thanks !
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Sima
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2017
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If you're a sailor, you'll probably enjoy all the sailing jargon used throughout the story, but if you're not, you'll find it tedious. However, just skim over it all and move along. I personally enjoyed reading about the cultural attitudes, activities, and behaviors of all the groups mentioned in the book. There weren't nail biting parts to the journey, but still it was interesting. You'll also learn a lot about the adventures of Sinbad and what these stories could be related to in real life. Enjoy the journey!
3 people found this helpful
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brian priestley
5.0 out of 5 stars Testing a Legend
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014
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Tim Severin's trip to the new world in a copy of St Brendan's hide boat was a travel masterpiece and the Sindbad Voyage is no less absorbing. This time the project is to sail from the Persian gulf to China in a boat from the Sindbad era. Nails were not used on Arab boats in Sinbad's era so the wooden boat had to be tied together! Severin's writing is excellent and the reader meets a great many interesting characters as the sea miles flow past. A must for anyone interested in sailing or modern day adventures.
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Top reviews from other countries

Tolt
5.0 out of 5 stars Value was fine.
Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2020
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Came as advertised and very quickly too.
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Shashank Basargekar
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it !
Reviewed in India on January 15, 2020
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The journy of sohar is as entertaining as Arabian nights. Reading through the book was journey itself. One can picture various instances just by so lively instances.
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Nikiforos V Fokas
5.0 out of 5 stars Treenails and coconut husk rigging.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2019
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In 1983, the renowned Adventurer Mr. Tim Severin embarked upon a mammoth journey in a dhow (traditional Arabic or Indian sailing ship family) with a crew of grumbling Guardian luvvies. The mission: to educate them in human nature -a subject that confuses and confounds them at every turn. From chief boatswain Vince Cable, cook Liberace, helmsman Nick Clegg and other infamous Guardian stalwarts Sting, Tarbo M'Beke, Philip Schofield, Hugh Fernsley-Whittington, Diane Abbott, Torville and Dean, Judy Finnegan, Leon Trotsky and Gordon Brown.
Using traditional dhow technology (treenails and coconut husks) their ship crossed the miles in often foul weather during the monsoon season without so much as a comforting dose of the distant BBC world service. And therein lies this tale - a tale of Champagne air-drops, temper-tantrums, group hugs and hidden colour supplements stashed behind false transoms.

Recommended for Daily Mail readers.
One person found this helpful
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Royce Burns
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Story
Reviewed in Australia on November 21, 2014
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Well worth a read to see the middle east before it imploded and became the radicalised place of today. A story of people honouring history and great seafaring feats of Omani sailors, what they achieved and the sights and sounds that met them.

Tim Severin is a rare gem who thankfully wants to explore these things. Who else would have the knowledge and skills or gain the respect to get it done? So much of history can be understood when you understand the tools and equipment and skills they possessed. It takes a man like Tim to look into that and give us back some our forgotten history.
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Matt Slade
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2022
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Enjoyable and infrmative and up to the high standard of his previous books.
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