Sojourn in a Dreadful Land (Yemen Chronicles)

Looking for a life of adventure after graduating from the medical school of the American University of Beirut, Tareq (not his real name), a young American doctor, decides to journey to Yemen to work there for the government on a one-year contract in its hospital in Sana'a, the capital. He leaves behind a comfortable life in Lebanon and must now adjust to the harsh and primitive life in Yemen. While he is there, the young doctor is given insight to the Imam's, the religious ruler of Yemen, absolute bloodthirsty power, through treachery, intimidation, and brutality, and he describes stories of tribal uprisings, beheadings, drug addiction, child marriages, and other true horror stories.

Sojourn in a Dreadful Land is a fascinating and shocking tale about life and hardship in Yemen in the 1950s. The young American doctor's idea of adventure slowly turns into a nightmare as he records his life in this journal.