This book examines the life of George Strachan (1572 1635), early 17th-century Scottish Humanist scholar, Orientalist and traveller. Drawing on a wealth of newly discovered archival material to offer new insights into Strachan's life and work, it also utilises recent scholarship on the relationship between the cultures and religions of East and West. Tom McInally explains the voyages that the Catholic exile took to many of the Catholic courts of Europe as a scholar and spy before turning eastwards to embark upon a 22-year journey around the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires. By becoming fully literate in Arabic and Farsi, Strachan was able to gain a unique knowledge of Eastern societies. His collection of Arabic and Farsi texts on Islam, philosophy and humanities which he translated and sent to Europe for the advancement of European knowledge of Islam and Islamic societies became Strachan's real intellectual legacy

About the Author
Tom McInally, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen.


Book Information
ISBN 9781474466233
Author Tom McInally
Format Paperback
Page Count 216
Imprint Edinburgh University Press
Publisher Edinburgh University Press