Born in Paris 1893, a precocious and tough Freya Stark spent her childhood wondering across Europe, speaking three languages by the time she was five. She became one of the twentieth-century's most remarkable and inspirational women. Renowned for her flamboyant and unorthodox behaviour, Freya was also self-disciplined, courageous and remained fearlessly independent throughout her life. As an explorer she was unconventional, always travelling alone, without money or support. Her expeditions in Persia and the Hadhramaut during the thirties established her reputation not only as a great traveller and writer, but also as a geographer, historian and archaeologist. Caroline Moorehead brilliantly captures Freya's extraordinary and eventful life that was tempered by a constant struggle against ill health and loneliness, in this compelling biography.