In 1177, Pope Alexander III - keen to secure a Christian ally from the other side of the Dar al-Islam whose reputed wealth would prove invaluable to the Crusades - wrote a letter to the elusive King of the Indies, otherwise known as Prester John. The person the Pope personally selected to deliver this letter into the hand of Prester John was a physician called Master Philip. He was never heard of again...
Eight hundred and twenty-four years later, armed with a copy of Pope Alexander's letter and with a redoubtable travelling companion from his university days, Nick Jubber set out with the express intention of somewhat belatedly completing Master Philip's mission. Over the next four months he would travel - by bus, boat and barouche, train, tractor and pick-up truck - from the Vatican and the churches of Venice, via the Crusader castles of Syria, to the Ethiopian highlands and a mysterious subterranean tomb of a medieval king which legend links to the mythical, mystical Prester John.
From insights into medieval history and mysticism, through observations on politics and religious tensions, to accounts of eccentric customs (ranging from the different names for the Middle Eastern water pipe to the unusual nature of Ethiopian time-keeping) and the day-to-day hurdles encountered while travelling through strange, sometimes, alien lands, THE PRESTER QUEST is an ebullient (and often very funny), erudite, enlightening and extremely readable account of an extraordinary journey.
Nicholas Jubber
The Prester Quest
