Lieutenant Colonel Harold Fenton Jacob (1866–1936) was an officer in the British Army who spent the majority of his time in service in Yemen. First published in 1915, Perfumes of Araby is a collection of thirteen vignettes of tribal life in the first decades of the twentieth century, or as the author himself describes them, “silhouettes … of Arab character, their life, thoughts, feelings and wayward moods”.

Topics covered by the author include Arab attitudes to alcohol, coffee and qat; family life including marriage and children; warfare; religion; folklore and superstitions; local politics; and attitudes towards the British.

Yet no matter what the subject, throughout each account shines the author’s obvious affection for the tribesmen and women with whom he lived and worked for the best part of ten years. The result makes for a fascinating insight into what was, and still remains, a little-known Arabian society.