Pierre Loti, the romantic Orientalist and seductive travel writer, describes with extraordinary pictorial skill the journey from Saigon into the interior; first along the river Mekong, at the time in flood, then through the thick forest in the heart of which is buried the ruins of Angkor-Thom, with its palaces and temples.
Biography
Pierre Loti, perhaps the world's most prolific, romantic and exotic travel writer and novelist, was born as Julien Marie Viaud in Rochefort in Western France in 1850. A childhood fascination with exotic lands across the seas led him to embark on a naval career that enabled him to seek love and adventure in many latitudes. He drew on these real life experiences when writing the romantic novels and travel books that made him one of the most popular authors of his day. Although his prolific output brought him both fame and fortune he remained a romantic escapist and never gave up his beloved naval career. He retired from the French navy in 1910 and died in 1923.
